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The Hidden Qualities of House Sparrows

10,000 Birds

I’ll start off by naming the univerally accepted species, the House Sparrow propper Passer domesticus , the Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus and the ill-named Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis , which occurs from Spain all the way to central Asia and is rather difficult to find in the former.

Sparrows 209
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Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Kinabalu (at 13,455 feet the highest peak in southeast Asia), and human development that has resulted in freshwater rice fields, secondary forest, and oil palm plantations, this means that Borneo offers an incredibly high degree of biodiversity. Borneo, the authors say, is under-birded. I think we need to do something about that.

Brunei 172
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The Domestic Turkey and the First Thanksgiving

10,000 Birds

There are a lot of other large Galliforme birds around the world, and before the Spanish were busy conquering the New World, one of these, from Central Asia most likely, was already being imported as a food product and as live birds into Europe. This is where they got their name. According to R.D.

Turkey 198
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Best Bird of the Year 2014

10,000 Birds

I got to see a beautiful female and owlet on a trip to a secret nest location near Howard Prairie Lake (human-made nest structures have enhanced local breeding for these huge owls whose nest success is boosted to 83% on artificial platforms vs. 66% at natural sites). Adam’s BBOTY – Lammergeier.

2014 183
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Birding the Kruger Park (2): Bateleur area

10,000 Birds

Habitat loss, as documented by hieroglyphs. Europe has one species (Eurasian Spoonbill), the Americas have one (Roseate Spoonbill), Australia two (Royal and Yellow-billed Spoonbill), and Asia has two as well (Eurasian and Black-faced Spoonbill). Ostriches originated in Asia. Studies on improving ostrich egg hatchability.

Ostriches 147
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What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

What the Owl Knows is organized into nine chapters: introduction, adaptation (including vision and flight), research and researchers, vocalization, courtship and breeding, roosting and migration, cognition, and two chapters on owls and humans–captive owls (not zoos, educational owls) and owls in our cultural history.

Owls 200
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Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds: An Identification Guide?A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Greeney, also part of the Helm Identification series, it focuses on two avian families, combining the information necessary for identification with the latest research on taxonomy and behavior, particularly breeding behavior, and the latest conservation news and status. I love reading the descriptions of these birds’ breeding behavior.

Guinea 260