10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2014

April bears the most fruit for my family tree, including my own bad apple birthday this week. Does your family celebrate a lot of April birthdays? While I didn’t notice any Neotropical migrants this weekend, I was pleased to spot a Tufted Titmouse , a species I tend to miss during winter. The wood-warblers are back!

New Jersey 173

New Jersey 2014 Louisiana Bears 173

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2013

Maybe the name of this blog should be 10,015 birds. That would reflect the number of new species discovered in the Amazon rainforest over the past five years or so, according to scientists. The new birds inhabit the southern portion of the Amazon, some only in Brazil but others in Bolivia and Peru as well. Piacentini).

Bolivia 179

Bolivia Brazil Peru Birds 179

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2021

I got back into birding less than a decade ago, long after moving to Mexico in 1983. So I can hardly speak with authority on birding in the U.S. All sorts of exotic and beautiful species may be seen. Southeastern Arizona is unusual, precisely because its species mix is as much Mexican as it is American. But this one did.

Arizona 259

Arizona Mexico Los Angeles Dallas 259

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

What if there was an international multi-day Birding competition? Enter the inaugural Peru Birding Rally Challenge , the first international birding event of it’s kind in the world. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open.

Peru 220

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 220

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2016

I purchased my first Sibley— The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America —in 2003. Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips? Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips?

North America 155

North America 2003 Birds America 155

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

Instead, we’ve got other bird news to cheer us up (or at least take our minds off avian’s inexplicable inability to capture U.S. This lucky youngster from Massachusetts has almost 300 ticks, but just added his favorite— a Great Gray Owl his supportive family drove hundreds of miles to glimpse. sports championships ).

Massachusetts 100

Massachusetts Eggs Falcons Rights 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2019

Birds are singing and migrating, freshets are running, and trees are budding – yes, it’s time for all those things. And given what these birds have been through, this caution is certainly warranted. At last, it’s spring in the northern half of the world. What’s in a name?

North America 113

North America Vermont America Farming 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

Over Memorial Day weekend (23-25 May) my family and I spent the weekend along the Delaware shore enjoying the beaches, natural areas, and tourist traps that make visiting the shore such a delight. The sunrises alone made getting up, out, and about so early worth it but the birds made it even better. This one will have to suffice.

Delaware 171

Delaware New York Birds North Carolina 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Tropical birding demands tropical birds, those families and genera unique to their latitudes rather than shared via migration across various climate zones. Sometimes, they even have the same species… I’m looking at you, House Wren ! So why is this bird called the Red-ruffed Fruitcrow? Any questions?

Colombia 188

Colombia South America Argentina Ecuador 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Hugh, who years ago helped me find my first Pauraque in the Rio Grande Valley , visited Peru as part of the 2014 World Birding Rally, where he stopped thinking of himself as an experienced birder. This is his first contribution to 10,000 Birds. You can see the world’s smallest passerine and the Western Hemisphere’s biggest flying bird.

Peru 254

Peru Birds South America Owls 254

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2019

For many North American birders, wood warblers represent everything exciting, compelling, and immediate about birding. That fallacious family name seems to have encouraged all manner of knaves, dunderheads, and miscreants when time came to label species. Consider some examples: NAMED FOR OTHER BIRDS. NAMED FOR PEOPLE.

Rights 113

Rights Connecticut Tennessee Nashville 113

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

In all of North America, only one avian species serves as both the beloved mascot of seven states as well as the totem to two professional sports teams (and an infinity of amateur ones!) Ironically, this feathered figurehead is neither a bird of prey nor particular distinguished athletically.

St. Louis 177

St. Louis United States Belize Guatemala 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Few American birds have the publicity problems of the titmouse. A bird in the genus Baeolophus is neither a mouse nor…the other thing. The word titmouse descends from the Old English terms, tit (any small animal or object) and mase (small bird), essentially meaning one small, small bird. So be on the lookout.

Arizona 262

Arizona Oklahoma Texas Mexico 262

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge : Open to migratory bird hunting (youth only). The Refuge is now home to nearly 200 species of birds, over 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, and a wide variety of insects, fish and plants. This is an Urban Refuge !

Fish 143

Fish Wildlife Hunting Game 143

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

I am a birder, and I love birds. I don’t mind that they share the world with other creatures, and I have even developed an appreciation for mammals, reptiles and amphibians – but only so long as watching them doesn’t collide with my finding birds. This small pine tree was very recently demolished by a brown bear.

Europe 165

Europe Mammals Animal Birds 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2015

But bear with me for a second: this post presents a different context for a different squirrel. Germany, like most of Europe and very much unlike North America, is home to only one species of squirrel. It doesn’t raid bird feeders. Our winter birds are doing fine. Anyway, the Eurasian Red Squirrel.

Squirrels 162

Squirrels North America Germany Europe 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2017

Bear in mind, even the plants have to find ways to survive, so virtually every one of them has some form of thorny defense. When it comes to a one stop shopping for food and shelter, no other plant is as widely used as the Cardon Cactus family. Once the fruit is ripe, it becomes a primary source for many species.

Elephants 105

Elephants Woodpeckers Squirrels Shelters 105

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2015

In the past, I’ve been fairly hesitant about taking my two young children with me on longer birding excursions. I don’t want to burn them out on long car rides to less than exciting locations, but mostly i don’t want to have to deal with crabby kids begging me to go home when I’m busy seeking out a new state bird.

North Carolina 145

North Carolina Mountain Lions Otters Lions 145

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

It seemed to draw you in and I could easily imagine standing beside him, staring as he did at the bird, watching it curve its neck downwards. The title read “Birds of the Northern Forest”, paintings by J.F. Livingston, and on the dust jacket was a drawing of three Pine Grosbeaks ( Pinicola enucleator ) standing on a cone-bearing tree.

Birds 209

Birds Woodpeckers Canada Collecting 209

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

Be careful how you Google ‘bird of paradise’! It’s the bird family that most people don’t know is a bird family. It’s the bird family that most people don’t know is a bird family.

Guinea 261

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 261

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2018

It’s also not a bad place for some incidental birding while sampling a flight of beers after touring the brewery, as evidenced by my checklist from a visit last summer. Speaking of birds – I was getting to that. non-birders) envision when they hear the word “bird” – but it bears a passing resemblance to the American Robin.

Belgium 100

Belgium New York United States Skunks 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2014

So it was with my family’s trip to Borneo, where, for the end our trip, we had a choice of the Semporna Archipelago, home of the world famous dive site of Sipadan, or Mantanani, a small island off Borneo’s north coast which also had beaches and diving. Sometimes, when you plan and book trips, you pick the wrong option.

Philippines 160

Philippines Turtles Owls Fish 160

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

Found throughout South America in ever-dwindling numbers these extremely beautiful birds – threatened by habitat destruction and collection for the wild bird trade – are often difficult to see and hard to find. These threats are further exacerbated by the naturally low reproductive rates of these cavity-nesting birds.

Peru 254

Peru Parrots 2011 Research Center 254

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2022

Strangely, one of the easiest birds to see on Chongming recently is the non-native Black Swan. According to an article in the Guardian , “nearly a quarter of black swan families are parented by homosexual couples, the males sometimes mating with a female simply to have a chick. Homophobia? I thought I needed to mention this.

Birds 200

Birds China Pythons Breeding 200

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2023

I also only managed to see rather common bird species at Shennongjia, a nature reserve in Hubei province, China. If this does not put you off from reading this post, you are hopeless anyway, so just proceed … The Brown-breasted Bulbul might well be the most common bird at Shennongjia, so it seems appropriate to start with it.

China 169

China Birds Eggs Woodpeckers 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. It provides goals and a definite direction for your birding travels and thoughts; sometimes it even becomes the basis of a book!

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

There’s a Sloth Bear in tall, dry grass, barely 50 metres from us, but all we can see is a dark, shape-shifting shadow that eventually becomes all but invisible. Conservation endangered species India Mammals tiger' On a branch above the road, one Black-winged Kite is scratching its throat and… we brake! The Telia Lake.

Tigers 240

Tigers India Killing 2012 240

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

When out birding, I prefer completely wild habitat. I enjoy birding in cocoa estates especially – as they retain some of the highest percentage of native biodiversity (as compared to other altered habitats). Shade-grown crops have myriad advantages, and naturally, we’re here for the birds. Yellow-breasted Flycatcher.

Trinidad 206

Trinidad Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 206

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2021

Given this Blog is 10,000 Birds I would like to share, over time, some of the 350 plus Sunshine Coast birds and my favourite birding locations plus some mammals and other critters of my greater area. I’m also going to write about myself and my birding life – even if it involves leaving the Sunshine Coast!

Australia 248

Australia North America Cooking Fish 248

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

I dipped a bird recently – possibly a lifer. First I noticed a red cap – a male, then striped flanks and pale-red undertail, but couldn’t see its wing because some part of the bird remained hidden by a branch at any given time. I opt for the bird richest section of the lake, visible from the eastern dyke. What to say?

Greece 249

Greece Woodpeckers Boars Eagles 249

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Forget lions, tigers, and bears – if Internet listicles are to be believed, all of Oz is full of crocodiles, sharks, jellyfish, snakes, spiders – even magpies – that are dead set on killing, maiming, or injuring any humans they encounter. Good birding and happy drinking! Teal Lake Shiraz (2019). Three out of five feathers (Good).

2019 216

2019 Australia Ducks Fowl 216

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Not, as Linneaus thought, an ostrich, nor even, as later scientists concluded, a distant cousin of pigeons deserving of family rank, it was an honest-to-goodness pigeon, deeply embedded within the family Columbidae. All of the birds within Raphini are highly specialized for island life. ” Beehler et al.’s

Solomon Islands 273

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 273

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2017

The Collegiate does define the word “ birder ” (“a person who birds”) and “ bird watcher ” (“a person who watches and identifies wild birds”). Of course, a “person who birds” begs the question of what “ bird ,” as a verb, means. That’s not all: bird words abound in the dictionary.

Albatross 103

Albatross Bears Ducks Bald Eagle 103

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2014

Reports abounded of a huge variety of birds, from thrushes to nightjars, terns to vireos. Our families, on the other hand, might have been a bit upset at the warbler fever that overtook even the most resistant birder. But I had two birds in particular that stood out for me this weekend. And was it ever! Northern Parula.

New York City 172

New York City New York Kentucky Abandon 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

Once you reach Coconut Wells the road bears to your right and just as the bitumen ends you take a left turn towards the beach. In fact one of our pairs was doing just that as we headed north to check on not only the Pied Oystercatchers , but any other birds in the area. Family of Brolga. Pied Oystercatcher shading an egg.

Eggs 140

Eggs Birds Investigation Bears 140

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2013

In celebration of the upcoming I and the Bird look at the heron family I invite you to consider the White-faced Heron ! New Zealand, where I live, am the 10,000 Birds Beat Writer of, and of which I very occasionally actually write about, is home to several species of heron. It wasn’t always this way.

New Zealand 148

New Zealand Indonesia Cattle Guinea 148

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

It’s my fantasy and it’s yours: Quit the job, say good-bye to the family, and bird. British birder Chris Gooddie, my new birding hero, not only dreamed the fantasy, he lived it. That’s Pitta, people, not Antpitta, which is what I foolishly first envisioned, having never birded beyond the Americas.)

Hunters 188

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 188