10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2012

Our small group spent a weekend at the Ferret Research Camp, a cluster of trailers tucked in the middle of a black-tailed prairie dog town and the site, as the name implies, of a black-footed ferret reintroduction program. In the winters the snow lies heavy and researchers travel in and out by small plane.

Wildlife 203

Wildlife Ferrets Montana Prairie Dogs 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

Dunn starts in Alaska with the goal of seeing Rufous Hummingbird at the northern extreme of its migration (which he does with some effort and a few bear sightings) and ends in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, “the end of the world,” with the sighting of a Green-backed Firecrown feeding at a firetree in cold drizzly rain.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2024

So, like a football stadium named after an insurance company, the broadbill ended up bearing a name celebrating a sponsor. Of course, only chemists have a rough idea what that might mean. When seeing a Black-sided Flowerpecker , of course, the first thought everyone has is “What an amazing black side!”

Birds 243

Birds Indonesia Breeding Charlotte 243

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

The speaker turned out to be Tim Laman, and the topic was the incredible research he and Ed Scholes had spent years doing on birds of paradise in New Guinea. The material is meticulously documented with citations of monographs by Clifford and Dawn Frith and Bruce Beehler plus additional research papers and materials.

Guinea 264

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

Here are some of the questions that were running through my mind as I read Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl : (a) Is ornithological research always this dangerous? (b) He wanted to do research that would have a conservation impact. Slaght provides funding from research grants.

Owls 152

Owls Russia Fish Research 152

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2020

But I only rehabbed birds, so I had to do research and call my mammal rehabber friends. I didn’t know the set up required for a black bear, or how high a Florida panther can actually jump. And of course, Carl Hiaasen, who unintentionally taught me how to write a novel. Your last post for 10,000 birds was in 2017.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 275

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife 275

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2022

Other research (cited on the rather straightforwardly named website www.genderinclusivebiology.com) found that 80% of gay swan couples successfully fledge their young, compared with only 30% for straight couples. Though of course, competition for these jobs from Eurasian Spoonbills is fierce.

Birds 238

Birds China Pythons Breeding 238

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

This would be a night drive, cold, dark, uncomfortable seats, loud engine in the giant 26-seater truck, scanning the brush and the roadside with three or four strong spotlights wrangled by volunteers among the nature-loving tourists, and of course, the headlights of the truck. And, of course, something interesting came along.

Feral Cats 257

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 257

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

But of course, I do understand that bird watchers strive to see the birds that are at the lower end of the distribution of abundance, or to observe unusual behavior, so in a sense all this other bird-biomass out there consisting as it does of mundane birds is a distraction rather than an objective. Amphibian’s and Reptiles: 3.4

Mammals 186

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 186

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

This is the story of Fox’s experiences on board the Achiever, the research vessel of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Though the coast of British Columbia, a part of the Great Bear Rainforest, was rich in both, it was appallingly deficient in scientific data. Northern Fulmar, image courtesy of Peter Hodum.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 15, 2009

Scientific research and expertise are needed here. He requests that after his death his wife prepare a lavish dinner with him as the main course. This, however, is not our world, so I don’t understand the bearing of the question. Neither is it obvious, however, that eating microorganisms does not kill them.

Morals 40

Morals Vegetarian Meat Killing 40