10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2024

That day, he limited himself to showing us Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Rose-throated Becard, Grey-collared Becard, Spot-breasted Wren, Olive Sparrow, Hepatic Tanager, Blue Bunting and Stripe-crowned Warbler. The day was only minutes old and we already had 32 species on the day list.

Parrots 163

Parrots Woodpeckers Industry Fast Food 163

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

This is common with life-threatening situations and expected; any ancient ancestors who would have not paid heed to close calls would have likely been quickly and savagely selected from the gene pool (just trying to pet the Short-faced Bear again…). These smart looking birds are tropical sparrows.

Costa Rica 231

Costa Rica Birds Farming Litter 231

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2018

In talking to the local guides, and Rangers, they all agreed that they had not been seeing too many species around in the last couple of weeks. Crows, Ravens, Clark’s Nutcrackers, White-crowned Sparrows and assorted waterfowl were all still present, but that was about it. You know, the Bison, Elk, Bears and Wolves.

Wyoming 106

Wyoming Wolves Grizzly Bear Mountain Goats 106

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

This amazing area has a widely varied habitat range, and the variety of birds observed here, in nearly 20 different eBird.org hotspots average almost 200 species each. Now, bear in mind, I just left Costa Rica, where seeing a trogon is really nice, but not all that uncommon, so I don’t believe I was as awed as the occasion called for.

Tucson 161

Tucson Arizona Costa Rica Birds 161

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2016

Two more sparrows on the macadam ahead of me… In my early birding days, I would simply assume that they are sparrows, possibly not even taking another look at them, but now I am too old to be so naive. and entering observations into the eBird application on my smartphone.

Romania 137

Romania Sparrows Battery Turtles 137

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

As of mid-October 2018, the Collaborative had submitted more than 1,700 checklists and observed 618 species in the United States. The heat map is revealing: Unsurprisingly for a site founded and run by two New Yorkers (one of whom literally wrote the book on birding New York), the Empire State boasts the highest number of species (316).

Rhode Island 114

Rhode Island United States West Virginia Puerto Rico 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

whose occupants have already left for Africa, but a clump of elaborate closed nests of Spanish Sparrows hang underneath it. Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows. In all that swirling of swallows, I am not certain was there a third species, so I keep watching. Practicalities. Other taxa.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

It doesn’t seem to offer food or shelter for birds; but, being the tallest tree on the block, is an important stopover for lots of species. Also, my all-too-abundant House Sparrows have learned to pull thin, flexible strips off of my bananas’ leaves, which they use to weave their nests. It keeps my wife happy.

Birds 158

Birds Woodpeckers Madagascar Nashville 158

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2015

Then we looked for some common species. Cinereous Tit, Cinereous Bunting, and Cinereous Vulture all bear this standard, but perhaps the most popular cinereous bird on the internet is the Cinereous Mourner , with its clever and adorable chicks. By far the most popular bird we saw was the Red-winged Blackbird. James so popular.

Blackbirds 162

Blackbirds Owls Sparrows Ducks 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2019

Escaped partridges, quail, and pheasants are never as abundant or harmful as the much-maligned big three invasives – Rock Pigeons , European Starlings , and House Sparrows. And because of the resemblance they bear to their New World cousins in the family Phasianidae , they even look the part of an “authentic” wild bird in North America.

North America 113

North America Vermont America Farming 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2018

The Aliens Among Us: How Invasive Species Are Transforming the Planet – and Ourselves (Leslie Anthony, Yale). • Shakespeare was, supposedly , the reason starlings, house sparrows, and other non-native birds were introduced to North America. Ten thousand years ago, Thomas notes, house sparrows were unknown in Britain.

Humane 104

Humane Species North America Sparrows 104

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2016

I must have keep 400 images in the file of just this one species. I caught this Lark Sparrow at San Blas, near Magdalena Bay , just as the sun was setting. This late evening photo of an American Avocet is one of my all time favorites of this species. While in Kodiak Alaska, I did get a few very nice Kodiak Grizzly Bear shots.

Grizzly Bear 121

Grizzly Bear San Jose Bears Fish 121

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2018

Although I didn’t make any efforts to chase birds or attain a big year list, regular guiding and birding in various parts of the country still rewarded me with more than 640 species in Costa Rica. I didn’t see many species actually. Life is always better when bearing witness to Sunbittern madness. Shorebirds.

Costa Rica 175

Costa Rica 2018 Birds West Virginia 175

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

The IOC world birdlist recognizes 90 species that bear the name “weaver” or “malimbe” Not all of these are true weavers as we will discuss below. There are currently 64 recognized species in this genus, a remarkable number indeed, and this includes the 5 Asian and 2 Malagasy species.

Tanzania 228

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 228

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

It bears mentioning that the name of the series doesn’t refer to the physical dimensions of the featured species, but the size of the tiny black-and-white illustrations of each bird. It’s the least I can do for a species that’s caused me almost no identification angst over the years.

Ducks 104

Ducks Houston Boston Fowl 104

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2016

Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips? It gets very confusing when I’m trying to look at subspecies descriptions in multiple field guides (“Slate-Colored Fox Sparrow” in Sibley West, for example, is “Western Slate-colored Group” in Stokes West).

North America 168

North America 2003 Birds America 168

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

172 lists were shared and 1004 species were seen, both records for October, so well done beats! Fox Sparrow – Passerella iliaca. Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark – Eremopterix leucotis. Southern Gray-headed Sparrow – Passer diffusus. Stripe-headed Sparrow – Peucaea ruficauda. has reached 54.

2019 118

2019 China Battery Jamaica 118

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2015

I still know my audience - this is primarily a blog read by birders in North America, who see the term “squirrel” as little more than a synonym for house sparrow, starling, pest and cholera. But bear with me for a second: this post presents a different context for a different squirrel. And aren’t you glad it is.

Squirrels 162

Squirrels North America Germany Europe 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

Having never birded Cape Henlopen State Park before I was kind of unsure as to the best place to go, so after entering the park on Sunday morning I pulled over to get my bearings and to figure out what route through the park I should take. Seaside Sparrows were incredibly abundant in the saltmarsh west of Gordon Pond.

Delaware 177

Delaware New York Birds North Carolina 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2011

You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

United States 192

United States Bald Eagle Eagles Seals 192

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2017

There are also entries for “ albatross ,” “ dove ,” “ eagle ,” “ egret ,” “ flycatcher ,” “ gull ,” “ grebe ,” “ hummingbird ,” “ loon ,” “ murrelet ,” “ shearwater ,” “ sparrow ,” “ swallow ,” “ tern ,” “ thrush ,” “ woodpecker ,” “ wren ,” and so forth. Many individual species get an entry too, though they are generally not capitalized.

Albatross 105

Albatross Bears Ducks Bald Eagle 105

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2011

Besides the American bison that the refuge was founded to protect, there are pronghorns, elk, bighorn sheep, mule and white-tailed deer, and black bears. Things started on a promising note, with Mountain Bluebirds and the pale local race of Song Sparrow both evident in the visitor center parking lot.

Rattlesnake 164

Rattlesnake Bald Eagle Mules Mammals 164

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Beside birds, in this park you stand a chance of spotting the Eurasian Lynx , Brown Bear and Gray Wolf ! Well, do you really? Birds of the Iron Gates: While the best birding season here is the breeding period (May to June), the Iron Gates is also an important migratory stopover and wintering area. GPS coordinates of the Forgotten Road.

Serbia 194

Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 194

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

Ever the moral perfectionist, Franklin argued that the turkey was a much more honorable and determined fowl, and suggested the bird – as an “original Native of America” – would make a decidedly more fitting avian mascot for the United States (seemingly implying – incorrectly – that the Bald Eagle is not an indigenous New World species).

2017 152

2017 Bald Eagle United States Turkey 152

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2014

They do bear some resemblance to Sage Thrashers , but have a much heavier, more sickle-shaped bill. If not for California’s Salton Sea (where this species can be fairly common in summer and fall), Yellow-footed Gull would be considered another Mexican endemic. White-winged Doves are almost grotesquely abundant.

California 227

California San Jose Birds Mexico 227

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2012

Talking to Jan Södersved the editor of the Birdlife Finland magazine Linnut whilst we were both in Portugal in early October suggested that all of the owl species in Finland had had a very productive breeding season. The numbers we have wintering in Britain are certainly bearing that out.

Barn Owls 185

Barn Owls Finland Owls Portugal 185

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2019

To birders, the search for raptors perched at the very tops of telephone poles, or for neatly arranged rows of sparrows or buntings sitting on the low-slung lines draped between them is one of the chief joys of any drive through the country. There is an undeniable appeal to the sight of a bird sitting on a wire.

United States 118

United States Game North America New York City 118

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2016

Coming from Niagara Falls, New York, it also means freezing, bitter cold, watching for imaginary Polar Bears while pretending to walk through an Arctic landscape, and looking for owls. Back in Costa Rica, walks through coffee and fields near the house, and a few other day trips have upped the list to 250 species. So was this Snowy Owl.

Costa Rica 101

Costa Rica 2016 San Antonio Sparrows 101

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Dawn Fine Mar 15th, 2011 at 3:50 pm NO Comment YourBirdOasis.com Mar 15th, 2011 at 10:07 pm Yeah, polygynandry is really weird…what other species have this breeding system? Might I assume that women typically bear fewer children, or fewer survive? Laurent, I cannot find anything on White-throated Sparrows being polygynandrous.

2011 217

2011 Breeders Breeding Deer 217

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2019

April was a busy time for the beats with 10 of them contributing 164 lists to accumulate 744 species from 7 countries; Costa Rica, USA, Australia, Serbia, UK, Brazil and Barbados. White-throated Sparrow – Zonotrichia albicollis. Song Sparrow – Melospiza melodia. House Sparrow – Passer domesticus.

2019 113

2019 Australia Ghana Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

The field site I am assigned to is located in one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and home to a particularly rich avifauna that numbers well over 500 species. Hundreds of riotously colored birds representing 14 species of macaws and parrots flock and frolic together in less than fifty meters of forest canopy.

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 South America 255

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2019

978 species were tallied this month from 163 checklists. Only 123 species appear on both sides of the life list. Lemmon–Bear Canyon (Cypress, Middle Bear, Chihuahua Pine Picnic Areas). Rufous-winged Sparrow – Peucaea carpalis. Stripe-headed Sparrow – Peucaea ruficauda. Durand-Eastman Park.

2019 113

2019 Ghana Australia Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

But it happened at that moment that a lot of what I was looking at was avian in nature: a few crows, some sparrows, blackbirds, and other run of the mill inner-ring suburb fliers and flitterers. I’m sure there were a lot of insects in range of my eyeballs, hiding behind leaves or camouflaged against bark as insects are wont to do.

Mammals 177

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 177

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

Informed literature bears out my experience that most birds are seen singly or in pairs. Very interesting species. The former British colony’s Z.c. melli strain is one of as many as 12 races and shows a lighter face than many of the others. Married to a Canon? That I understand! They are most visible on the napes of passerines.

2011 188

2011 Deer India New York 188