10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2016

After getting to spend some time with a few of these birds recently, I decided to feature them in my story this week. Like many birders, ever since I was a child, these wonderful, shy birds have been known as the Common Moorhen. That and the fact that I have barely been able to get out in the field for the last three weeks.

Chile 100

Chile Breeders Asia Mexico 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The other day I was exploring a new area for the first time, birding the national park that I’ve watched only in BBC documentaries, the place famous for the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world – more than 1300 pairs! Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows. Have you heard of it?

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

My initial reaction was, “Really, dude, of all the birds that you’re allowed to have in Wisconsin, you choose the bird that is going to make birders who don’t understand falconry angry?” Snowy Owls are used in falconry, more so in Europe but they are legal for a few states here in the US. Go home now!”

Wisconsin 254

Wisconsin Falcons Owls Hunting 254

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. Further to the east, Asian Openbill displays the same special feature but is mostly a white plumaged bird.

Africa 248

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 248

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2024

Lesser Kestrels are one of those birds that have a special fascination for British birdwatchers. They are very rare birds in Britain, but have been recorded from Scilly in the south to Fair Isle in the north. Lesser Kestrel really is an appropriate name, for they are a lesser bird than the familiar Common Kestrel.

Falcons 218

Falcons Spain Europe 2012 218

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2016

It has been a while since I birded a new area for the first time – I sure missed the feeling. Paljuvi Dam, some 30 miles SW of Belgrade, Serbia, is a known angling, but not so well known birding destination. Or are these birds taking a year off to see the world? As a result, I had 15 species in the first hour. And a puzzle.

Turtles 121

Turtles Serbia Breeding Breeders 121

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2018

He made a whirlwind tour of some of the best birding areas in the country, from the Karajukica Bunari peat bog in the extreme southwest (by the border with Montenegro) all the way to the Slano Kopovo Crane Sanctuary in the northeast. He enjoys combining his passion for birds with computer science background to model nocturnal bird migration.

Serbia 148

Serbia Switzerland Farming Birds 148

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2015

So here I am, trying to come up with a bird post when my thoughts are orbiting around ice cream and ice cream only. Which means it is time for some birding philosophy. This is particularly interesting for birders in North America and Europe (duh!), Remember my post on Great Egrets last month? If not, it is here.

North America 175

North America Europe America Asia 175

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2018

Turning off the asphalt, I enter the Deliblato Sands steppe, between the Danube and the Carpathian Mountains in the northeast of Serbia, where the first bird to greet me is a Northern Wheatear , followed by a Crested Lark. They are rare breeders here, but at least, this species’ numbers are on the increase. I must digress further.

Serbia 136

Serbia Eagles Falcons Farming 136

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

The proprietor of our ecolodge guides my small group of birders up a steep slope where we see, just at the point where a scope view deteriorates into pixels, a huge bird—a Chaco Eagle, also known as a Crowned Eagle—on a huge nest. The post The Falcon Thief: A Book Review appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

Falcons 232

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 232

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In this post, we’ll share the most positive of the positives, at least for those who write for 10,000 Birds who decided to share. Of all the birds that make the list for a given year one of those birds must be the Best Bird of the Year. We are always content bird-watching around Broome anyway!

2020 251

2020 Birds Costa Rica Germany 251

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2024

I was thinking of inventing a background story about a Chinese poet mentioning starlings (and other bird species) in one of his poems, and a rich Chinese fan of these poems pursuing the ambition of introducing all bird species mentioned therein to China, explaining the occasional occurrence of the starling in Shanghai.

Birds 212

Birds Research Science Europe 212

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2019

Falconry Month at Birds and Booze: I’ve decided to dedicate this month of March 2019 to wines and beers related to the history of falconry – or hawking – for no other reason than that I’ve recently acquired several bottles adorned with mostly medieval European iconography relating to this “sport of kings”.

2015 113

2015 Italy Falcons Europe 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2013

There is a Linnet at Kissena Corridor Park in Queens, and though I bird this park regularly, the Linnet, a bird regularly found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa and also named in a sweet song by Stephen Sondheim (Green Finch and Linnet Bird from Sweeny Todd) has eluded me. Maybe I had seen the bird and I didn’t know it?

Ireland 174

Ireland 2013 Breeders Ducks 174

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2012

Birding can be a double-edged sword, getting out birding, seeing, hearing and ‘doing’ birding is as we all know incredibly good for the soul and simply the best way to spend time. Further research revealed two more companies in Britain and several others across Europe all engaged in the same shooting tourism.

Morocco 176

Morocco Turtles Protest Protesting 176