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

AUGUST 10, 2014

Across the world’s northern oceans, 24 species of auklets, murres, puffins, guillemots, and related seabirds make a living catching food beneath the waves and breeding, often in large colonies, on coastlines and islands. Alcids form a distinctive family within the shorebird order Charadriiformes. © David J. See Cairns et al.

Penguins 233

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 233

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

Birds are supposed to have feathers and birds without feathers look incomplete, like they left home with shaving cream on their ear and toothpaste spots on their shirt. The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. T urkey Vulture, photo by Dawn Puliafico.

California Condor 190

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 190

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2013

The Pygmy Nuthatch ( Sitta pygmaea ) is a non-migratory bird that lives primarily in Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine forests in western North America. These Pygmy Nuthatches were seen in June nesting in a pine tree at Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. What a nice, close knit family!

North America 166

North America America Collecting California 166

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2014

It was the bobbing action on the rocks that drew my attention to the bird. This was a family vacation and I had led my unsuspecting wife and son out onto the curving pier at Aquatic Park, overlooking San Francisco Bay, ostensibly to get a better look at Alcatraz and the bridge, but actually with half a mind to finding a Wandering Tattler.

San Francisco 165

San Francisco United States California Breeding 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2015

There are many charismatic endangered birds that capture people’s hearts and imaginations: the colossal California Condor , the evocative Red-crowned Crane , and the adorable Spoon-billed Sandpiper come to mind. Curassows are such stately birds. Photo courtesy of Ciro Albano. What happened next was pure magic.

Brazil 224

Brazil California Condor Parrots Texas 224

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2013

The American Pipit ( Anthus rubescens ) is described as a slim-billed, sparrow-like bird of open country. They migrate down from alpine and arctic tundra to lower latitudes in the non-breeding season (click on photos for full sized images). Birding American Pipit pipits Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge' I hope you enjoy it!

Sacramento 166

Sacramento Wildlife California Sparrows 166

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. And, the birds are awesome. Brown Boobies ( Sula leucogaster ), Islas Coronado, Baja California © David J. A bare gular pouch or throat sac is another feature shared by most of these birds, tropicbirds being the exception.

2011 155

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2017

A member of the small Ptiliogonatidae family of silky-flycatchers, of which there are only three other species besides our local Phainopepla , Phainopepl nitens. While being a member of the flycatcher family does give it some occasional fly catching behavior, its claim to avian fame is in a digestive tract capability.

Costa Rica 107

Costa Rica Panama Nevada Guatemala 107

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2013

Two-thousand-twelve was a pretty darn good year for me birding-wise and otherwise. Seeing 525 species was nice, as was the fact that I birded in four countries, nine of the fifty states in the United States, and fifty-one counties. I went to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida. Mottled Duck ?

2012 145

2012 Czech Republic Hedgehogs Hungary 145

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

This group — dubbed the bombycillids , from the waxwing genus and family name — appears to fall near kinglets and a large group containing thrushes and muscicapids (Old World flycatchers and chats) in the passerine tree. The Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds has more on the Palmchat. Spellman et al.

Saudi Arabia 226

Saudi Arabia 2008 Indonesia Groups 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2013

Proposal 2013-A-6 would split the shearwater taxon baroli , which breeds on several Atlantic island groups (the Azores, Canaries, Selvages, and Madeira) and strays to North American waters, from its current position as part of the Little Shearwater ( Puffinus assimilis ) complex. nevadensis ) and California Sage Sparrow ( A.

2013 193

2013 Sparrows Owls Stray 193

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

My review copy (well, actually a contributor’s copy—more on that later) was waiting for me when I returned from the ABA birding tour of Thailand and Malaysia (more on that in a separate post) in early March. The book does not include House Sparrow, an Old World sparrow that belongs to a completely different bird family.

North America 157

North America Sparrows America United States 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

The order Suliformes holds a lot of special birds from anhingas and darters to cormorants and shags as well as frigatebirds, pelicans, and tropicbirds. But the sleekest of the sulids may be found in the family Sulidae. While this bird shares the Galápagos with two other boobies, the Red-footed Booby ( S.

Ecuador 190

Ecuador Peru Hunters Pelicans 190

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2013

My first opportunity to go after the bird was Friday morning, 5 July, and Seth Ausubel and I made the run out to Cupsogue where we enjoyed Roseate Terns , Black Terns , Arctic Terns , Forster’s Terns , Common Terns , and Least Terns. I had, after all, seen quite a few just a couple of weeks ago in southern California.

New York 150

New York South America 2013 New Jersey 150

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2011

The California Quail ( Callipepla californica ) is the California state bird, inhabiting scrub, broken chaparral and woodland edges primarily in California, Oregon, Washington and Baja California. All New World Quail are highly gregarious, typically found in coveys or flocks except during breeding season.

California 231

California Eggs Gophers Rattlesnake 231

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2011

I am excited to see new birds and that is what this blog post will be about, of course! What can I, as a birder who has birded the northeastern United States and southern California rather extensively, hope to add to my life list? What other birds that I have seen before will I be excited to see again?

Seattle 160

Seattle Rhinoceros Puffins United States 160

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Bird vocalizations. If I was going out looking for a rarity or even just for a bird that I hadn’t seen (or heard) in awhile I would play the songs and, especially, the chip notes prior to getting into the field to ensure that if the bird called I would recognize it. Some of the more rare birds are overly mapped.

New York 179

New York Battery Hawaii United States 179

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

So, Scott Weidensaul comes to this Reference Guide with three important qualifications–expertise, the ability to explain complex scientific ideas in friendly, accessible language, and a passion for birds and research. taken from the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

North America 233

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 233

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2011

There are a few birds up here that, while we may find as just part of the fauna, others would foam at the mouth for a chance to see. Breeding plumaged Lapland Longspurs, Red-throated and Pacific Loons ? Birds that leave people scratching their heads. She also described it as one miserable looking bird. Ivory Gull ?

Canada 184

Canada Sparrows California Birds 184

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 ! Why would you open it up to hunting?

Fish 145

Fish Wildlife Hunting Game 145

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2022

Last week, Corey opened the “Top Ten Birds for 2021” season here at 10,000 Birds. He lamented that he had barely been able to travel during the year — only one trip from New York to California, poor boy — and then went on to give an impressive list of vagrants and first-of-state birds.

Mexico 234

Mexico Birds Virginia Barn Owls 234

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

They looked out their windows and across their patios and up from their apartment terraces and saw–birds. This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

It actually makes a lot of sense, the geographic features of the isthmus between North America (including Mexico, because Mexico is part of North America) and South America cut across political lines, as do birds. It is the first bird field guide to every country of Central America (plus the islands governed by those countries).

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2022

Here in central Mexico, the winter season always seems to begin with the arrival of various members of the sandpiper family. I assume this is because so many of them breed in the Arctic and tundra regions, so their summer is much briefer than that of other birds. But hey, other birders enthuse about birding poo plants.

Mexico 188

Mexico Breeding Groups California 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2019

I brushed the screen of my tablet and the image of a small bird, bold in black and gray and chestnut, filled the screen behind me. ” Glancing at the man who’d interrupted, I remembered exactly how his family first made their money and decided to move ahead quickly. ” “The California Condor ?

Branding 166

Branding Falcons Birds California Condor 166

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2013

And now we enter into a family of birds more or less unknown to non-birders. To know a grebe is to take your bird awareness to another level. To cast your eyes to the cattails on the edges of the pond or the raft of birds at the lake’s center and to know what you are likely to find. Not enough for you?

Jordan 200

Jordan Guatemala Birds South America 200

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2017

It was a good birding year. Many sad and unfortunate things occurred in 2016, but the birding was good. I started the year in Florida, traveled to India with the ABA in February, combined family and birding in an August trip to California, and in-between saw very good birds in New York and New Jersey.

2016 113

2016 India Ducks Birds 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

And, for all our complaints about brown and gray plumages, gulls can be beautiful birds (well, some more beautiful than others, and Heermann’s Gull is one of my favorites, with one N at the end or two). In a birding world that celebrates identification, there are surprisingly few articles and books on gull identification.**

North America 208

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 208

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

On my recent short family vacation to Miami, I was granted a single day to get out and really bird like a madman. We immediately headed to an undisclosed location where Carlos had breeding Mangrove Cuckoos staked out. Let me get out of the car before making me look at birds! Come on, Carlos! What is it with this guy?

Florida 124

Florida Miami Birds Owls 124

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

As 2013 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 , 2011 , and 2012 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

2013 168

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 168

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Life is hard for baby birds, as the world is filled with reasons why they might not make it too adulthood. Starvation and predators make it hard to grow up, and birds have evolved a lot of strategies to give (at least some of) their chicks the best chance in life. Seabirds are one group of birds that go for the latter strategy.

Eggs 166

Eggs Puffins Breeding Raised 166

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2018

Birders have a natural tendency to appreciate variety in form, from the bewildering range of colors displayed within a single avian family, to minute distinctions between otherwise similar birds wholly inscrutable to the untrained eye (or even to those of many birders!). More birds mean more potential lifers.

Ohio 113

Ohio India Hawaii United States 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

There is a very distinctive smell found on seabird colonies, where thousands upon thousands of birds come to breed and, coincidentally, deposit large quantities of waste. A waterproof raincoat is essential in even the hottest sunniest days of summer. This is done at night, over three nights, and is quite the operation.

Breeding 187

Breeding Stray Seals Whales 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2011

The variety of plumages that they show and the way different individuals molt at different times is interesting to me and I have stopped being surprised at seeing a small flock of ruddies with some nearly in full breeding, or alternate plumage, while others are still in their basic, or non-breeding plumage. Get yours today!

Ducks 144

Ducks 2011 New York New York City 144

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2011

Melanerpes lewis is, to put it simply, a really cool bird. Second of all, Lewis’s Woodpeckers are birds of the west and they rarely stray to New York State. In fact, the bird is the fifth recorded in the history of the state,* and the first spotted in the Empire State since 2001. What a bird! Really well.

New York 204

New York Woodpeckers Jordan 2011 204

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2011

I thought after my recent look at the more angelic end of the avian spectrum it would be illustrative to descend into the circles of birding hell in order to regard, through the safety of the Internet, one of the baser demons in the pantheon of the birding gods. Did I say firm? I meant squishy. Warm, damp and squishy.

Breeding 177

Breeding Collecting California Hunting 177