10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2021

June is the breeding month, when New Yorkers mostly give up on migrant birds and look for birds where they nest. If you can avoid the bad bugs and get the birds it must be counted as a successful outing. There’s always good birds to be found there. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

Virginia 204

Virginia Birds Collecting Dogs 204

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Very occasionally though, one might stray down the eastern seaboard of the USA, but for the most part, those that breed in arctic Canada migrate towards Europe and swell numbers there during the winter. The concrete ramp collects seaweed as the tide pushes back and forth. The seaweed, in its turn attracts insects and thus birds.

Iceland 203

Iceland Stray Breeders Canada 203

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. For birders, it’s the extremely large book, shelved in a place where it can’t crush the field guides, used to research the history of a bird in their area. It included surveys of nocturnal and marsh birds, and a point count survey of songbirds.

Pennsylvania 220

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 220

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2017

Magpie-larks are a very common bird throughout most of Australia and they are quite at home among the large cities as well as in the country towns and the remote parts of Australia. Magpie-larks have been busy at all of the muddy puddles in recent months collecting mud to make their nests. Female Magpie-lark with a large grasshopper.

Breeding 100

Breeding Australia Collecting Geese 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

It has been more than 5 years since I last went to Australia, and I was even less of a qualified bird photographer then than I am now. However, the lockdown forces me to go deeper and deeper into my photo collection, if I want to write anything at all. I guess it is a bird though. Admittedly, it is mostly grey.

Australia 180

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 180

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2020

When to visit: best during winter and migration season, but also breeding season. Avoid windy days – the birds will be looking for cover. Since no-one lives here, there is no organised rubbish collecting. When to visit: best in breeding and migration seasons (April to June and late August-September). Dupljaja area.

Mali 264

Mali Serbia Eagles Birds 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

The chapter titles of Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds represent both ends of the spectrum: “A World Full of Poisons,” “Malaria,” “Forest Intruders,” “Lead Shock,” “Shot.” Conservation. It’s not easy.

California Condor 169

California Condor Falcons California Birds 169

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

David Tomlinson The recent announcement by the American Ornithological Society that it intends to replace names of all birds named after people has caused quite a stir here in the UK. I have a fascinating little reference book called Whose Bird? Collecting birds was clearly a dangerous pastime. We don’t need any more.

Falcons 213

Falcons Collecting 2003 Wounded 213

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2022

According to Wikipedia, the national bird of Australia is the Emu – which I have not seen yet. Duncan – in a 10,000 Birds post – apparently also thinks it would make a good national bird. Duncan – in a 10,000 Birds post – apparently also thinks it would make a good national bird.

Australia 147

Australia Birds Parrots Ostriches 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

This is not due to its breeding habits, which it shares with the other hornbills – though those habits could well be described as appalling. On a positive note, it makes it easier for those male hornbills that do not like kids to focus on what they are good at (collecting fruit and handing them to the wife through a slit in the hole).

Myanmar 234

Myanmar Singapore China Collecting 234

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

On BirdTrack, the British equivalent of e-Bird, the list of birds provided does allow for Tufted Duck x Ferruginous Duck to be recorded, but not Tufted Duck x Pochard. However, there had been reports of a Scaup mixed in with the flock, which at first glance I thought this bird might be. My hunch was Tufted Duck x Pochard.

Geese 179

Geese Ducks Falcons Latvia 179

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Most people are familiar with their bright red colours and their long seed pods, but what is worth noting is that birds like them too! They also offer an excellent opportunity for birds to nest. The Magpie-larks have also been breeding recently and also using the Poinciana trees for nesting. They build their nests out of mud.

Breeding 147

Breeding Australia Family Collecting 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

” Indeed, there is one distinctly birding connection to this country: a famous birder Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond, visited the Seychelles in 1958 looking for inspiration for his then-latest collection of stories, For Your Eyes Only. .’ M glanced out of the window at the driving March sleet.

Seychelles 223

Seychelles Wildlife Tortoises Fish 223

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2022

At some point, my stock of memories of birds seen outside of China will be used up, I am afraid. Even more than the African Grey Hornbill, they are forest birds. Any bird that apparently lives off turning around dung in search of insects deserves respect. Probably Wikipedia is more specialized on birds than the HBW.

South Africa 197

South Africa Africa China Seals 197

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2022

The American Birding Association has declared that 2022 is the year of the Burrowing Owl, but if Rosemary Mosco has her way, it will also be the year of the Rock Pigeon. Mosco’s birds (and other creatures in her comics) carry an air of insouciance. Rosemary Mosco’s work is hopefully familiar to many of you.

2018 206

2018 New York City Birds Abandon 206

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

On that glorious day, I observed ten critically endangered birds, representing 8% of their Costa Rican, or 2% of their global population!! In my previous post , I dealt with Rancho Naturalista Lodge itself and birding within their private reserve. But, let’s start at the beginning. My OCD would not stand that!

Costa Rica 225

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 225

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2023

Flight Paths is a splendid but risky title for a book about bird migration. It could easily be mistaken for a book about aviation or space navigation or even a flight simulator game if you don’t read the long, adjective-filled subtitle: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration.

Science 181

Science Illinois Investigation Research 181

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

Happy New Year, 10,000 Birds readers and writers! Everyone is looking back on their best birds of 2019, so I thought it would be a good idea to look at a book that looks back a little further: Urban Ornithology: 150 Years of Birds in New York City , by P. The Bronx also has a special place in birding history.

New York City 146

New York City New York Birds Breeding 146

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. There are large avian handbooks and small ‘how-to bird’ guides, and quite a few excellent books of both types have been published.

Birds 114

Birds North America Breeding America 114

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Audubon guides to birds have been around since 1946. The first guide bearing the National Audubon Society imprint was Audubon Bird Guide; Eastern Land Birds , written by Richard Hooper Pough, and illustrated by Don Eckelberry. Plate 28 from Audubon Bird Guide, Eastern Land Birds, by Richard H. Knopf, 1994/97.

North America 278

North America America Birds California Condor 278

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Don’t you hate it when you cannot communicate while birding overseas? Having mobility issues, I still remember birding from a van along a rather productive dirt road in Costa Rica ( Broad-billed Motmot , Lineated Woodpecker , Cocoa Woodcreeper , etc.), The post Foreign Languages on a Birding Trip appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

Bears 135

Bears San Jose Greece Costa Rica 135

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Global Big Day has become an annual collective event in May that encourages thousands of people to watch birds on the same date. As far as promoting birding goes, the only thing better might be October Gobal Big Day ! We had a lot of rain in some parts of the country, some places had landslides, and birding was somewhat limited.

Costa Rica 261

Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Owls 261

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Heermann’s Gulls form large breeding colonies on arid islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from March through July. The largest colony exists on Isla Raza, where an estimated 90–95% of the total world population breeds 1. These factors have caused the IUCN to rate this bird as “Near Threatened” 2.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 158

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

I was wishing I had a birding buddy with me as a mixed flock overwhelmed my abilities. Suddenly, a large bird, which seemed to have a bright yellow breast and black head, flew overhead to a point behind multiple branches. And then the bird was gone. There are many reasons to take bird photos. They may even fear you.

Mexico 176

Mexico Guatemala South America United States 176

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2017

There should be thousands of birds at this time of the year, Dimitris Michalakis from the Karla Lake management authority told me. In the northern section, the water was deep, interspersed by reed-islets, but the only birds were a few Little Egrets and Black-headed Gulls. Lesser Kestrel. I am trying to count them all!

Greece 179

Greece Killing Pelicans Eagles 179

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2019

On Sunday morning, I was just lazily working on another post for 10,000 Birds – the (probably not much anticipated) part two of the most common birds in Shanghai. It was actually feared to be extinct until 2000, when four pairs of breeding pairs were discovered.

2000 124

2000 Eggs Collecting Breeding 124

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. There are many dusty side roads in this area, many of which offer productive birding.

Mexico 186

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 186

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2014

With birds, this happens when one takes prey or other food caught or collected by another. Klepstoparasitism seems to be more prevalent among birds associated with water; those unable to dive often take food from those able to catch their food underwater. Some birds are opportunistic thieves, and others make a living at it.

Protection 186

Protection Peru Chile Collecting 186

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

On top of that, they occur in breeding and non-breeding plumage! The top photo shows a first winter California Gull ( Larus californicus ) on the right and a non-breeding adult on the left. Well, I figure if I want to ID this bird, I’d better get plenty of photographs. You definitely want to click on this photo!

California 160

California Sacramento Breeding Turtles 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2017

Controversies about federal public lands, including the 2016 occupation of Malheur NWR in Oregon and proposed bills in Congress to dispose of certain land, has focused attention on the value of federal lands to birds and birders. But if one focuses on specific types of birds, the results can be both illuminating and surprising.

Albatross 137

Albatross Hawaii Alaska Puerto Rico 137

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2020

The April arrival of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, Second Edition was a supremely happy moment in a very difficult, sad month. A companion regional guide, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America was published in 1941; its fifth edition will be coming out in early September.

North America 199

North America America Hawaii Birds 199

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. They are one of the few cooperatively breeding passerines in North America and a third of the breeding pairs have 1–3 male helpers, usually progeny or other relatives.

North America 165

North America America Collecting California 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2012

So it was with a superlative, breeding-plumaged, male Scarlet Tanager today at Jamaica Bay. Now Scarlet Tanagers are always a gorgeous bird, and if you walk by a breeding-plumaged male without looking not only are your credentials as a birder at stake but so are your credentials as a human being. And, well, wow.

Jamaica 167

Jamaica Collecting 2009 Breeding 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2012

There are plenty of stories about all the awful things that happen to birds, like getting covered in oil or smuggled n some dude’s underpants into another country, and about the things we should be doing about it. But what about the things that the birds are doing about it. Which led me to wonder, just how dangerous are birds?

New Zealand 163

New Zealand Birds Goats Gorillas 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2016

I want to alert you to a recent study (from April) that looks at the plight of bird populations under conditions of climate change in Europe and North America. The study looked at common birds, and used data divided by either state (in the US) or country (in Europe). Stephens et al. Stephens, Philip, et al. 352:6281(84-87).

North America 113

North America Europe America United States 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

This has always been a wish of mine, since many of my favorite birds here stand out as much for their songs as for their appearance. And while the the gully-loving White-tipped Dove is a bird that is almost never seen, you had better know its ubiquitous song if you’re going to go birding in Michoacán. Thanks, Clare!

Trinidad 173

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 173

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Egg harvesting to sell as food was intensive then, with thousands taken annually from the breeding colonies in Chile. Egg collection for local consumption still continues at lower scale. Mining companies have established themselves adjacent to the flamingos’ nesting sites and feeding sites.

Chile 154

Chile Endangered Species Eggs Argentina 154