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 253

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 253

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 231

North America America Hawaii Birds 231

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 161

New York City New York Birds Breeding 161

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 207

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 207

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 116

Birds North America Breeding America 116

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2019

It has been a few years since I could share some good news about the Pied Oystercatchers breeding along the coast near Broome. Hopefully you won’t mind me writing a bit more this year about Pied Oystercatchers during the breeding season! I introduced you to this Pied Oystercatcher family four weeks ago.

Eggs 141

Eggs 2000 Family Breeding 141

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 166

North America America Collecting California 166

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 195

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 195

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

It seems to me that Lynx Edicions must know Vedran, too, and it was with him in mind that their authors, David W Winkler, Shawn M Billerman and Irby J Lovette, chose the “Bird Families of the World: A Guide to the Spectacular Diversity of Birds” as the full title of their new edition. Families perhaps? It weighs 3.7

Family 298

Family Birds South America Breeding 298

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Producing a book about birds and nesting is a dangerous business. The truth is that there are few images cuter than baby birds in the nest opening their mouths and begging for food, but there are curmudgeons amongst us, myself included, who don’t like to admit this. And of birds courting and mating. We simply refuse to squee.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) 3) What was the best guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago? The bird guide question was a conundrum.

Trinidad 211

Trinidad Birds South America Research 211

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

Definitely my personal favorite of Africa’s pink birds is the delicate Pink-throated Twinspot. Its mostly found on the ground in thickets or the edges of dense vegetation and usually in small family parties. Pink-backed Pelican by Markus Lilje/Rockjumper Birding Tours. There are certainly some stunners involved.

Africa 227

Africa Somalia Pelicans Mozambique 227

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2015

New York City in July provides limited opportunities for birders to see birds. That said, there are still chances to observe birds and my favorite way to do so in the summer is at the beach. The wrens were a joy to watch, exploring, chattering, getting themselves into and out of trouble. You won’t regret it! ….

New York City 165

New York City New York Blackbirds Collecting 165

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

It is now the month of love, and there are few birds I love more than the alcids. According to Reedman , murre is the old Cornish world for a Razorbill , and eventually became a vernacular term for alcids more broadly; murrelet, then, makes simple sense as a name for the smaller members of the family. The Long-billed Murrelet , well.

North America 116

North America Science Collecting Fish 116

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

British birders are very serious about birding and their birds. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S.

Ireland 155

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 155

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2015

I was upstate again this past weekend, collecting Desi from his week with his grandparents, and took a couple of hours early Sunday morning to visit my favorite Saugerties birding spot, the Great Vly. As is to be expected in late August there were many young birds around getting the hang of living life on their own.

Tennessee 158

Tennessee Experience Experiments Collecting 158

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. During breeding season, their white plumage turns a delicate pink color, a lovely sight indeed. The Saddle-billed Stork has a similar Africa-wide distribution as the Marabou.

Africa 248

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 248

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

“ There is, perhaps, no better place in the world for birds than this country. Despite discovering dozens of bird species, he is however not remembered in any English names of birds. The famous Verreaux family who made several expeditions into the province through the 1820’s and 1830’s procuring specimens for rich collectors.

Mozambique 200

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 200

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 146

2012 Czech Republic Hedgehogs Hungary 146

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

While the hunting of game with trained birds of prey can be a controversial topic among birders , falconry was a valuable early source of information on birds, and its history, culture, and imagery continue to fascinate bird lovers, as we shall see.

2016 136

2016 Portugal Falcons Japan 136

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

The Edwards’s Pheasant is a rather smart blue-black member of the pheasant family and it may be on the edge of extinction. If this bird did become extinct, it would be the first pheasant species to have been lost in the 400 years since proper records began. Conservationists searched intensively in 2011 but found none.

Vietnam 157

Vietnam 2000 Germany Groups 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2014

Earlier this afternoon my small family made a drive out to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. Three owls have already had the devices attached and some pretty interesting data is being collected. How about it, 10,000 Birds reader? He brought with him Snow, his stuffed Snowy Owl , so Snow could see his “real owl friends.”

Owls 225

Owls Research Science Collecting 225

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2013

In the new world all meadowlarks and blackbirds, along with grackles, cowbirds, orioles, oropendulas, and some others, are members of the family Icteridae , the New World Blackbirds. If only naming birds were so simple! adult male Red-breasted Blackbird showing off its namesake. female Red-breasted Blackbird.

Blackbirds 167

Blackbirds Trinidad Costa Rica Nicaragua 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2012

One of the really great things about living in the Arctic, and loving to watch and photograph birds, is that you can bird in the middle of the night if you so desire. I know you can bird in dark in New York and Newcastle, Weyburn and Walla Walla. I’m talking about full on, need sunglasses, no need for high ISO, birding.

Bald Eagle 175

Bald Eagle Breeding Raised Whales 175

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2012

It is at the same time of year that the migratory shorebirds that spend part of each year in Broome are also breeding, but in the Arctic. There was little movement by the family during the heat of the day except to fly to the shoreline for a drink and to cool their feet.

Eggs 178

Eggs Dogs Shelters Family 178

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Dozens of other introduced bird species, largely escapees from pet owners, now call Miami home. Well-represented exotic families include starlings, ducks and doves and there are also many more individual species that now thrive here. I recently had a great day out targeting miami’s exotic birds.

Miami 145

Miami Parrots Research Birds 145

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 164

North America Sparrows America United States 164

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Nick Sly, a friend of 10,000 Birds who writes intermittently at the thoroughly-recommended Biological Ramblings , is an ornithologist who graduated not so long ago from Cornell only to be cast out into the real world where he keeps a wry eye on all things biological! The youngest bird in this clutch is only two or three days old.

Eggs 269

Eggs Venezuela Porcupines 2008 269

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2011

As I have explained before these islands are the best place for a lot of the birding here because they are more easily protected from introduced mammals which wreck such havoc on the wildlife here. They are a common enough coastal bird that can been seen from shore on some days paddling around the marina, but a nice bird none-the-less.

Penguins 165

Penguins Parrots New Zealand Seals 165

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

This is the second part of a post showing some birds seen at Nonggang in December 2022, along with the usual (mostly irrelevant) comments. The poor bird’s Latin species name is macgrigoriae , apparently (HBW) named after Jane Grant McGrigor, the daughter of Maj. Sir James McGrigor (1771-1858) Director Gen.

China 248

China Birds Pythons Eagles 248

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

But I have been sick with different kinds and forms of cold since the beginning of December with no interruption, and so has my entire family. This thrush is extremely common in urban and suburban Germany and one of the most conspicuous bird species here, comparable to the American Robin in North America. I honestly did. Sickening!

Germany 162

Germany Blackbirds 2006 Denmark 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’ve been fortunate to encounter many owls in my birding life, sometimes because I’m looking for them, sometimes happily by happenstance. It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation.

Owls 231

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 231

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Bufflehead in Flight Bufflehead in Flight By Corey • March 13, 2011 • 8 comments Tweet Share Bufflehead are one of our most amusing ducks. There is something for everyone at 10,000 Clicks !

2011 150

2011 Ducks Deer New York 150

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 146

Fish Wildlife Hunting Game 146

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2022

Strangely, one of the easiest birds to see on Chongming recently is the non-native Black Swan. According to an article in the Guardian , “nearly a quarter of black swan families are parented by homosexual couples, the males sometimes mating with a female simply to have a chick. Homophobia? I thought I needed to mention this.

Birds 230

Birds China Pythons Breeding 230

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

This book is essentially about those birds that breed on the continent south of the Sahara, a topic few birders are familiar with. A few years ago, in the American Birding Association FB group I posted a question: Where would you go if funds weren’t a problem? Some are incredibly rare and hard to find.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Madagascar 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