10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Having found my large Pied Oystercatcher family last week I have spent a lot of time with them this week. I am not sure when they will tell the three young birds to go on their way, so I am making the most of the time I can spend with them now observing them. Pied Oystercatcher family looking for food. Eye to the sky!

Family 157

Family Breeding Australia Groups 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2018

We rarely encounter family groups of Sooty Oystercatchers Haemotopus fulginosus ophthalmicus at home in Broome, but more commonly we encounter a flock of approximately thirty non-breeding Sooty Oystercatchers at the northern end of Cable Beach. Family of Sooty Oystercatchers. Sooty Oystercatcher adults.

Family 100

Family Australia Groups Rights 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2022

Some more photos of Australian birds mixed with irrelevant facts and mediocre half-jokes, as a way to pass away the time while being under lockdown in Shanghai (note: it is over now but this post was written during the lockdown). It must be a bit frustrating for a flower to be less colorful than the bird visiting it though.

Australia 187

Australia Birds Feral Cats Kangaroos 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

In early 2014 the rainfall was good and flooded the main highway south from Broome and made for some excellent birding from your car. The area remained flooded for several months in 2014 and there was significant road damage, but over the months the birding improved as more and more birds arrived in the area.

Geese 100

Geese Breeding 2014 Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

The poster bird of this area is the near-threatened Black-necked Crane. The HBW even mentions the importance of Ruoergai for this species: “Key sites for migrants include the Ruoergai Plateau (China), which is also an important breeding area” Common Mergansers also seem to use these wetlands as breeding area.

China 168

China Mongolia Birds Russia 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

This is the last post covering my time birding the Kruger Park in November 2018. A study on the diet of the African Harrier-Hawk starts rather pompously: “Feeding is an indispensable activity in the life of birds. Among some other species of the kingfisher family, this species is a bit of a laughingstock.

South Africa 147

South Africa Niger Birds Mice 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2020

Those of us in the United States are celebrating Memorial Day Weekend, normally a time to gather with friends and family for barbecues, beach outings, and other fun group activities. Perhaps for those of us in the northeastern United States the number of birds this weekend has been a bit of a disappoint though. How about you?

2020 158

2020 United States Breeders Birds 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

It is a well-known birding hotspot, though access to some of its parts may be tricky without a local guide. There is quite a bit of construction going on, so in the future, the park may become much more accessible to tourists, and at the same time much less attractive for shy birds (and their birder followers).

Pandas 197

Pandas Birds Mammals China 197

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2020

In the era of digital cameras and social media, images of birds are easy to come by. Even photos of the rarest of birds can be found, even heart-wrenching images of bird species that are no longer with us. Species like the Gyrfalcon , the aerial powerhouse of the tundra, of stunning, breeding-plumaged May warblers.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Birds Species Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

After a very good Wet Season with substantially more rain than normal over the first few months of 2017 the land was flooded and a huge variety of birds arrived in the Broome area to take advantage of the ideal conditions for breeding. Two birds on the right and one on the left-note the bills! Australian Painted Snipe nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Raised 2017 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

We have recently come across several Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles families around Broome. These birds are often present in Broome on the green areas, like the school sport’s fields, golf course and the local parks. They are often in large groups in these areas when they are not breeding.

Breeding 143

Breeding Cows Eggs 2012 143

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2012

The air was thick and clammy, and mosquitoes were biting along Louisiana’s Mermentau River last Thursday morning, the final day of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Some individuals travel 25,000 miles per year from their breeding grounds on the tundra to wintering grounds near the bottom of the world and back. Baker et al.

Family 182

Family 2007 Iceland Louisiana 182

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

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

APRIL 21, 2019

During our three weeks in Singapore we encountered many a family of Red Junglefowl- Gallus gallus in various locations. Red Junglefowl are under threat in Singapore due to habitat loss and inter-breeding, but we observed them most days on our hiking trips around the island and also on Pulau Ubin. Male Red Junglefowl. Happy Easter!

Singapore 113

Singapore Chickens Litter Squirrels 113

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

“Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea” by James A. kg could be, do keep in mind that this guide covers 4,400 km / 2,750 mi of the Earth’s circumference, or 11% of the length of the Equator, and describes 13% of global bird diversity. Eaton, Bas van Balen, Nick W. Brickle and Frank E. Rheindt is a big book.

Indonesia 263

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2023

We all hope that they were able to breed successfully in the Northern Hemisphere and that they can find food throughout the Flyway to return to our shores. Our resident shorebirds have started to breed in the last few weeks and there are numerous Pied Oystercatcher nests along our shores right now.

Eggs 165

Eggs 2011 Breeding Protection 165

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

At the end of 2022, let us celebrate the local field guide, a sub-genre that many of us feared would die, the victim of technology, development, and globalization, but which still shines bright, fewer in number but brilliant in quality, thanks to birders and birding organizations that believe in knowing your patch and your state.

Los Angeles 186

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 186

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

It is near a river, attracting some birds that like to eat wet food. As the national bird of Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the African Fish Eagle is usually very busy whenever it stays in these countries, giving speeches, opening shopping centers, etc. The birds I asked about this pretended not to be related to anyone though.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

Wood-Wrens , birds of the family Henicorhina , are very small wrens of Central and South America that like to live very close to the ground, in dense forest underbrush or elfin forests. It is one of those birds that is much easier to hear than to see — even though hearing it is not all that easy.

Mexico 183

Mexico South America Species America 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

One of these days, Jeopardy will feature a category called “Field Guides” and the first clue will be: “This landlocked South American country finally got its own bird field guide in 2016, but it wasn’t available in the United State until 2019.” Bolivia doesn’t come up much in discussions of birding travel.

Bolivia 168

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 168

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

If you like birds on posts, if seeing “little brown jobs” posing nicely in the distance as you drive or walk along a dirt road only to have it fly away as you approach makes you deliriously happy, then North Dakota is the place for you. I wanted to see prairie birds and I wanted to experience a new state. Scott Barnes, N.J.

North Dakota 134

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 134

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. A group (maybe 4-5 ex.) A group (maybe 4-5 ex.)

Costa Rica 225

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 225

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2016

I purchased my first Sibley— The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America —in 2003. Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips? Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips?

North America 152

North America 2003 Birds America 152

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

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

JULY 30, 2015

The Barn Swallow ( Hirundo rustica ) is one of the most widespread and popular birds. They are still among the coolest birds on my list. Another cool fact was learning that the Barn Swallows has started to breed in South America since the 80s. Nesting bird at The Badlands National Park. Photo Alfredo Begazo.

South Dakota 167

South Dakota South America North America America 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2013

Birds, of course! ( The City of Henderson, which must be run by very enlightened individuals, has turned a bland old waste water treatment facility into a birding destination known as the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, which is well worth a visit should you ever find yourself in southeastern Nevada. As Clare well knows! )

Las Vegas 195

Las Vegas Nevada Birds Blackbirds 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

Hannah Buschert was first exposed to birds and birding during a required ornithology course at Oregon State University and she quickly caught the birding bug. This is Hannah’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. Hannah and Erik ready to see some birds! I love to go on cruises.

South Africa 261

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 261

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2016

That birding Mecca was the Sani Pass, and his article is all you need to read so rather than rehash it I’ll just link to it. They are closely related to the oddball Rockfowl of Western Africa, and live in family groups, led by a breeding pair, in Southern Africa.

South Africa 102

South Africa Africa Family Groups 102

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

10,000 Birds readers love terrific bird photography but hate bird abuse. He was first drawn to birding after realising that even the most urbanised spaces could harbour relatively high levels of bird diversity, and now spends time exploring other birding habitats around the region.

Eagles 269

Eagles Singapore Fish Ethics 269

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

And the famous Wandering Albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, nearly 12 feet across in the largest individuals. But genetic and morphological data both point to this conclusion, and additional evidence places tubenoses and penguins within a group recently dubbed Aequornithes, or “higher waterbirds.”

Albatross 177

Albatross Penguins Groups New Zealand 177

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

Waxwings and their relatives are a small, interesting group of songbirds that have seen some interesting taxonomic changes in the last few years. We now have a much better idea of which birds belong in the bombycillid clade, thanks to a paper called Clarifying the systematics of an enigmatic avian lineage: What is a bombycillid?

Saudi Arabia 207

Saudi Arabia 2008 Indonesia Groups 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

How can a remote archipelago made famous for Darwin, a bunch of finches, and other cool endemic birds be related to the land of quetzals and “gallo pinto” (that would be the local version of rice and beans)? As the ferry plodded along, small groups of shearwaters lifted off the water to flutter and glide just above the surface.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Birds Tortoises Groups 100

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

DECEMBER 2, 2014

The danger of reviewing a field guide to the birds of an exotic country you’ve never been to is that you become obsessed with visiting that country, no matter how far away and how expensive it may be. I’m already looking up birding tours of Borneo and pricing airfares. Borneo, the authors say, is under-birded.

Brunei 172

Brunei Birds Asia China 172

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. Regular readers of 10,000 Birds may remember Jochen’s posts about keeping taxonomy out of field guides. It sounds simple, but I wonder how it works in practice.

Ecuador 164

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Birds 164