10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

The full title of this exceptional book by Marie Read is Mastering Bird Photography: The Art, Craft, and Technique of Photographing Birds and Their Behavior. As a birder who photographs, rather than a bird photographer, this never occurred to me before and I find the idea intriguing.

Birds 199

Birds Ethics 2019 Experience 199

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.

North America 279

North America Research Birds Groups 279

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

JULY 30, 2014

I bring this up not to boast (well, not much) but because I think that this approach to wildlife travel is somewhat neglected in birding circles. Read most accounts of how birders see birds outside their patch and one way or another, they’re tourists. Volunteering provides a very different experience to tourism though.

Uganda 162

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

“Target birds” The term can foster excitement but is easily contentious. Aren’t all birds worth watching? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating and watching every bird but there’s also nothing wrong about going to great efforts to see lifers only found in dreams. Fiery-throated Hummingbird.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 203

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2020

After some hours of recording in northern California, and then, painstaking analysis and listening, he determined the number to be 37, at which point he, palpably exultant, announces to the reader: “a decades-long quest fulfilled.”. How long does the bird stay aloft, and how many dives does he do? Does he have favorite places to dive?

Virginia 254

Virginia Boston North America 2020 254

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. Self-cleaning pens, never-empty feed buckets,” wrote Angel in South Carolina and Zoe in California. “A A robot that feeds baby birds so I can take a nap,” wrote Jodi in Massachusetts. “As Change in Law.

Wildlife 251

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 251

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Which, naturally, got me to thinking about the newly erected order Suliformes, a development I mentioned in my December column, 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Bird Taxonomy and Systematics , but which I thought deserved further examination, for it’s one of those stories that defines the era in which we are living and birding.

2011 155

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 155

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2013

She has lived in Maine, California, France, New York, and currently makes her home in Washington, DC. I wanted to bird among the blossoms. Despite all the people, the birds were incredibly active, rarely shy, and a reminder that natural wonders like the cherry blossoms interact with more than just us humans. I continued on.

DC 202

DC Washington Birds Geese 202

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

After all, while I like to believe that I am a pretty good bird blogger I’ve never written anything like a field guide. The book I am writing is the New York edition in the new series of American Birding Association field guides. Yeah, I’m kind of surprised too. And the references I use!

New York 208

New York New Jersey Colorado Pennsylvania 208

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2014

Charles Harper’s Birds & Word s is the signature book of this bird and nature artist’s career. Charles Harper’s Birds & Word s is the signature book of this bird and nature artist’s career. White article on bird feeding stations. I just count the wings. A tradition was born.

Betty Crocker 170

Betty Crocker Birds 2008 2007 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

“This clumsy, ungraceful bird was displeasing to observe” – Carol F. There is nothing in birding like a pelagic…you never know what to expect. You can end up basking in a rare bird bliss that may linger for weeks, or you basically experience a living hell. Red-tailed Tropicbird. Pelagic trips.

Puffins 249

Puffins Albatross Penguins Experience 249

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2012

When staying with Daisy’s family in Yorba Linda, California, I often wake up early in the morning and take the short walk up to the southern end of Carbon Canyon Regional Park to do some birding. But there are more than birds in the Carbon Canyon. Have you had a cool Coyote encounter? ………

Coyotes 101

Coyotes California Mammals Sparrows 101

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2016

Well, it is rather common and can even be scarce regionally, but overall it is not a difficult bird to find in Germany so long as a cunning birder frequents reedy wetlands. No, the usual birding opportunity at zoos and parks is one of watching feeding and preening behaviour, or parenting and social interactions.

Zoos 100

Zoos Germany California Condor Lions 100

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

DECEMBER 26, 2012

After hearing tales of such activities from more experienced birders I decided to try it today for the first time while visiting Legoland with the family and all I can say is “WOW!” ” Desi might be scarred for life after watching his father experience the insanity of tripping on Pied-billed Grebe secretions.

Experience 176

Experience Experiments Family California 176

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

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

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

DECEMBER 1, 2020

I should add that the Big Owls taking over NYC social and even hard print media, dominating conversations with my nonbirder friends and family, are not the only owls in the five boroughs, but like a musical, the closer you are to Broadway, the closer you are to fame and fortune (and maybe even a higher quality rodent for dinner, who knows?).

New York City 198

New York City Birds Owls Fox 198

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 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

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Years ago, I became a wildlife volunteer and advocate because of a cat who caught a bird. Back then, I didn’t know enough about birds, but I knew a lot about cats. I surprised her and she dropped the bird before vaporizing again. That was my first trip to California Wildlife Center. They simply helped me with my bird.

Cats 218

Cats Stray Cat Stray Wildlife Rehabilitation 218

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2011

Please give a warm welcome to Walter Kitundu, the latest addition to the bevy of beat writers on 10,000 Birds. Walter first came to our attention on 10,000 Birds when he made a comment here – and are we ever glad he did! He is an excellent photographer and his blog, Bird Light Wind , is well worth a visit.

San Francisco 215

San Francisco California Condor Coyotes Minnesota 215

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

MAY 3, 2012

We now interrupt all talk about birds and migration to consider dragonflies. Together they comprise Ondonata, an order of insects that, like birds, are beautiful in flight and challenging in identification. Unlike birds, they do not vocalize; unlike butterflies, they are totally predatory, not a vegetarian amongst them.

United States 241

United States Costa Rica Massachusetts North America 241

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

As 2012 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 and 2011 , 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?

2012 155

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 155

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

I had spent several holidays with my family in the USA in the 1980′s and then worked in Maine during the summer of 1985-beware the poison ivy and the snapping turtles! It has the common names of the birds in English, Afrikaans and Eastern Bantu and Native languages!

South Africa 159

South Africa United States Austin Alligators 159