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 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2013

Late Saturday morning our little family had to decide what it was we were going to do. We hadn’t been to an ocean as a family since we were in California back in December so we decided to head out to Nassau County’s Point Lookout, which is nicely situated on the west side of Jones Inlet.

Family 161

Family California Breeding Birds 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2021

If you’ve had an encounter with a wild animal – a bird stunned by hitting a window, a fox hit by a car, or a family of raccoons unexpectedly found residing in your attic – you know how hard it can be to find help. Bird rehabbers receive calls for injured turtles; veterinarians are contacted about skunks in basements.

Wildlife 264

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Animal Raccoons 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

This last year of the twenty-teens was a monumental birding year for me. I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. I birded Uganda, which was my first time on the continent of Africa. Such travel brings a lot of birds and the 863 species I saw this year is the most species I have ever seen.

2019 139

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 139

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 194

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 194

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2019

Corey spent the first half of the weekend finishing up his family trip in southern California and the rest of it getting back to New York and recovering from a red eye. But on Friday evening he and Daisy visited Irvine Regional Park at dusk and were rewarded with Lesser Nighthawks , a lifer and an awesome Best Bird of the Weekend.

2019 125

2019 New York Birds California 125

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2020

If you want to write a bird guide, you should have guided people yourself. Howell and Fabrice Schmitt: both of them are international bird tour leaders with WINGS. Birds of Chile – A Photo Guide has 240 pages and more than 1,000 photos accompanied by a brief text to make bird ID easy. And that is what recommends Steve N.

Chile 199

Chile Birds South America North America 199

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2019

2018 proved to be one of my best birding years ever. In addition to spotting exciting new species in Florida, including the rare Snail Kite, travel across the country brought me into contact with birds in Oregon, California, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, and more. I did not fall into that category.

Bald Eagle 146

Bald Eagle Alabama Kansas Florida 146

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2019

Those of us north of the Equator should be enjoying our summer weekends no matter how boring the birding might be. Better, though, is finding a way to raise the quality of your bird sightings and enjoyment of them. Somehow, we managed to flip the script on that by spotting all kinds of birds that the whole group could enjoy.

2019 120

2019 Birds California Raised 120

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. The solution is either to lump them all in one family (an approach which no one seems to like in this case) or to place the tundra plovers in their own family, Pluvialidae.

Family 186

Family 2007 Iceland Louisiana 186

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2021

The most common one, Manila tamarind, is wildly inaccurate, since the tree is native to southwestern Mexico, not Manila, and its only connection to tamarind trees is that both are in different subfamilies of the huge legume family. I first met the tree in Baja California, where it is known as guamúchil (gwa-MOOCH-eel), so I will call it that.

2016 274

2016 2020 Mexico California 274

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2017

For the last several years, I have produced a small run of calendars for my fiends and family. The ones that will be in the calendar, the elite 12 are selected by not only the quality of the image, but most colorful, most unique, and in the case of a couple of birds cut out this year, species that appeared in last years Calendar.

2017 124

2017 Culling 2016 Birds 124

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2018

On my wanderings I picked up quite a few species that were new for my year list but my Best Bird of the Weekend was one that countered cruelty with happiness. Mike, too, chose a bluebird as his Best Bird of the Weekend, though his was a different species seeing as he and his family avoided the cruelty of April by being in California.

North Carolina 113

North Carolina Cruelty 2018 United States 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

Gaines, notwithstanding that the story (1) takes place in the Uruguay of 1999, with plenty of commentary on the Uruguayan political scene of that time, (2) is narrated by a bird illustrator who identifies the birds he sees only by their common Spanish names, and (3) flashes back to the use of torture by South American juntas in the 1970’s.

Uruguay 153

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 153

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

In August, we took a family trip to beautiful San Diego, seeing SeaWorld , LegoLand , and the San Diego Zoo. I’ve taken tours out of Monterey Bay (with pelagic legend Debi Shearwater , now retired) and Half Moon Bay, California ; Newport, Oregon ; and Hatteras, North Carolina. This was much larger.

San Diego 147

San Diego Los Angeles Cooking North Carolina 147

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 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2016

Clicking on most of these photos will open a new tab taking you to my 10000 Birds posts on that respective species The post on the California Scrub-Jay above is here. Another California endemic, the Nuttall’s Woodpecker made an appearance… As did the family oriented Acorn Woodpecker.

Woodpeckers 101

Woodpeckers Turkey California Birds 101

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

Lakeview Oregon is located in central Oregon, just north of the California border, and is the highest altitude city in the state. This is the area that fostered my lifelong interest in birds. I imagine I have a pretty good idea of what this does to the human inhabitants of the area, but what does it do to the birds?

Oregon 100

Oregon Birds Montana California 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2016

As a boy growing up, I scoured every bird book I could get my hands on. I guess it is that gruesome boyhood interest in any bird that would use thorns and barbwire to impale its prey on. Now with several years of exploring the California Baja Sur, I have come to expect to see shrikes on nearly every of my routes and guided trips.

Butcher 114

Butcher Birds North America Mexico 114

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

If you read my weekly posts bookending theweekend birding experience, you know that I pay close attention to phenology. Ilearned that the hard way this weekend when visitingan amazing migrant trap in the dead of summer: too many leaves, too many bugs, and hardly any birds. Birding best bird weekend' How about you?

2014 168

2014 New York Birds Experience 168

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2013

The North American Tundra Swan ( Cygnus columbianus columbianus ) migrates in flocks of family groups… leaving their Arctic breeding grounds in late September and arriving in their wintering grounds in November and December 1 (click on photos for full sized images). Range map courtesy of Terri Sohl of South Dakota Birds and Birding.

California 106

California South Dakota Sacramento North America 106

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 191

Birds Ethics 2019 Experience 191

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 180

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 180

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

For now, I present a story of an excellent day''s birding on a visit to Los Angeles last week.]. It was 7:04am when we saw our target bird. Common birds to the southern California birder, wonderful sights to me. Where to bird next? We did see what I suspect was Luke’s favorite “bird” of the trip.

Los Angeles 171

Los Angeles Woodpeckers California Birds 171

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2019

When Paul Lewis reached out to us asking if we were interested in some blog posts about birding in Mexico we were psyched! After all, the beat writer who had been posting about Mexican birds, the amazing Tom, has moved from Mexico and we didn’t have anyone writing about the birds there.

Mexico 113

Mexico California Family Birds 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2013

My choice is always to allow my kids to bask in my fatherly glory, so I’ll be birding wherever I can bring the team along. He and his family will be in California, where he has his eye on a few West Coast species that have thus far eluded him. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? How about you?

2013 158

2013 Birds California Australia 158

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Back in December when my family and I were in southern California we planned a day trip out to Crystal Cove State Park in southern Orange County. After all, what better way to take advantage of southern California’s sunshine than to spend some time on the beach? California Gnatcatcher Polioptila californica.

California 134

California Family Pelicans Rights 134

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 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 202

Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 202

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 143

2012 Czech Republic Hedgehogs Hungary 143

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

That is probably where things would have stayed for me for several additional weeks, had it not been for the visit of one of my Mexican birding friends. Jonathan Vargas is a young biologist, whose current work centers on monitoring the Snowy Plover populations in northern Baja California. And, if you are a bird, tasty.

Ducks 253

Ducks 2020 Eggs California 253

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2019

This is the first October in three years I haven’t been vacationing in California. But North Coast also makes a bird-themed beer, Le Merle, an interpretation of a Belgian, farmhouse-style saison with a name borrowed from the French word for the Common (Eurasian) Blackbird ( Turdus merula ). Good birding and happy drinking!

Blackbirds 101

Blackbirds California Family Birds 101

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2012

Two-thousand-and-eleven was a pretty darn good year for me, birding-wise. Sure, I didn’t leave the United States but my first trip to the Pacific Northwest allowed me to see lots of new birds and spending the beginning of the year in southern California didn’t hurt the ol’ year list either. Those birds are big!

2011 170

2011 Puffins United States New York 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2013

Way back in mid-June when I started my southern California sojourn I mentioned that I was inundated with Western Bluebirds. One afternoon I spent quite a bit of time watching and digiscoping a family group of Sialia mexicana , a great way to get to know the species better. This pair were my first Western Bluebirds of the trip.

California 150

California Groups Family Birds 150

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

Together, these birds compose the family Alcidae , and they share adaptations that we recognize as penguin-like: an upright stance on land, black-and-white plumage, and — most important — wings that propel them underwater in pursuit of prey ( see them in action here ). Birds alcids taxonomy and systematics'

Penguins 222

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 222

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. Ugandan Mangabeys were part of my family once.

Uganda 161

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 161

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 213

Brazil California Condor Parrots Texas 213