10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Today’s post is written by Monte Merrick, wildlife rehabilitator and co-director of the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/bird ally x in Arcata, CA. Less than 2000 grams – more sail, it seems, than bird. After going the through the “red tape” of the international border crossing, the bird was sent by jet to us in LA.

Los Angeles 240

Los Angeles Killing Wildlife Rehabilitation San Francisco 240

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

And I love making my little garden (some 1400 square feet) more attractive to birds. But I would never have imagined how important it would be to my emotional well-being to have a bird-friendly garden during lockdown. We share some plant options with southern California, and others with Florida. Frankly, I’m not sure!

Birds 154

Birds Woodpeckers Madagascar Nashville 154

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2016

They get a bad rap due to their dependence on carrion to survive, but I look at it a different way: these species do not have to kill in order to thrive! Columbia has chosen one of the world’s most massive flying species as its national bird: the Andean Condor. Most humans cannot say that.

California Condor 100

California Condor Livestock Endangered Species Killing 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with the killing of 24 geese and ducks in two parks in Concord, California (the original 10,000 Birds post about this can be found here ). It is unclear why the numbers have been changed from the 28 birds reported in the original article.

Geese 158

Geese California Killing Birds 158

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.

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Los Angeles Woodpeckers California Birds 171

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Let me introduce my guest blogger, Lisa Owens Viani, co-founder of the California-based group RATS ( Raptors Are The Solution ), which educates people about the dangers of rat poisons. Syngenta’s product “Talon”—evidently inspired by the talons of the natural pest- controlling birds of prey—uses the active ingredient brodifacoum.

Mountain Lions 257

Mountain Lions Rats Rodents Lions 257

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 177

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2016

We have been assured by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) that they are watching this nest also. That is what the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is meant to do. We are all watching intently as these two beautiful raptors attempt another successful breeding season without further disturbance.

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Transported Eggs Birds Killing 101

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

And Flamingos and Hornbills and a Secretarybird and birds with names like Hamerkop and Thick-knee and Eremomela (which I know is a scientific term, but which, when pronounced correctly, reminds me of a Yiddish term of endearment my grandmother used). And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to South Africa.

South Africa 252

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

I know it sounds strange, especially when the folks at Mission San Juan Capistrano are trying to coax them back by playing recordings of the bird’s mating calls. Because I am a local Audubon board member, I was recently contacted by a bird lover who witnessed Cliff Swallow nests being destroyed at the marina where they dock their boat.

San Diego 165

San Diego illegal California South America 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2018

The photos above and below are an adult male Acorn Woodpecker hanging on a hummingbird feeder at the University of California Hopland Research and Extension Center where I attended a meeting back in February. It is dangerous to hummingbird health and can actually kill the birds. This is most likely black mold.

Woodpeckers 102

Woodpeckers California Killing Research 102

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

I was going to have something for you this month about the dinosaur-bird thing, but I never got to it. The potpourri covers some interesting bird related science of the last few weeks, and the promise is this: I’ll get to that other stuff soon, I promise! One of the birds most affected by this is Cassin’s Auklets.

Science 151

Science Iraq Research Birds 151

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Wind turbines at Altamont Pass in Northern California (a known eagle-fatality site not included in the study); image by Bonita de Boer/Flickr/Creative Commons License. . Except for birds, that is. And that’s not even mentioning the many other non-eagle birds which meet an unfortunate end due to wind turbines.). .

Eagles 209

Eagles Bald Eagle Industry United States 209

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2014

A poisoned rodent can kill whatever eats it, and death by poison is a very bad way to go. as well as a rare mammal, the California fisher. See the website for a self-congratulatory description of their efforts to plant trees, but no mention of their slaughter of the birds who might want to land on them.

Rats 237

Rats Barn Owls Rodents San Francisco 237

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2018

Birds can be attracted to your home simply by offering food, water and shelter. Birdbaths or pools can be built to supply water, and feeders strategically placed around the yard will furnish supplementary food for the birds when natural sources diminish. There are probably as many birdhouse plans as there are cavity nesting birds.

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Tenant Shelters Protection Species 192

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2013

She has lived in Maine, California, France, New York, and currently makes her home in Virginia Beach Always bringing her camera along, Erika is building her life-list by trying to check off at least one new species each week in her field guide. She previously wrote on 10,000 Birds about birding in the Washington DC cherry blossoms.

Florida 161

Florida DC Washington Birds 161

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

In this captivating book, Thompson explores the motivation behind hunters who shot birds to sell feathers for women’s hats at the turn of the nineteenth century. What compelled these men, beyond desire for money, to kill birds? Gone were the fir canopies of Portland’s forest, the clouds of pewter and purple.

Hunters 191

Hunters Oregon San Francisco Portland 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2013

The birds were observed crashing into the rocks high in the Andean mountains near a hydroelectric power plant. Other birds were seen crash landing. As Chilean officials and volunteers rescued 17 birds they noticed the birds were foaming from the beak. It is estimated that only a few thousand birds remain in the wild.

Livestock 173

Livestock Chile Colombia Ecuador 173

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2012

This post is old news to those who pay attention to what I say on Facebook but I am still pleased as punch to point out that I have finally reached the 500-bird milestone in the American Birding Association area (basically North America north of Mexico). There were, however, several rarities around that would get me to 500 birds.

San Marino 104

San Marino Los Angeles Birds Laws 104

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2011

When climate changes, causing habitats to move, birds can get up and fly away to a new habitat, so really, they’ll be fine. I’ve been working on climate change lately (not causing it, but reading and writing about it) and birds have come up in a few places. Similar things happen to both fish and birds.

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Penguins Birds Cooking Fish 194

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2014

However: they are not wild birds, and have no idea how to survive outside captivity. If you are determined to release white doves at your ceremony, it is essential to make sure you can afford to hire people who will release strong, healthy birds who at least have a chance of returning home to their roost. This is an important question.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 255

Wildlife Rehabilitation Ethics Virginia Atlanta 255

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

While we have a bit of a travel plan, finding sites to stay in that provide me access to good birding locations, things are always a bit flexible. At daylight, this area, in just a short walk gave me 5 new birds for the list. Unfortunately, the birding there was bleak. Might be a theme here! The 11th of February.

Woodpeckers 100

Woodpeckers Oregon California Geese 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2014

Sentient people recoil at the idea of leg-hold traps, those medieval–torture devices which cause so much pain and suffering before their victims eventually die, are killed, or (very occasionally) are rescued. The grocery manager at a local store was using them to catch the birds that got in the building. Here’s why.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 279

Wildlife Rehabilitation Mice Rodents Rescue 279

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If I were to describe my long time wildlife nemesis, my ultimate dip of dips, I would reach for a nemesis cat, not a nemesis bird. The other three were the aforementioned Tiger, one of the wildlife sightings of my life, a handful of Bobcats I have seen in California and a small Jungle Cat. I’ll wait). Camelopardus !

Cats 103

Cats Leopards South Africa Tigers 103

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2018

Readers of 10,000 Birds know that diversity is one of the great hallmarks of modern day birds. And, he literally wrote the book(s) on California birds. Grinnell and his students conducted surveys of birds in the Mohave Desert, starting in 1908 and running to 1947 (Grinnell died in 1940). More recently, Kelly J.

2018 101

2018 Science Humane Species 101

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2016

The Brightsoruce Power Plant, in California, uses mirrors to concentrate solar energy to nearly a single point, where things get so hot you can melt metal. Nearby, in the air, the concentrated solar energy can be so high that a bird flying by can become vaporized. Also, cats kill many more per year. So, what to do?

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Killing Psychology Birds California 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2013

And so, when Salvador Ramirez left, there were feral goats on the island of San Clemente, the southernmost of the Channel Islands off the coast of California. And so, the local subspecies of Bewick’s wren, a bird described in 1908 a “very common on all parts of the island,” was gone by the 1940’s, its habitat converted into goat flesh.

Goats 159

Goats Bald Eagle Fox Feral 159

Critter News

OCTOBER 6, 2008

California recently passed a law protecting animal researchers from animal activists. Ralph Freeman has killed cats and kittens in his laboratory at UC Berkeley with no benefit for humans for over twenty years. Frederic Theunissen is responsible for the torture of birds in his laboratory. This law changes NOTHING.

Animal Research 100

Animal Research Research Animal Liberation Oakland 100

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

And managing means killing them, breeding them, and otherwise fiddling with their populations. When I was asked if I wanted to read Jeff Corwin's 100 HEARTBEATS (Rodale 2009) I was ambivalent. I know he's a conservationist, therefore I know he will advocate for "managing" the "resources" that are sentient nonhumans.

Polar Bears 100

Polar Bears California Condor Bald Eagle Lions 100

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?

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Fish Wildlife Hunting Game 143

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

The NYC owls have little to do with the book in front of me except that it too is about birds and people. The 26 essays in When Birds Are Near are all about the real-life and emotional spaces where people overlap with birds. The essays range widely in place, bird, and voice, though the emphasis is on the North American.

New York City 181

New York City Birds Owls Fox 181

Animal Ethics

APRIL 16, 2009

The overwhelming passage in November of Proposition 2 in California, which banned tight confinement of many of the animals raised for food, is a fine example of the power of publicity to educate people about the atrocities we commit to those animals who have no voice of their own. Laura Frisk Encinitas, Calif., Caroline Abels Montpelier, Vt.,

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Proposition 2 Free Range 40

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 207

Cats Stray Cat Stray Wildlife Rehabilitation 207

Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

To the Editor: Soon after I read Gary Steiner’s article, my wife asked me to kill a spider, which I did. We kill so many living creatures when we build a house, construct a road, drive down that road or just walk on a path. But even then if we were to survive we would have to kill some animals in self-defense. Lawrence S.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Vegan Vegetarian 40

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?

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2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2020

The-author-formerly-known-as-John-Lee-Douglas claims to have died twice already, once when he was killed in a household accident at the age of eight, and again in 1977, after which he devoted the rest of his life to practicing what appears to be some form of Buddhism. Good birding and happy drinking! ” “Far from it.”

Connecticut 136

Connecticut India Lamb Lions 136

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

I have raved on and on about how Kaikoura is the best place in the world to see albatrosses , but the once sleepy seaside town is not actually famous for these magnificent birds. What put this once small fishing town on the map was not birds but mammals, specifically whales and dolphins. And people do go to see them.

Whales 198

Whales Whaling Albatross New Zealand 198