10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2021

I went back to Cerro de Garnica last week, to see these birds that have since become dear friends. One, the Steller’s Jay , was already an old friend — from my California youth — when I saw it there in 2014. Like many birds, this sea-level bird in California is a very high-altitude bird down here.

2014 201

2014 California Mexico Rights 201

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

The Vermilion Flycatcher ( Pyrocephalus rubinus ) is usually found near the US – Mexican border but we were fortunate this year to find an adult male in northern California! The female of the species is beautiful in her own right but only the male had been seen here. Click on photos for full sized images.

California 112

California Sacramento Wildlife Groups 112

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2020

Just yesterday I learned that the Barn Owl ( Tyto alba ) is the only breeding bird found in New York that has been documented nesting in every month of the year. This bit of trivia was given in an article in my local bird club’s monthly newsletter about the ongoing breeding bird atlas in New York State. The post Z.

2017 249

2017 Barn Owls Rodents Owls 249

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 210

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 210

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 142

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 142

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2021

In October of 2017, I took what was my first trip to California as a birder. The next morning was Sunday, October 8 th , and I was up before sunrise to bird the gardens of Fort Mason, leaving Katherine to sleep in for another hour or two before we got ready for a long day of city sightseeing.

San Francisco 243

San Francisco 2020 California Blackbirds 243

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

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. And the third trimester?

Bald Eagle 153

Bald Eagle Alabama Kansas Florida 153

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2014

Especially if you can fit in some birding? Many gringos make their way to Baja California Sur every year, although the majority are probably heading to Cabo San Lucas to party and test the human limit of tequila endurance. Of course, the town also boasts some very fun birding.

California 231

California San Jose Birds Mexico 231

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 123

2019 Birds California Raised 123

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2020

When it comes to one’s most exciting bird sightings, of course, it all comes down to context. I wouldn’t change my central Mexican endemics for any other region’s birds. So my favorites for 2019 includes a good number of birds that are rather common elsewhere, but were firsts for me. But it still is not easy.

Austria 153

Austria Spain 2019 Birds 153

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2018

At last count, there are 25 species of birds named for U.S. But only two states have more than one bird named for them: Hawaii and California, with nine and seven extant and eponymous species, respectively. My first California Quail in California, at Point Reyes National Seashore in October 2017.

2015 113

2015 San Diego Family California Condor 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2019

I am originally from California, so it is easy for me to deal with a geography defined by a low coastal mountain range, a central valley, and a much higher inland range (in California, the Sierra Nevada). On my first trip there, I had the good luck to find the best sites right away. Those black eyes make this bird.

Mexico 114

Mexico Birds Nevada Sparrows 114

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2019

One of the things I love about birding around Morelia, in central Mexico, is the wide variety of habitats I have nearby. For example, if I drive due east a half hour and then turn right, in another half-hour I drop from about 7,000 to 3,300 feet. For birders from colder climes, there are still plenty of exotic birds to find.

Mexico 133

Mexico Washington Birds United States 133

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2023

They come here knowing that although the official bird list for Costa Rica is replete with everything from Bonaparte’s Gull to Gray-hooded Gull and Least Tern , if they do any amount of gull watching, they’ll be lucky if they see anything more than Laughing Gulls. Marilen and I have made a couple trips to see the birds.

Costa Rica 242

Costa Rica Factory Transported Fish 242

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2022

Less momentous, though just as exciting for me, were my outings during a brief trip to northern California. While birding, one of course hopes to watch the birds without attracting their attention. This is, however, rarely possible, and on this particular trip the birds seemed quite interested in me. Perhaps it was right.

Sparrows 147

Sparrows California Woodpeckers Species 147

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. Project FeederWatch data prove that woodpeckers are at the top of the backyard bird feeder pecking order. sports championships ).

Massachusetts 100

Massachusetts Eggs Falcons Rights 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2021

At more than 15 million acres, California is the only other state with more than 5 million acres of wilderness. Of course, as places that are largely “untrammeled by man,” wilderness areas also have birds ( 591 species according to one study ) for birders willing to leave roads and infrastructure behind.

Puerto Rico 268

Puerto Rico Alaska Protection Research 268

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2022

One of those ornithologists is Jonathan Vargas, with whom I went birding on the first Monday of this month of May. Jonathan also works as a birding guide up in Baja California, if anyone is interested.). With so few birding “boots on the ground”, many of Mexico’s best spots are yet to be discovered.

San Diego 258

San Diego Turtles Mexico Sparrows 258

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

There are advantages to being a “Pelican Partner” for International Bird Rescue ! First, you get to tour one of their California centers , you get a special opportunity to see a Pelican getting its final medical exam and numbered leg band, plus you get the honor of releasing one, or in my case, two of their rehabilitated pelicans!

Bird Rescue 206

Bird Rescue Pelicans Rescue Birds 206

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2022

The birding in Costa Rica is always golden but some days, you really do strike gold. Go birding in the humid, moss decorated forests of the Caribbean slope and the feathered nugget might take the form of a Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Focus on birds in the southern Pacific region and treasure might be a Turquoise Cotinga.

Costa Rica 254

Costa Rica Fish Belize Nicaragua 254

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

During the decade, I submitted 1,219 checklists and observed 555 bird species, all in the U.S. I started eBirding about the same time I started birding, and I made an early executive decision (a very good one) that any pre-eBird observations simply did not count. Birding trips to Florida , New Mexico , and Texas are obvious too.

Puerto Rico 153

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Michigan Washington 153

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

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

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. I love Long-billed Curlews. Laughing Gulls ?

Ducks 264

Ducks 2020 Eggs California 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2017

You believe in birthday birds , right? If you haven’t yet embraced the theory or practice of birthday birds, I recommend that, next time your special day rolls around, you make it a point to pursue a seasonally appropriate species you don’t regularly see. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles 2017 Coyotes Birds 100

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 190

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 190

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2020

Kroodsma waited for years for the right opportunity to record its different songs, a “cascade of sweet and liquid notes,” one naturalist said, “like the spray of a waterfall and sunshine.”. How long does the bird stay aloft, and how many dives does he do? Does he have favorite places to dive? It’s not a field guide, as such.

Virginia 254

Virginia Boston North America 2020 254

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

Odd habitats attract odd birds. Or rather, I should say that out of place habitats attract lost birds. Although Costa Rica is noted for tropical forests and their subsequent wealth of birds and biodiversity, us local birders also have our own, out of the way habitat hotspots. Birds that Would Have Flown Over and Kept on Going.

Costa Rica 162

Costa Rica Ecuador North America Peru 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2013

“Out West” to most Floridians might mean California or Arizona or might even refer to the Gulf Coast of Florida. These two water management wetlands are amongst the very best birding and photography locations in south Florida. I’m out guiding a lovely couple from California. Right in the open.

North America 233

North America Factory Alligators Trafficking 233

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2016

The topography looks like it is right out of an early John Wayne movie. There is very little fresh water, at least to be found year round, but the bird populations all seem to do just fine. After you pass the mine, things change quite a bit. There were several Phainopeplas as well.

Zebras 100

Zebras Birds Sparrows Mexico 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2012

The water this Northern Pintail is in has human poo in it, which completely ruins the experience of seeing this bird. The majority of diehard birders do not care where they get their birds. There is a caste of birders, however, that do not subscribe to this way of birding…no. Oh wait, it doesn’t. Portland, Oregon.

San Francisco 221

San Francisco Birds North Dakota Oakland 221

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 156

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 156

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 254

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 254

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2015

In February of 2013, I wrote a piece outlining my thoughts on which exotic bird species should be added to the American Bird Association (ABA) checklist. The 10,000 Birds readership also suggested Scaly-breasted Munia ( Nutmeg Mannikin , Lonchura punctulata ) as another likely choice for the next ABA-countable exotic.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Miami San Francisco Florida 154

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2012

Evening Grosbeak Male ( Coccothraustes vespertinus ) photos by Larry Jordan The Evening Grosbeak ( Coccothraustes vespertinus ) is a striking bird. The female is more subtle in her plumage but gorgeous in her own right. As you can see, Evening Grosbeaks visit bird feeders, often during fall and winter irruptions.

Jordan 173

Jordan North America Breeding Birds 173

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2017

Controversies about federal public lands, including the 2016 occupation of Malheur NWR in Oregon and proposed bills in Congress to dispose of certain land, has focused attention on the value of federal lands to birds and birders. But if one focuses on specific types of birds, the results can be both illuminating and surprising.

Albatross 140

Albatross Hawaii Alaska Puerto Rico 140