10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

This, 2022, has been a curious year for books about birds and birding. Dragan]: Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide , by Hume, Still, Swash, and Harrop is a photographic guide. The artwork of “Europe’s Birds” is dazzling, the text condensed and comprehensive, and the layout and design are without peer.

Sri Lanka 247

Sri Lanka Malaysia Birds Suriname 247

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Birds of Belize by Steve N. Howell and Dale Dyer and Birds of Costa Rica by Dale Dyer and Steve N. Dale Dyer put in years working on his paintings for Birds of Central America , both in the field and in the museum. Howell utilizes the IOC World Bird List (v.11.2, Why are these issues? © 2023 by Steve N.

Costa Rica 233

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 233

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Breezy Point, the westernmost tip of the barrier islands that protect Long Island’s south shore, is also the southwestern most portion of Queens and one of my favorite locations to look for birds. Field Sparrow in February is a fine bird. … The post Birding Breezy Point appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

Birds 193

Birds Sparrows Ducks Fish 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

If you think it is rather pretentious to start a birding blog post with a Kafka story, I fully agree with you. Anyway, the story is not quite how I remembered it, to be honest, but fitting enough to describe the almost claustrophobic birding experience in ever-shrinking Nanhui. I just want to point out it could be much worse.

Raccoons 237

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 237

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2015

I was told when I first started blogging here at 10,000 Birds that I was never to use the short form, “10K.” ” But here I’m using it because someone ELSE used it … the Bird 10K project is an effort to do the whole DNA thing they do on groups of species on the whole mess of 10K (or more) birds.

Birds 246

Birds Research Groups Investigation 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

Yeah, I’ve birded in the developed world. I know that you have ever-so-organized birding clubs, with their beginning birdwatching classes, monthly field trips, and (just imagine!) I know that you have ever-so-organized birding clubs, with their beginning birdwatching classes, monthly field trips, and (just imagine!)

Birds 139

Birds Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 139

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2023

But does ChatGPT have even a rudimentary understanding of a niche topic like birding? I asked it a few questions about birding locations and the (unedited) results are below, along with some brief analysis. Please note that the availability of specific bird species may vary depending on the season.

United States 162

United States Michigan Texas Virginia 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2023

The birding delights of the estuary are a 30-minute drive from the Lisbon international airport. So close, you would think there’s nothing one can do to improve the location of this fantastic birding spot. I like to close the year with a visit as birds are like English pensioners in Benidorm – they flock in winter.

Portugal 205

Portugal Geese Suffering Farming 205

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2018

Leaves and birds in the Appalachian Mountains. Strong populations of birds reside in the hardwood forests and dense understories in this north-eastern location of West Virginia. There are guides for historic buildings as well as birding tours. If you visit later in the year, join Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count.

West Virginia 193

West Virginia Virginia Kentucky South Carolina 193

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2015

Reading some good, soul-stirring poetry about birds—and nature—of course. Prizes include cash, a creative writing class in Wales, a tour of East Anglia with British nature writer Mark Cocker, and publication in British poetry magazine The Rialto. And here’s a repository of bird poems , including some by Mike and Corey.

India 178

India Birds 178

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 242

Dissection Birds Research Europe 242

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2024

Here in the UK the Austrian manufacturer Swarovski dominates the quality end of the birding market, outselling by a sizeable margin its German-based rivals, Zeiss and Leica. So if someone has Swarovskis hanging round their neck, there’s a fair chance that they take their birding seriously.

Austria 222

Austria Factory Branding Germany 222

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

My NRLI fellowship class zipped across the Rodman Reservoir in two air boats, avoiding the submerged tree trunks leftover from the bottomland forest that once grew here. I visited the reservoir to learn about the environmental controversy surrounding the Rodman Dam (to remove, or not to remove), but the birds completely distracted me.

Bald Eagle 154

Bald Eagle Birds Transported Eagles 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2014

Via John of A DC Birding Blog , I ran across an article about a recent French study that suggests that urban birds may be changing looks in response to selective pressures caused by city life. Fortunately, it seems that many species of birds are willing to at least consider city life, if we’ll meet them halfway.

DC 170

DC Birds Falcons Humane 170

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2014

From atop a terrific sledding hill, I enjoyed watching American Tree Sparrows lend class and native charm to flocks of House Sparrows. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was any one of the forty-five Canvasback he counted at the World’s Fair Marina in Queens. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2014 173

2014 Sparrows Birds Experience 173

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2020

November and early December can be a frustrating time here at Nanhui – on the one hand, there are fewer and fewer birds as migration slows down. On the other hand, it seems there is a better chance of getting some strays and really rare birds, such as the Ryukyu Minivet described in my last post. What a pathetic life.

Stray 257

Stray Asia Industry Family 257

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Elisa and I had been college roommates, meeting the very first day of classes back in 2008. She knew I loved to visit Central Park when I stopped into the city, but until our long weekend in North Carolina I had never actively birded in her presence before. Score one for the bird enthusiasts! Birding can take many forms.

North Carolina 100

North Carolina New York City DC Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

There are a couple of YouTube clips out there that seem to show birds feeding fish–just like people. What’s really going on is that the birds have hard dry food that they need to moisten in order to eat it. I recently had the opportunity to spend time and Paris and thought it might be fun to do some birding there.

Fish 159

Fish Birds 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2017

For the time being, my birding is limited to the species that I can see on my walk thru the marina, to my office. Despite this handicap, the number of birds is still quite respectable. Each week, the nearly all white bird young bird, has slowly switched to the blue-gray coloration of the adult.

Birds 100

Birds Sparrows Pelicans Rights 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2017

I first met Robert Gallardo in 2009, when I made my first visit to the Neotropics for the Mesoamerican Bird Festival in Honduras. He has recorded over 20 new bird records for Honduras, dozens of new butterflies, new orchid records and even new species for science. Robert (back row, far left) with a class of bird guides he taught.

Honduras 154

Honduras Missouri Birds Panama 154

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2014

According to Wikipedia, birds (class Aves) are feathered, winged, two-legged, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates. The fossil record indicates that birds emerged within the theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago. Conservation Cavity nesting birds nestlings NestWatch'

Fur 193

Fur Horses Birds Cows 193

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Three evenings a week, I trek exactly 51 minutes from my house or 97 minutes from my office (depending on the day) to the University of West Florida campus in Pensacola for graduate classes in strategic communications. Perhaps one of the best aspects of birding is that the activity tends to keep one humble.

Florida 102

Florida South America 2018 Mexico 102

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Still, it is a world-class city, so we chose to spend 24 hours there. And birding was definitely not the main purpose of this 5-week trip. So, we headed not into bird-heavy natural areas, but straight into the center of this two-and-a-half-millenium-old city. Could I possibly see some birds there? I like magpies.

Mexico 147

Mexico Turkey Birds Rights 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2018

It’s been eight months since we added our last new beat writer, Tristan Lowery , to our roster of exceptional talent here at 10,000 Birds. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to add a “ Birds and Booze ” beat to the blog. Well, that’s kind of what it’s like having Angela join us here on 10,000 Birds. (No

McDonalds 100

McDonalds Alaska Birds Europe 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2015

Timothy Barksdale is a birder/biologist turned filmmaker , passionately pursuing birds with a television camera for the last 24 years. Tim’s involvement with birds began very early and has led him to his passion for conservation through television. “No His work is the foundation of the Macaulay Library video collection.

South Dakota 266

South Dakota Nebraska Missouri Killing 266

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

Thomas Wolfe wrote an interesting story back in 1940, called “You can never go home again” While I am no writer, and have not penned any stories about my home town, there certainly was some trepidation in my return last week for my 40th High School Class reunion. This is the area that fostered my lifelong interest in birds.

Oregon 100

Oregon Birds Montana California 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2017

I always knew this on some level but my appreciation was renewed and focused when I took a tree identification class in Prospect Park this past weekend. If you get the opportunity, I recommend that every birder take a class or two on their local trees. It can only improve your birding.

Kentucky 128

Kentucky Bears Experience Experiments 128

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2018

If you’re like me, searching for new birding locations is like a drug: exciting, energizing, and addicting. But, as I’ve written before , there are deep rewards when birding a location frequently. When I was 23 and just learning to bird, I spent a summer living in Virginia Beach with my boyfriend Brian (now husband).

Florida 103

Florida Birds Virginia Pelicans 103

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. The next area was the Pacuare River Gorge, which features Class III and IV rapids.

Costa Rica 253

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 253

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2012

Not only seen by hundreds of observers, many of whom are highly experienced and knowledgeable birders, including some of the creme de la creme of British birding, but trapped, biometrics extracted, photographs and video taken, yet the identification of this particular ficedula flycatcher remained a mystery for all of its near two week stay.

Birds 204

Birds Morocco Science Tagged 204

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2012

Neither labor nor the rights of the American working class are all that popular these days, but the Labor Day Weekend maintains nearly unanimous support. So how are you spending this two- or three-day weekend and will you be birding? Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend !

2012 157

2012 New York Birds Rights 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2016

I’m one of those people who thinks all birds are beautiful, from the drab House Sparrow to the pink Roseate Spoonbill. Yet, there is one bird that looks like a piece of fallen sky as it zips around eating summer insects, one bird whose blue color is so perfect that birders and non-birders alike can’t help but stare.

Nevada 100

Nevada Idaho United States Alaska 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2017

Birders derive “value” from birding. But does the value of a particular trip come from the number of birds seen, viewing a particular species, seeing an endangered species, catching a glimpse of a rarity, adding a lifer, or something else? How much do birders value a birding experience? This includes bird-watching experiences.

Oregon 193

Oregon Washington Birds Chad 193

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Labor and the rights of the American working class may have fallen into disrepute lately, but the Labor Day Weekend maintains nearly unanimous support. So how are you spending this two- or three-day weekend and will you be birding? Plus, I haven’t even had a chance to wear white shoes this year!

2011 160

2011 New Zealand Birds Rights 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2012

Several years ago, I was asked to visit my nephew’s preschool class and talk about birds. Jake lives in southern Florida, so he and his friends had to be interested in learning about these birds, which they saw everyday, right? How old were the baby birds? I chalk it up to the original baby bird book, P.D.

Birds 230

Birds Owls Switzerland Lions 230

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2020

It’s not our first encounter with juniper at Birds and Booze, but this is our first gin, surprisingly. Of course, we had to wait until I found a gin decorated with a bird, rather than, say, a portrait of Queen Victoria (as found on bottles of Bombay Sapphire) or one of those burly Beefeaters that guard the Crown Jewels.

New York 171

New York Connecticut Mississippi North America 171

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2011

or, How bird poop can get you a degree in Homeopathy. As a teenager, my uncle bought me a t-shirt with a bird poop ID system printed on the front. 20 bird poop splats and their respective names. Essentially a quick-guide to bird poop identification. Amazing what you find at flea markets. Yes you can. I know you want to.

Birds 200

Birds 200