10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Nick Sly, a friend of 10,000 Birds who writes intermittently at the thoroughly-recommended Biological Ramblings , is an ornithologist who graduated not so long ago from Cornell only to be cast out into the real world where he keeps a wry eye on all things biological! The youngest bird in this clutch is only two or three days old.

Eggs 267

Eggs Venezuela Porcupines 2008 267

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2021

We have often suspected that the Sand Goannas would steal eggs as a food source from the Pied Oystercatcher nests if they found them. The two pairs should have been close to hatching their eggs from their first clutch. The pair of Pied Oystercatchers to the north have now laid a second clutch of two more eggs.

Eggs 253

Eggs Feral Cats Feral Fox 253

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 209

Dissection Birds Research Europe 209

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

There’s something wonderfully primeval about the Northern Bald Ibis: it has the look of a bird that really ought to be extinct. The fact that it’s not is quite surprising, as this curious bird has come very close to the brink. Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In

Morocco 215

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 215

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2023

The Collared Finchbill is not a rare bird, and it is not endangered, but it is a particular favorite of mine. So, in order to show a few more photos of the bird than the usual two or three had I included this bird in a post of birds seen around Wolongshan, Sichuan), here is one dedicated to the species.

Vegan 169

Vegan Cats Animal Friendly Eggs 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

It has been more than 5 years since I last went to Australia, and I was even less of a qualified bird photographer then than I am now. However, the lockdown forces me to go deeper and deeper into my photo collection, if I want to write anything at all. I guess it is a bird though. Admittedly, it is mostly grey.

Australia 180

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 180

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Birding was tougher. There are no trees throughout the landscape, so it is either looking up for birds passing overhead or stomping through the scrub to flush hiding birds. Rock Hyrax Stuart provided a wonderful field lunch alongside a stream with samosas, a field-standard hard-boiled egg, and other snacks.

Lesotho 215

Lesotho Sheep South Africa Africa 215

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

The chapter titles of Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds represent both ends of the spectrum: “A World Full of Poisons,” “Malaria,” “Forest Intruders,” “Lead Shock,” “Shot.” Conservation. It’s not easy.

California Condor 169

California Condor Falcons California Birds 169

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

One good thing about birding during a pandemic–the forced restrictions on place and time translate into more time to observe what birds do. Bird behavior–endlessly fascinating, but so much still hidden and unknown. Extreme behaviors also push scientists to look at birds in new ways.

Research 213

Research Birds Science Costa Rica 213

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.

North America 278

North America America Birds California Condor 278

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2017

If there’s one common theme to this week’s bird news items, it’s their collective bizarreness: The eagle has landed—on the drone, as France trains birds to take out drones that stray into restricted airspace. Scientists ponder the feasibility of genetically engineering chickens to lay the eggs of endangered bird species.

Penguins 100

Penguins Argentina France Stray 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2022

At some point, my stock of memories of birds seen outside of China will be used up, I am afraid. Even more than the African Grey Hornbill, they are forest birds. Any bird that apparently lives off turning around dung in search of insects deserves respect. Probably Wikipedia is more specialized on birds than the HBW.

South Africa 197

South Africa Africa China Seals 197

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2019

We continue to have egg predation at many of the nest sites and chick loss, but one pair of Pied Oystercatchers is being successful in raising two chicks so far. There has never been two eggs hatch and two chicks survive for more than about ten days since we started to keep an eye on them in 2000.

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Eggs 2000 Family Breeding 127

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Producing a book about birds and nesting is a dangerous business. The truth is that there are few images cuter than baby birds in the nest opening their mouths and begging for food, but there are curmudgeons amongst us, myself included, who don’t like to admit this. And of birds courting and mating. We simply refuse to squee.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2019

On Sunday morning, I was just lazily working on another post for 10,000 Birds – the (probably not much anticipated) part two of the most common birds in Shanghai. The birds had been blown in by typhoon Lekima along with a larger number of Greater Crested Tern, with which they like to associate.

2000 124

2000 Eggs Collecting Breeding 124

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Egg harvesting to sell as food was intensive then, with thousands taken annually from the breeding colonies in Chile. Egg collection for local consumption still continues at lower scale. The initial decline in the Andean Flamingo’s population appears to have started as early as the mid 20th Century.

Chile 154

Chile Endangered Species Eggs Argentina 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2016

If we had been predators, their actions would have (hopefully) led us away from the nest, keeping their eggs and chicks safe. Next to it lay an egg, the baby inside fervently pecking and tapping until it too could break the shell and emerge onto the dunes. Snowy Plovers aren’t the only birds nesting on the dunes.

Eggs 100

Eggs Long Beach Abandon Abandoning 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Isla Rasa was declared a sanctuary in 1964, and egg-collecting and disturbance during the breeding season are discouraged. These factors have caused the IUCN to rate this bird as “Near Threatened” 2. You know what one of my favorite things is about bird blogging? www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUBX_tlHySc.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 158

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

As of 27 August 2013 the California Bird Records Committee has voted to add the introduced Nutmeg Mannikin to the state checklist. Or, as Seagull Steve puts it : The dreaded Nutmeg Mannikin has been added to California’s official state list by the California Bird Records Committee (aka Bird Police).

California 190

California Los Angeles 2013 Eggs 190

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2014

It’s always risky to say what separates humans from other animals — tool use, self-awareness, and the perception of morality no longer being as obvious a set of distinctions as they once were – but I will go out on a limb and say that narrative is at least as characteristic of humans as feathers are of birds.

Montana 185

Montana Eggs Horses Morals 185

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Recently, I’ve reviewed a number of well-designed and interesting books on birds. People who are into birds. The Birding Life is another coffee-table-worthy affair, rich with color photographs and brief vignettes that encourage browsing. If one has to be inside, after all, bird-patterned wallpaper is better than nothing.

Collecting 170

Collecting Science Hunters Parrots 170

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

With populations plunging dramatically over the last decade, researchers from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Birds Russia, and a number of other conservation organizations made the always-controversial call to pluck eggs from the imperiled wild population and establish a captive breeding program as a final hedge against extinction.

Eggs 163

Eggs Russia Research Breeding 163

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. For birders, it’s the extremely large book, shelved in a place where it can’t crush the field guides, used to research the history of a bird in their area. It included surveys of nocturnal and marsh birds, and a point count survey of songbirds.

Pennsylvania 220

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 220

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2011

I often find myself searching my memory as far back as I can go for the spark that started me birding. I go further back into the origins of my interest in birds, how I knew that a Kingfisher was a Kingfisher even though I hadn’t picked up a bird book for many years. Perhaps my earliest bird memories.

Birds 154

Birds Blackbirds Eggs Collecting 154

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2013

Some lingered to gaze at samples from the Field’s collection of bird specimens, such as perfectly preserved thrushes, warblers, and even a Rose-breasted Grosbeak under glass. Other hardy souls signed up for an early morning “Ostrich Run” 5k, with the prizes beinging–you guessed it–actual ostrich eggs.

San Diego 172

San Diego Ostriches Chicago Colorado 172

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2012

After 28 days of sharing the duty of sitting on three eggs we finally had the arrival of our first Pied Oystercatcher chicks for 2012 on Friday August 3rd. It is unusual for three eggs to be laid here in Broome and many eggs do not even hatch due to predation each season.

Eggs 176

Eggs Dogs Shelters Family 176

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2016

His love for birds and photography started at a young age. After collecting nearly 70K bird photos, he felt that it was time to share them, so he now has his bird blog in order to do just that! Once the nest was done, she began sitting on it, preparing to lay her eggs. Mom on nest.

San Diego 164

San Diego Seattle Eggs California 164

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) 3) What was the best guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago? The bird guide question was a conundrum.

Trinidad 189

Trinidad Birds South America Research 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

It depicted a Common Loon ( Gavia immer ) sitting on eggs on a seemingly crude nest. It seemed to draw you in and I could easily imagine standing beside him, staring as he did at the bird, watching it curve its neck downwards. The title read “Birds of the Northern Forest”, paintings by J.F. He died on July 27, 2008.

Birds 206

Birds Woodpeckers Canada Collecting 206

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2012

He’d like to thank his mom, his agent, and of course the Birding Academy. This bred both indifference, and on the flip side a tendency to overly pester the few charismatic birds they did come in contact with. ” This weekend, remember a bird you love.

Montana 163

Montana Geese Blackbirds Canada 163

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

The trend at this time of year is a downturn in shared lists and birds reported, nevertheless, 12 (is this a record?) Our two newest contributors have shared from Mexico and China, bringing the countries birded this month (also including; Costa Rica, Greece, Serbia, USA, UK, India, UAE and New Zealand) to 10. Laguna Lagarto Lodge.

2019 118

2019 Jamaica Eggs Woodpeckers 118

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2013

Like so many trips this one is more about the journey than the destination which brings us to why they have a guest post (hopefully the first of several) on 10,000 Birds. We hope that our journey will provide important information about many Neotropical bird species as well as inform conservation.” We were ecstatic!

South America 179

South America San Diego Mexico America 179

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

Of course, I jest a bit in the above paragraph because as a sometime New Jersey birder I have birded the Delaware Bay and seen sights such as the memorable image below, in which thousands of Red Knots, Dunlins, and Short-billed Dowitchers fly up as if connected telepathically. million in the late 1990’s.

Delaware 176

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 176

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

The Inaccessible Island Rail is perhaps the coolest bird that neither I nor anyone I will ever meet will ever see. Occasionally the Tristan Thrush Nesocichla eremita will prey upon chicks from the two-egg nest of the Inaccessible Island Rail but this not enough in any way to threaten the species. Atlantisia Rogersi.

Science 196

Science Transported Shelters South Africa 196

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

I spent the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the usual post-hurricane activities—looking for storm birds, making sure my loved ones were o.k., trying to grasp the enormity of what had just happened, and reading this book, The Feathery Tribe: Robert Ridgway and the Modern Study of Birds by Daniel Lewis. And, draw birds.

Collecting 145

Collecting Illinois United States Science 145

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2013

Peripatetic ornithologist Nick Sly has long been a friend of the blog here and has contributed such classics as Green-rumped Parrotlets from Egg to Adult and Forpus passerinus and the Ornithologists of Masaguaral. Would you support research on birds with just a click on Facebook? To win, we need your votes! Thanks for your support!

Panama 201

Panama Research Investigation Chickens 201

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2015

What wasn’t publicised at the time, but the scientist later both admitted and owned, is that the kingfisher was then killed and collected for scientific reasons. I’m not going to rehash the arguments for scientific collecting here. The large room the collection was held in was a profoundly weird place. Bush Wrens.

Collecting 214

Collecting Solomon Islands New Zealand Fiji 214