10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2021

Currently he is the convenor for Birdlife Australia in his local area and, as that suggests, he loves sharing his passion for birds and all wildlife through outings and bird walks. Currently Ken continues to dream of overseas birding tours but will settle for ones down under. First the listing part.

Birds 264

Birds 2020 Australia Species 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

I should add that the Big Owls taking over NYC social and even hard print media, dominating conversations with my nonbirder friends and family, are not the only owls in the five boroughs, but like a musical, the closer you are to Broadway, the closer you are to fame and fortune (and maybe even a higher quality rodent for dinner, who knows?).

New York City 198

New York City Birds Owls Fox 198

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2021

I didn’t plan on taking such a long break away from the Birds and Booze beat, but life got in the way the last several weeks, mostly on account of moving into a new home. And what could be better than a new bird-themed brewery opening up less than two miles down the road from me? Good birding and happy drinking!

New York 264

New York Boston 2019 Collecting 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. It provides goals and a definite direction for your birding travels and thoughts; sometimes it even becomes the basis of a book!

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

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 237

Research Birds Science Costa Rica 237

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

I was lucky to visit India several times, but as a keen birder I carried along only a bird book, and even upgraded it to a new edition between the trips. Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. It also covers Andaman, Nicobar and Laccadive islands. cm Weight 0.4

Asia 181

Asia Mammals Sri Lanka Bhutan 181

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

They looked out their windows and across their patios and up from their apartment terraces and saw–birds. This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2014

The Long-tailed Tit , Aegithalos Caudatus , is one of the most endearing of British birds. They are usually seen as a small, noisy flock or family group that passes quickly through feeding acrobatically like the true t**s as they go. Birding Long-tailed Tit' It is a tiny ball of fluff with a long tail and the tiniest of bills.

Japan 214

Japan Collecting Europe Groups 214

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It took me a while to wrap my mind around the concept of Birds and People , Mark Cocker and David Tipling’s book that, in 592 pages, explores the intersection of just that—birds and us. Nor have I overlooked “sightings” of birds in movies mouthing other birds’ calls. I’m not sure why.

Birds 224

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 224

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. There are many dusty side roads in this area, many of which offer productive birding.

Mexico 201

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 201

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

The Eurasian Wryneck is the woodpecker that doesn’t look like a woodpecker, the bird with the portmanteau name that is also a medical condition (and which may remind some people of a Nora Ephron essay). They are slim and small-headed birds and their bills are fine, not strong and dynamic. This is a very easy book to read.

Woodpeckers 247

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 247

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2012

Hope you made the most of a precious May weekend… I took my kids down to the family gravel pit for some fishing. I caught glimpses of lots of fine, fine birds including a heroic Killdeer protecting a nest and my first Willow Flycatcher of the season. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2012 159

2012 New York Fish Birds 159

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Are there birders out there who do not dream of birding Australia? Possibly birders who have already birded Australia (but, wouldn’t you want to go back?) or birders who live there (but, how can you bird it all?). So, I welcomed the opportunity to review The Australian Bird Guide.

Australia 109

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 109

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2021

Louisiana is a magical place to bird. At the same time I was ogling Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Upland Sandpipers, Marybeth Lima was also birding Louisiana. Chapter Two is a potpourri of stories about nemesis birds, birding by ear, birding for science, under the rubric of birding ‘for the love of it.’

Louisiana 264

Louisiana Species Mississippi Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

It actually makes a lot of sense, the geographic features of the isthmus between North America (including Mexico, because Mexico is part of North America) and South America cut across political lines, as do birds. It is the first bird field guide to every country of Central America (plus the islands governed by those countries).

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2021

If you haven’t been to Costa Rica, or if you’ve birded Costa Rica but somehow missed their damselflies and dragonflies (not a problem! I know how intense some birders can be), I can tell you from experience that there are some exquisite, stunning odonates flying around there. First page (p. 131) and last page (p.

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica North America Family America 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2020

Going birding is even more of a no-brainer now than before. Many moons ago, when I used to work in the (supposedly) booming petrochemical industry in Trinidad, most of my time was actually spent birding. I racked up a staggering number of life birds in the surprisingly rich surroundings during my four-odd years slaving for The Man.

Trinidad 232

Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 232

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

This has always been a wish of mine, since many of my favorite birds here stand out as much for their songs as for their appearance. And while the the gully-loving White-tipped Dove is a bird that is almost never seen, you had better know its ubiquitous song if you’re going to go birding in Michoacán. Thanks, Clare!

Trinidad 191

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 191

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

There is GISS and there is Birding by Impression and they are not the same. GISS—general impression, size, shape—is intuitive, the result of an unconscious cognitive process derived from experience in the field. Experienced birders can identify birds using GISS; all birders can identify birds if they adopt the BBI approach.

Birds 172

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 172

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. There are large avian handbooks and small ‘how-to bird’ guides, and quite a few excellent books of both types have been published.

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2013

The Spring Wings Festival , held this past weekend, was the perfect way for a birding-festival newbie like me to get into the swing of things. Its small size, laid-back nature, and ample opportunities to get up close and personal with birds make it a good fit for experienced birders, but also for people looking to get their feet wet.

Nevada 182

Nevada Birds Barn Owls Cows 182

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2014

There were opportunities to go to far flung places like the islands of the Pacific or the coast of Canada or the Yorkshire Dales… Anyway, as I was obsessed by Africa at the time, I leapt at the opportunity to go to Namibia to collect samples of bat DNA for a biogeography project. And the guano from a million Wrinkle-lipped Bats.

Bats 155

Bats Birds Vanuatu Namibia 155

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

I’ve never been to the Indonesian Archipelago, but I really like the birds there. Lynx Edicions, the ornithological (and now mammal) publisher that gave us the Handbook of the Birds of the World , has now published Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea , by James A. So, this is no ordinary bird guide.

Indonesia 134

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 134

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2015

I was upstate again this past weekend, collecting Desi from his week with his grandparents, and took a couple of hours early Sunday morning to visit my favorite Saugerties birding spot, the Great Vly. As is to be expected in late August there were many young birds around getting the hang of living life on their own.

Tennessee 158

Tennessee Experience Experiments Collecting 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2022

With nine years of experience using it and birding with beginning birders, I would like to update that opinion. Without birds like Blackburnian Warbler to spark people’s interest in birding, we would have far fewer birders. He has been birding since he was a kid, led birding trips across the U.S.

United States 229

United States North America Species 2013 229

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 205

Trinidad Birds South America Research 205

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

Ethiopia, a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa).

Ethiopia 249

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Birds 249

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Last week here at 10,000 Birds we did a theme week called “ Extinction Week.” His topic was the report recently issued by the Audubon Society where the organization claimed 314 species of birds in the United States and Canada are threatened by climate change. It will be family friendly and it is well organized.

New York City 227

New York City New York United States Canada 227

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

All of these titles deal with birding in specific North American geographic areas: The Atlantic coast, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The photos show the forms of the bird seen on the east coast and are annotated with notes on plumage and other distinguishing field marks. It’s time for some short book reviews. Well, short for me.

Pennsylvania 176

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 176

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2013

This scraggly collection of islands and deep long bays forms the tip of South Island closest to to North Island, but till this point my only experience of the area had been the long passage down Queen Charlotte Sound to reach the ferry terminal of Picton. That isn’t to say we didn’t see any birds.

New Zealand 165

New Zealand Charlotte Hunting Family 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2011

In summer, when feathers are worn and younger birds are molting into their next plumage, gulls can be downright ugly. The experience served to remind me why some people devolve into Larophiles but, don’t fear, I have not sunk to that low and disturbing condition myself (at least not yet). Gulls can be gorgeous. Ugly, right?

New York 187

New York Collecting Sparrows Experience 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

While the hunting of game with trained birds of prey can be a controversial topic among birders , falconry was a valuable early source of information on birds, and its history, culture, and imagery continue to fascinate bird lovers, as we shall see.

2016 133

2016 Portugal Falcons Japan 133

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

British birders are very serious about birding and their birds. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S.

Ireland 150

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 150

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2016

Summer is too hot, the birds are quiet in fall, and winter is too cold. Juniper Titmouse used to be considered conspecific with Oak Titmouse , and they were collectively called Plain Titmouse , an incredibly accurate moniker. A whole bunch of pictures of the birds found around the cabin are below. How gross is that? Nuthatches.

Birds 101

Birds Mules Utah Deer 101

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

Catbirds are not the unfortunate result of unwise experiments with radioactivity. They are not flying cats nor birds with whiskers. Birds called catbirds include two species in the New World family, Mimidae, four from the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, and one from the Old World babblers, Timaliidae.

Papua New Guinea 191

Papua New Guinea Ethiopia Guinea Cats 191

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

Its crown was so thick, I could spot the movement, but only rarely the bird itself and never the whole bird, once it would be only its back, once its head, once just legs… slowly, I was putting this puzzle together. The first birds to spot from the boat were Common Terns furiously defending their newly built nests on floating logs.

Greece 200

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 200

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2014

Like so many trips this one is more about the journey than the destination which brings us to why they have had a series of guest posts on 10,000 Birds. We hope that our journey will provide important information about many Neotropical bird species as well as inform conservation.”. Their first contribution to 10,000 Birds is here.

San Diego 195

San Diego South America Costa Rica America 195