10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

He had posted it to “What’s This Bird?” ” a popular group in Facebook where novice birders can post photos of the birds they see and hope others will identify the birds for them. A new bird for Queens! Also, I wasn’t seeing the bird at all. And I couldn’t find the bird.

Birds 282

Birds Collecting 2015 Species 282

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2022

Today, along with teams in a few other parts of Costa Rica and elsewhere, I will be birding for a cause, watching birds to help one that only lives in Costa Rica, the Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. Although this endemic is high on the most wanted list of many visiting birders, unfortunately, it’s not an easy bird to see.

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica Sparrows Raised Birds 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2023

By David Tomlinson David Tomlinson has been interested in birds for as long as he can remember, and has been writing about them for almost as long. A former tour leader, he has seen an awful lot of birds around the world, and wishes he could remember more of them. It’s a different matter in the spring.

Norway 240

Norway Ghana Eggs Collecting 240

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. The herders are nomadic groups that move sheep from place to place, staying in brick structures that dot the landscape.

Lesotho 246

Lesotho Sheep South Africa Africa 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

In 2007 I was working in a university building that was just begging for bird feeders. This was where I set up my bird feeders, just one at first, then expanding as everyone expressed delight in seeing the Carolina Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Downy Woodpeckers. There were no dead birds for weeks. I hoped it was an anomaly.

New York City 264

New York City Birds Illinois Science 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2022

Thank you, goddess of birding luck and text group people).* My inner self felt stuck in an area between disbelief and total joy and the voices near me were echoing this state of mind: “Oh My God,” “I never thought I would see this bird,” “Look at that bill!” “How did that bird get here?”

Birds 264

Birds Compassion Eagles Science 264

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 261

Sri Lanka Malaysia Birds Suriname 261

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

This photo, which was shared on a local birders’ WhatsApp group, shows the enormous extension of burning reedbeds on that very windy day. And after visiting these birds regularly for the past ten years, I take their situation very personally. And would those birds still be there, or had they been forced to move on?

Ducks 244

Ducks Pelicans Collecting Species 244

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. A group (maybe 4-5 ex.) A group (maybe 4-5 ex.)

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 263

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 257

Birds Research Groups Investigation 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Because, let’s face it, when you get off that plane and look at those severe volcanic landscapes and then find yourself face to face with one of the islands’ four mockingbird species, you’re not going to think, “Oh, look, lava and a mockingbird.” There are changes in where to find the birds.

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2006 Tortoises Sea Lions Sea Turtles 277

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2020

The April arrival of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, Second Edition was a supremely happy moment in a very difficult, sad month. A companion regional guide, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America was published in 1941; its fifth edition will be coming out in early September.

North America 253

North America America Hawaii Birds 253

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.

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North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Global Big Day has become an annual collective event in May that encourages thousands of people to watch birds on the same date. As far as promoting birding goes, the only thing better might be October Gobal Big Day ! We had a lot of rain in some parts of the country, some places had landslides, and birding was somewhat limited.

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Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Owls 278

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2021

Another October Big Day has come and gone and thus made its way into the sacred birding archives. Similar to 2020, more than 32,000 people participated, 78,000 checklists were submitted, and more than 7,200 bird species were identified. The birding keeps on a happening. Great Potoo was one of those many bird species.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Species 2020 Falcons 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2018

The Northern Spotted Owl is a “ threatened ” species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and it was famously the subject of extensive and protracted litigation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, mostly relating to forestry management plans in the Pacific Northwest. The environmental groups appealed to the U.S.

Owls 145

Owls Endangered Species Oregon Friends Of Animals 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2019

The Yellowthroat group is an odd collection of bird species. The one migratory species, aptly named the Common Yellowthroat , can be seen almost anywhere in North America. Both are marsh-dwelling species. But the remaining Yellowthroat species, all marsh-dwellers, live in extremely small ranges.

Mexico 203

Mexico Bahamas South America Panama 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

I am shocked to be writing this post already, and doubly shocked that I’ve seen six new species for Queens since I guessed what my next five Queens birds would be just eight months ago, back in March. It’s been a good year for birding in Queens! Fortunately, there are birds to help. I’ll make it three!

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New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2023

Flight Paths is a splendid but risky title for a book about bird migration. It could easily be mistaken for a book about aviation or space navigation or even a flight simulator game if you don’t read the long, adjective-filled subtitle: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration.

Science 233

Science Illinois Investigation Research 233

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2021

Ranging in color from off-white to dingy black, with pastel to gelatinous shades of yellow, orange, purple, and brown in-between, found in moist crevasses, decaying trees, rain-soaked pastures, mushrooms lack the beauty of butterflies and wildflowers cannot equal the action of bats, or flying fish, and certainly lack the spiritual zest of birds.

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North America America Species 2018 288

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2021

We share seven resident species with different parts of the United States: the Rock , Canyon , Cactus , (Brown-throated) House , Marsh , Sedge , and Bewick’s Wren can all be seen within a half hour of Morelia. (I It’s unusual to find a bird that is mostly seen, not heard, and yet has so much attitude when you do see it.

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ALA United States Mexico Family 198

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 172

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2013

You may not realize it when you look at those bizarre looking waders with the massive bills and the vacant expression, but you’re looking at a group of birds that has inspired humankind for literal centuries. The group has a worldwide distribution; 28 species living and two additional extinct.

Birds 244

Birds North America Charlotte New Jersey 244

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 227

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 227

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 202

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 202

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.

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Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 258

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2018

When it comes to initiatives that promote birding, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is hard to beat. Numerous projects take place that monitor bird populations and help educate people of all ages about birds. Those who did so on May 5th automatically became part of the biggest day of collective birding in 2018; Global Big Day !

Costa Rica 188

Costa Rica 2018 Colombia Collecting 188

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 188

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2014

Birding in the Amazon Rainforest has its pros and cons. The lure of an staggering number of species at a particular location is a draw for many people. However, rainforest birds live in specific microhabitats and are often much easier to hear than to see in the dense multilayered rainforest.

Peru 215

Peru Birds United Kingdom South Africa 215

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

They were commenting where they felt most at home – on their favourite FB pages (predominantly American Birding Association). I found those comments insightful and inspiring, valuable experiences and opinions worthy of sharing to a wider audience than the FB groups where they were initially posted. Language skills too.”. A teacher.”.

Greece 240

Greece Birds Zambia Experience 240

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

There is GISS and there is Birding by Impression and they are not the same. Birding by Impression is a conscious, deliberate method of identifying and recognizing birds based on the study and evaluation of “distinctive structural features and behavioral movements” and comparison with nearby and similar species.

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Birds New Jersey Science Groups 183

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.

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Birds Egypt Family Eagles 241

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2020

Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) releases a survey called “ Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis.”. The report stated that there were 45 million “birders,” of which 39 million were “around-the-home birders” and 16 million were more active “away-from-home” birders who traveled at least a mile to see birds.

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2016 North America 2020 2019 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2016

I want to alert you to a recent study (from April) that looks at the plight of bird populations under conditions of climate change in Europe and North America. The study looked at common birds, and used data divided by either state (in the US) or country (in Europe). Stephens et al. Stephens, Philip, et al. 352:6281(84-87).

North America 141

North America Europe America United States 141

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Few if any species are as emblematic of the Neotropics as Ramphastidae, the family that includes the toucans, toucanets, and aracaris. Even non-birders can appreciate the huge-billed and colorful birds. On the other, the birds love Pink Banana , and the guests love seeing the birds up close. Yeah, it was a heck of a trip.

Costa Rica 247

Costa Rica Horses Farming Collecting 247

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 231

Trinidad Birds South America Research 231

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

These breeding colonies included other species of flamingos, but it was only the Andean Flamingo that appeared to have been the most affected, if indeed the egg extraction was one of the causes that led to the Andean Flamingo’s population decline. Egg collection for local consumption still continues at lower scale.

Chile 156

Chile Endangered Species Eggs Argentina 156