10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2023

Everyone loves baby birds; 10,000 Birds even had a Baby Bird Week once upon a time! Baby birds are cuteness personified, possibly even more so than other baby animals, including human babies, and pose interesting questions of survival and development. Aren’t they usually in their nest with their parents?”

Wildlife Rehabilitation 250

Wildlife Rehabilitation Birds Family Collecting 250

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2019

On one gray, drizzly morning this week, I set out to bird my local patch in Albany, New York, and found 56 species in a few hours of aimless, unhurried traipsing. This is the third fall migration for which Kings County Brewers Collective has brewed Safe Flight IPA to benefit New York City Audubon’s Project Safe Flight.

Collecting 120

Collecting New York City New York Sparrows 120

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2022

Not just to bird, but equally to rest, reset and restart. And also, to bird. Three years ago I asked American birders which foreign countries they dream of birding, and with more than one fifth of all answers, Costa Rica turned to hold a very strong first place. It was close to 5 a.m., I was literally awake at 3 a.m.,

Costa Rica 237

Costa Rica San Jose Nepal Europe 237

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2019

The idea was to see how many birds could be collectively identified by folks anywhere and everywhere. Go birding, eBird the results and see what happens! Whatever the reason for getting involved with this massive day of birding, every GBD has been a success where literally thousands of species are found by thousands of birders.

Costa Rica 205

Costa Rica Species West Virginia New York 205

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2024

There are 154 species of cuckoos in the world, and they’re all a fascinating bunch. However, my current favourite member of the family Cucilidae is the Great Spotted Cuckoo (GSC), a common bird in Cyprus in spring. I wonder whether birds that breed in Europe ever meet up with those nest in southern Africa?

Cyprus 199

Cyprus Africa Europe Asia 199

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 230

Birds Collecting 2015 Species 230

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2021

Jim Wright is an author and birding columnist. Jim’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds was A Rare Caribbean Parrot on the Brink. In 2021, the American Ornithological Society announced that it has now classified the Bahama Nuthatch as a distinct species, Sitta insularis. There’s just one problem.

Bahamas 343

Bahamas Philadelphia 2004 Science 343

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

The (Big) Year that Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record – which is the book’s full title, or Arjan Dwarshuis’s Big Year, as I prefer to call it shortly, is a highly anticipated and a long awaited travelogue of the author’s 2016 race against time across 40 countries in his attempt to break the world birding record.

Papua New Guinea 244

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname South America 244

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

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 231

Costa Rica Sparrows Raised Birds 231

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2021

When it comes to tropical birding, field guides regularly deal with well over a 1000 birds and tend to be on the hefty side. Travel guides are mostly lighter, but this “where to watch birds guide” is truly lightweight and traveller friendly. Each site gets from 2 to 5 pages (but mostly 3-4).

Kenya 259

Kenya Africa South Africa Penguins 259

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

Not only have we completed Birding Tourism February , but we’ve also collectively made it through what is usually one of the least exciting birding months of the calendar year. The tail-end of winter delivered a bird I definitely didn’t expect in Rochester. What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 242

New York City Charlotte New York Jamaica 242

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Each time, a small notebook tagged along with me, and I would note the bird species I spotted, then put it away. I keep year and life lists on eBird, which helps scientists collect and analyze movement and population trends, but most of my daily lists originate in areas I tread on a weekly or even daily basis.

Florida 258

Florida Birds Mississippi Laws 258

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2021

As devoted readers of 10,000 Birds know , the writers contribute checklists to a joint eBird account called the “ 10,000 Birds Collaborative.”. As of mid-November 2021, the Collaborative had submitted more than 4,200 checklists (up from 1,700 in 2018) and has observed 691 species in the United States (up from 618).

United States 193

United States West Virginia Puerto Rico Minnesota 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2021

The adventure of the second European Breeding Bird Atlas, or EBBA2, was the topic of one of my first posts here at 10,000 Birds: In a warm Catalonian March, Barcelona is filled with sunlight and full of Rose-ringed and Monk Parakeets. In a very short time, we get two responses, two birds calling from opposite directions.

Europe 264

Europe Breeding Denmark Birds 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2018

If you like birds and you also like. I already know that you like birds — that’s why you’re at this blogsite. But the special delight for readers who love birds is the centrality, to the stories, of avifauna, and the sophistication and precision of the bird-prose. Let me start again.

Collecting 113

Collecting Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2022

I, desperate for some birds, used that to take a few photos, even though it meant attracting a lot of attention from the other residents, as I am the only foreigner in this compound and also the only person owning an 800 mm telephoto lens. The most interesting bird I got was probably this Asian Stubtail. Feels good.

Los Angeles 168

Los Angeles Birds China Blackbirds 168

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 193

Norway Ghana Eggs Japan 193

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

Last month, I birded my favourite local patch, Beljarica – the best eBird hotspot in Belgrade city and the 3rd best in Serbia – four times. One consequence of being near the city is the widespread feeding of birds with what is junk-food for them – bread. With more than 30 birds, Black Storks became truly common.

Serbia 263

Serbia Birds Boars Otters 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2024

Back in 2016 one very unexpected bird appeared in the Mexican highlands: an American Flamingo. Ever since then, the two birds would show up during the winter months in the Metropolitan Park, always together. So both birds are assumed by many to be escapees from a zoo or a private collection somewhere. Flamingos !”

Mexico 186

Mexico Cuba Chile South America 186

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2023

The voices are different however and one can distinguish between the two species through their vocalisations. The concrete ramp collects seaweed as the tide pushes back and forth. The seaweed, in its turn attracts insects and thus birds. The faint scalloping on the back suggests that it is a young bird.

Iceland 206

Iceland Stray Breeders Canada 206

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. And that seems to be the only vaguely satisfying thing left to do at the moment.

Australia 182

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 182

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

On BirdTrack, the British equivalent of e-Bird, the list of birds provided does allow for Tufted Duck x Ferruginous Duck to be recorded, but not Tufted Duck x Pochard. However, there had been reports of a Scaup mixed in with the flock, which at first glance I thought this bird might be. My hunch was Tufted Duck x Pochard.

Geese 182

Geese Ducks Falcons Latvia 182

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 220

Sri Lanka Malaysia Birds Suriname 220

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2014

Interestingly, the birding lexicon uses other terms to describe unanticipated arrivals in more positive terms. Perhaps our outrage at invasive species can be a bit hypocritical at times. The rapid proliferation of the European Starling is, on the species level, equivalent to incalculable fortunes of billionaire moguls.

Species 160

Species Feral Cats Feral Miami 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2022

According to Wikipedia, the national bird of Australia is the Emu – which I have not seen yet. Duncan – in a 10,000 Birds post – apparently also thinks it would make a good national bird. Duncan – in a 10,000 Birds post – apparently also thinks it would make a good national bird.

Australia 147

Australia Birds Parrots Ostriches 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

” Indeed, there is one distinctly birding connection to this country: a famous birder Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond, visited the Seychelles in 1958 looking for inspiration for his then-latest collection of stories, For Your Eyes Only. Seychelles’ small landmass combined with geographic isolation results in few species.

Seychelles 226

Seychelles Wildlife Tortoises Fish 226

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 257

Birds Compassion Eagles Science 257

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2020

Rather than belabor the obvious, I’ll just point out that the global pandemic may have spawned a new wave of birders, but collectively we’ve seen far fewer species of birds. As I’m not traveling these days, I’ve been spending lots of time with my local birds. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 153

2020 Birds Industry 2011 153

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 250

New York City Birds Illinois Science 250

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. This is the most intense, tragic section.

California Condor 172

California Condor Falcons California Birds 172

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

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? And when I got home, photos I had taken of a flock flying overhead revealed Northern Pintails , another previously missing-in-action species.

Ducks 205

Ducks Pelicans Collecting Species 205

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 172

Vegan Cats Animal Friendly Eggs 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

David Tomlinson The recent announcement by the American Ornithological Society that it intends to replace names of all birds named after people has caused quite a stir here in the UK. I have a fascinating little reference book called Whose Bird? Collecting birds was clearly a dangerous pastime. We don’t need any more.

Falcons 217

Falcons Collecting 2003 Wounded 217

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 278

North America America Birds California Condor 278

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2020

Avoid windy days – the birds will be looking for cover. Since no-one lives here, there is no organised rubbish collecting. eBird list of the recorded species. Birds of prey include European Honey-buzzard , Long-legged Buzzard , Short-toed Eagle , Booted Eagle , Montagu’s Harrier , etc. Spotting scope is recommended.

Mali 264

Mali Serbia Eagles Birds 264

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 213

Dissection Birds Research Europe 213