10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

It’s among a handful of species — American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee , the unholy trinity of House Sparrow – Rock Pigeon – European Starling , a few others — that have been everywhere I’ve ever lived. We never would have gotten all those extra species of Red Crossbill that way.

Connecticut 189

Connecticut Baltimore North America New York City 189

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. Guiding birding tours is a remarkably rewarding profession.

Rattlesnake 154

Rattlesnake 2020 Connecticut Industry 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2019

For many North American birders, wood warblers represent everything exciting, compelling, and immediate about birding. That fallacious family name seems to have encouraged all manner of knaves, dunderheads, and miscreants when time came to label species. Consider some examples: NAMED FOR OTHER BIRDS. NAMED FOR PEOPLE.

Rights 113

Rights Connecticut Tennessee Nashville 113

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Originally from London, England, Luke Tiller transplanted to Connecticut in 2003. Newly surrounded by wildlife, he found his love of birds reignited. He now lives in Los Angeles, California where he is employed as a natural history tour guide and as a member of the Leica Birding Team. I think there’s a number of reasons: 1.

Bald Eagle 249

Bald Eagle Los Angeles Connecticut Eagles 249

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2013

It is hard to think of too many downsides to birds, but there are some and here I’d like to mention one that we all know about but has been recently studied more closely. You know that birds carry various parasites in their blood, and often, these parasites are transmitted to and from the birds via ticks or other ectoparasites.

Birds 174

Birds Research Connecticut United States 174

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

If birders say they love birds ostensibly because they can fly and we cannot, then there must be no more beloved group of birds than the swallows. These aerial acrobats are among the most impressive flyers in the bird world, darting this way and that over open country in pursuit of flying insects.

Jordan 197

Jordan Iowa Birds Africa 197

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2012

Two-thousand-and-eleven was a pretty darn good year for me, birding-wise. Sure, I didn’t leave the United States but my first trip to the Pacific Northwest allowed me to see lots of new birds and spending the beginning of the year in southern California didn’t hurt the ol’ year list either. Those birds are big!

2011 176

2011 Puffins United States New York 176

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

This bird was photographed a few years ago in Connecticut, by Corey Finger. I know birders just as well as I know birds, and I was not ready to put all my faith in this fantastic sighting. Sure enough, the bird’s true identity became known the next day.

San Francisco 175

San Francisco San Diego Connecticut South America 175

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2011

Note: This is an account, originally published in June 2006, of my quest to remove a jinx bird from my bird-watching soul. I am sharing it again here, at the request of Corey Finger, who takes some sort of sick pleasure in seeing other birders squirm and suffer under the weight of their obsession with life birds. But not me.

Connecticut 180

Connecticut North Dakota Ohio Owls 180

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

It’s etched into my audio memory, which is quite a feat considering the problems I have recognizing even the most common bird cries. I look up and see three large green birds, the bright green contrasting with dark blue underwings, whitish-grayish foreheads and breasts shining in the winter sun, flying overhead. “We

Chicago 214

Chicago New York City New York Illinois 214

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2018

Tomorrow I’m taking part in my local club’s official Big Day event – the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club’s 73 rd Annual Guy Bartlett Century Run – for my fifth year in a row. Personally, I’m expecting nothing less than a Kirtland’s Warbler to get me to 129 species tomorrow, but scouting efforts to date paint a more grim picture.

Connecticut 100

Connecticut Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

Last week a mystery bird from New Jersey rightly caused a fair bit of confusion among birders of the Garden State and beyond. The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. New Jersey mystery sparrow.

New Jersey 239

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 239

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2014

Birding being a visual and an auditory pursuit, it’s not surprising that publishers have taken advantage of the media of its day to produce bird books accompanied by CDs or DVDs. These allow birders to hear as well as see the birds they are studying. But, that technology is for another article.)

2006 212

2006 2014 Connecticut North America 212

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2018

According to the study, since 1984 heightened temperatures and resulting aridity have caused fires to spread across an additional 16,000 square miles than they otherwise would have—an area larger than the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined 1. Birds are able to fly away, but their nests and eggs can be destroyed.

Wildlife 104

Wildlife Sacramento Shelters Science 104

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. A robot that feeds baby birds so I can take a nap,” wrote Jodi in Massachusetts. “A A filtration system that works on waterfowl pools without clogging,” wrote Linda in Connecticut. Summer is high season.

Wildlife 253

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 253

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Any day of birding in New York State that includes a sighting of a Vesper Sparrow is a better-then-average day. Grassland birds have been hit the hardest across the northeast and Vesper Sparrows like closely cropped landscapes and eschew taller grasses, so they have been hit particularly hard. What has caused the decline?

Sparrows 165

Sparrows North Dakota United States Downers 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2011

In Connecticut, a woman’s vehicle was totaled after she hit a turkey , flipped a few times and slid 100 feet into the woods. These are just quick turkey car accident links I’ve found on my usual birding news feeds, but I’m sure many more are out there. A woman in Ohio had a turkey crash through her windshield.

Turkey 246

Turkey Hunters New Jersey Boston 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2019

The tendency of birds to alight onto the wooden posts, steel towers, and metal wires that constitute our power and communications infrastructure turns any car ride into exciting and endless game of drive-by identification. A common sight to all birders: the bird on the wire.

United States 119

United States Game North America New York City 119

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2012

Several years ago I asked one of my birding mentors, a curmudgeon with an enviable life list, if he was a bird watcher, a birder, or a lister? Birders only look at birds. I have been a fan of the Kaufman Guides since I bought the Field Guide to Butterflies of North America , for a birds and butterflies trip to Colorado.

Massachusetts 213

Massachusetts North America Rhode Island Ohio 213

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2012

Upland Sandpipers are one of the coolest and most awkward-looking of our continent’s birds. The thought of identifying certain groups of birds can incapacitate them. I, for one, cannot stand it anymore, and as the best birder in the world, I feel it is my duty to improve the state of birding. 2: Look at the bird.

LACS 200

LACS Alaska Wildlife Connecticut 200

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2016

info) and is also USFWS licensed for migratory birds, specializing in waterfowl. I told him to bring me the bird, and while he was en route, I prepared a suitable enclosure. Upon arrival, I was surprised to see that the bird had a single, very long (perhaps 14”) tail feather – definitely not a tern.

Connecticut 176

Connecticut Florida Wildlife Rehabilitation Delaware 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2011

Readers of 10,000 Birds who pay attention will remember him from when he showed Patrick and me some really cool damselflies out in Suffolk County. Its debatable which one is a better bird for Florida. As this is close to the airport, it was a good choice to wrap up my birding for the trip.

Florida 177

Florida New York Downers New York City 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2011

Now that I have added ten more birds to my Queens life list we must revisit the list and predict my next ten birds in Queens (and see how my last set of predictions turned out). Queens, the finest borough in New York City, as I may have mentioned before, is where I have now seen a whopping 279 species! Did I do better this time?

Jamaica 158

Jamaica Owls 2010 New York City 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

Among these white-headed/dark-winged gulls formerly lumped into the genus Larus , there were 18+ recognized species the last time I checked, sharing similarities that make telling them apart for the amateur birdwatcher very difficult. 1998), then the proper name for this species is L. fuscus – should be separated as species.

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Species Deer 157

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

Since 2016, writers at 10,000 Birds have been contributing checklists to a joint eBird account called the “10,000 Birds Collaborative.” The writers at 10,000 Birds span the globe, but I am particularly interested in the lists for the United States, as that is my “beat.” Citizens), it would do well, with 107 species.

Rhode Island 114

Rhode Island United States West Virginia Puerto Rico 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2021

11 beats have been out this month and have submitted 136 checklists from 7 countries ticking 634 species. 124 Connecticut Warbler – Oporornis agilis. 124 Connecticut Warbler – Oporornis agilis. Beats are getting restless too with a couple of them venturing further than of late. The year list 1516 and life list 4078.

Woodpeckers 226

Woodpeckers Sparrows Parrots Blackbirds 226

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Way back on 16 May I managed to see my 312 bird species in Queens to add to my Queens list. Somehow I forgot that the last time I predicted what the next ten species I would see in Queens would be was back on 30 December 2013, when my list was sitting at 302. Sooty Shearwater – This will take some more dedicated seawatching.

2013 160

2013 2010 2012 2011 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

You see, like many other neighborhoods in and around New York City, Howard Beach has a significant population of Monk Parakeets , a South American parrot species that has adapted well to life in New York City, Chicago, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, and Texas after having escaping or being released from captivity. I know I do!

Parrots 242

Parrots New York City New York New Jersey 242

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2014

I dreamed of birding the Sundarbans delta – roughly the size of Connecticut or Cyprus – ever since my very dear friends Tim and Hanna Balke told me a story of their visit to these swamps where the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mehgna rivers converge in the Bengal basin. And tell me now – don’t you share my dream?

Bangladesh 193

Bangladesh Dolphins Cambodia Cooking 193

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2012

Having never visited the Quaker Ridge Hawkwatch in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut, I was pleased to make its acquaintance on an outing with the Queens County Bird Club yesterday. The habitat was great and the birds were abundant which is a great recipe for a fun morning.

Bald Eagle 146

Bald Eagle Connecticut Turkey New York 146

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

In fact, the last one was back on 15 May 2012 when my Queens list stood at 289 and I guessed what my next eleven birds would be that would get me to 300. Now my Queens list stands at a whopping 302, which means I have actually added thirteen species since my last predictions. This was a pair of relatively uncooperative birds at St.

2012 158

2012 2013 New York City Jamaica 158

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2015

On a recent afternoon’s visit to Forest Park’s famed waterhole the birds were coming in frequently and in abundance. In the one hundred and six minutes I spent at the waterhole seventeen species of wood-warbler stopped by for a drink or a bath. That’s just nuts! Magnolia Warblers were dirt-common.

New York City 184

New York City New York Connecticut Nashville 184

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

But when a second hummingbird was reported at Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers, New York, it seemed worth checking out, especially because the second bird, unlike the first, which is a Rufous Hummingbird (at left), wasn’t identified to species in the email to the state listserv that alerted birders to its presence.

New York 200

New York Connecticut United States Rights 200

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2020

7 countries (Costa Rica, China, USA, UK, Mexico, New Zealand and Serbia) were birded by 11 beats during October. They submitted 124 checklists for 671 species of bird. In particular 272 species were noted from 14 checklists submitted on October 17th, eBird’s October Big Day. This brings our all-time total to 4040.

2020 132

2020 Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots 132

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2022

Apparently, there is a traditional Chinese saying that seeing one pheasant in the wild is better than seeing ten other birds. Of course, this is nonsense – pheasants are probably among the most overrated of all birds. The name of the bird apparently comes from the color of its tail feathers. Connecticut.

Rhode Island 147

Rhode Island Research South Dakota North Dakota 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2021

The year list ends on a provisional (some beats will be birding ’til the final whistle to try and salvage a ravaged year) 1803 species from 1602 checklists submitted by 12 beats from 16 countries. Imagine that, 13 lists per year where once there were only 12.

2020 238

2020 Sparrows Woodpeckers Ducks 238

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

You’ll find 10,000 Birds a pleasingly merchandise-light site, at least for the time being. What we’re selling right now are memories of brilliant birds gone by. For example, during my long and tasty weekend, I spotted a variety of early winter species, the best of which was Golden-crowned Kinglet by the flockful.

2011 167

2011 Connecticut Birds Experience 167