10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2022

I’m not quite sure where I was at the time, probably working, and it was six more years till I got my state Henslow’s Sparrow at Shawangunk NWR (a shorter drive and a more cooperative bird). She frames her story with first a Doonesbury comic strip (remember Dick Davenport, the bird watcher?)

Birds 263

Birds Sparrows Connecticut New York 263

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 218

Dissection Birds Research Europe 218

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2016

In 2015 a Federal Duck Stamp Task Force was convened under the auspices of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) consisting of seventeen individuals. b) Recommendation : Work with all groups to identify synergistic opportunities for promoting broad conservation benefits of the Duck Stamp. 1) Action : U.S.

Ducks 100

Ducks Hunters Hunting Wildlife 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2023

But does ChatGPT have even a rudimentary understanding of a niche topic like birding? I asked it a few questions about birding locations and the (unedited) results are below, along with some brief analysis. Please note that the availability of specific bird species may vary depending on the season.

United States 162

United States Michigan Texas Virginia 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2024

Mid-February is an early start for spring – even this far south – but spring is spring, and birds were waiting. My plan was to do research for this post, so I decided to enter as a common mortal and not use the electronic pass. There were birds singing everywhere. Interestingly, a bird of prey set off a psychological experiment.

Psychology 165

Psychology Portugal Japan Eagles 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2021

The survey also sought to identify “the key attributes important to birding experiences” and learn more about “decisions to participate in birdwatching and level of identity as birdwatcher.”. For example, the survey (of eBirders) found: “Nearly all respondents (99%) indicated they participate in birdwatching or birding.”.

Minnesota 264

Minnesota Research Pennsylvania Ohio 264

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 30, 2013

Ducks and geese may not be a particularly unusual sight in the wild, but have you ever thought about keeping them as pets? Ducks and geese make excellent pets because it is interesting to watch them as they go about their activities and engage with their environment. They can make excellent, if slightly quirky, pets.

Geese 100

Geese Ducks Pets Chickens 100

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 30, 2013

Ducks and geese may not be a particularly unusual sight in the wild, but have you ever thought about keeping them as pets? Ducks and geese make excellent pets because it is interesting to watch them as they go about their activities and engage with their environment. They can make excellent, if slightly quirky, pets.

Geese 100

Geese Ducks Pets Chickens 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

This is Liz’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. The rise in drone popularity over the past few years has been meteoric — and in our typical human arrogance, we’ve once again ignored the fact that for the past 150 million years, the sky has belonged to the birds.

Birds 182

Birds Protection Idaho Bears 182

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. But, let’s start at the beginning.

Costa Rica 233

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 233

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Not only that, but the university retains on faculty a bona fide authority on the region’s avifauna: Professor Oliver Komar is the co-author of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America and as brilliant a field birder as I’ve ever met in the Neotropics. Zamorano happens to be incredibly birdy. DRY FOREST.

Honduras 135

Honduras Birds Kentucky Research 135

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 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

One of these days, Jeopardy will feature a category called “Field Guides” and the first clue will be: “This landlocked South American country finally got its own bird field guide in 2016, but it wasn’t available in the United State until 2019.” Bolivia doesn’t come up much in discussions of birding travel.

Bolivia 172

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 172

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

If you like birds on posts, if seeing “little brown jobs” posing nicely in the distance as you drive or walk along a dirt road only to have it fly away as you approach makes you deliriously happy, then North Dakota is the place for you. I wanted to see prairie birds and I wanted to experience a new state. Scott Barnes, N.J.

North Dakota 138

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 138

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

We tried yesterday to visit the Nekromanteio of Afyra, the very entrance of ancient Greek’s Hades, but the world of the dead was locked up (well, not really for renovation, but for further research at this archeological site, after the height of a tourist season). On a wire by the road, one European Bee-eater awaits me.

Greece 162

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2022

It is reasonable to assume that you – you reader of this blog – howevermuch you may have interest in the starnose mole, the common octopus, and other of Higgins’ zoological examples — you like birds best of all. That innate sense of direction is, according to recent research, a result of the ability to detect the earth’s magnetic field.

Humane 237

Humane New York Owls Hunting 237

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2019

In my continuing tour of the many sites for birding here in the Tucson, Arizona area, I have run across the Sam Lena Park, and athletic complex. Cattails line parts of the ponds, all of this giving shelter to a very nice variety of birds. One of my “First of Year” birds for Arizona was this lovely Yellow Warbler.

Tucson 127

Tucson Arizona Ducks Shelters 127

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

Usually, it’s “Bird eating fish” but here we have a case of a “Bird-eating fish.” Now and then individual catfish of various species hunt nearer the surface and larger catfish such as the American Channel Cat will take a duck or other water bird. Pigeons that moved were sitting ducks.

Fish 202

Fish Birds Whales Whaling 202

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Yes, cute little Skylarks were all well and good, but what Kiwis really wanted were birds they could shoot and fish they could, uh, fish. New Zealand had, once upon a time, some fairly spectacular game birds, including massive flightless geese, massive flightles rails, and really enormous moa. Female Mallard, photo by Corey.

Species 166

Species New Zealand Ducks Game 166

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Dozens of other introduced bird species, largely escapees from pet owners, now call Miami home. Well-represented exotic families include starlings, ducks and doves and there are also many more individual species that now thrive here. I recently had a great day out targeting miami’s exotic birds.

Miami 133

Miami Parrots Research Birds 133

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Birding for the Curious: The Easiest Way for Anyone to Explore the Incredible World of Birds by Nate Swick brings birding back to its roots—a simple, joyous way to enjoy nature using our eyes, ears, hands (for sketching), and brain. There are now no excuses except a lack of curiosity. And, nobody wants to admit that.

Birds 263

Birds North Carolina North America Owls 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2015

Because “duck, duck, goose” is a little too wintry (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) for a post written in the dog days of August. The bird is so rare and elusive that it was thought to be extinct. Researchers are planning to ask the American Ornithologists’ Union to make the split official.

Parrots 165

Parrots Bahamas Monkeys Transported 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2018

Owls are mystical beasts that are well loved by both birders and those who casually look at birds. And then, when one gets reported and you chase it (Because, honestly, you’re not going to spend what little time you have to bird in the subfreezing temperatures of the north trying to find your own great gray, are you?),

Owls 155

Owls Barn Owls Woodpeckers Bahamas 155

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Proposal: Creation of a Federal Wildlife Conservation Stamp A birder, wildlife watcher, photographer and non-hunter version of the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (aka Federal Duck Stamp). She says, “there’s just a cultural bias against anything related to hunting.”

Wildlife 199

Wildlife Hunters Ducks Hunting 199

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Winged Sentinels: Birds and Climate Change falls squarely in the middle of this range: while it is unlikely to be picked up for beach reading, it is written at a level suitable for an undergraduate student or informed layperson. If I have any complaints, they lie not in the information but in the way the information is presented.

Netherlands 158

Netherlands Birds Buffalo Science 158

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

We tried yesterday to visit the Nekromanteio of Afyra , the very entrance of ancient Greek’s Hades, but the world of the dead was locked up (well, not really for renovation, but for further research and digging at this archeological site). This is possibly the only European wetland I’ve birded where Common Moorhens outnumber Eurasian Coots.

Greece 189

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 189

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2014

Among birds the Egyptian Vulture uses rocks to crack Ostrich eggs, the New Caledonian Crow and Woodpecker Finch (one of several Darwin Finches of the Galapagos Islands), uses sticks to extract grubs from inside a branch. This is similar to the fact that all birds, even first time breeders within a species build identical nests.

Fish 163

Fish Woodpeckers Ostriches Eggs 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Beside birds, in this park you stand a chance of spotting the Eurasian Lynx , Brown Bear and Gray Wolf ! It is possible to reach it on the Friday afternoon, sleep there and go birding at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Well, do you really? The Forgotten Road does not exist on the GPS screen either. Am I complaining about it?

Serbia 187

Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2016

Well, it is rather common and can even be scarce regionally, but overall it is not a difficult bird to find in Germany so long as a cunning birder frequents reedy wetlands. No, the usual birding opportunity at zoos and parks is one of watching feeding and preening behaviour, or parenting and social interactions. Beware of Crocodiles.

Zoos 100

Zoos Germany California Condor Lions 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2016

I was there to tour a long term ecological research site, and while I waited for my ride I noticed dozens of Barn Swallows swooping through the air. As I watched, a swallow flew past our heads and ducked under the overhang. Eventually my ride arrived, and I bade the birds adieu.

Georgia 100

Georgia Ducks Research Species 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2012

On this final day of 2012 it is time, just like it was on the final days of 2010 and 2011 , to share your Best Birds of the Year. Well, actually, your Best Bird of the Year will only be shared here if you took the time to respond to the post in which we here at 10,000 Birds shared our Best Birds of the Year.

2012 133

2012 Ghana Ireland Birds 133

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

So instead let’s talk about South Africa’s best kept birding secret (at least outside of the country) Wakkerstroom. I have 10,000 Birds contributor Adam Riley to thank for telling me I had to add it to my list, and a quick bit of research showed that he was right on.

South Africa 145

South Africa Africa Falcons Family 145

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2018

Most of the time, I know enough about an area, or have done some research into what is found there, that I am pleasantly surprised at best. This 57,331 acre refuge was set aside as a critical wintering location for tens of thousands of Geese, Ducks and Sandhill Cranes. There was also a small raft of Ruddy Ducks.

New Mexico 113

New Mexico Mexico Tucson Costa Rica 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / What is the National Bird of Honduras? What is the National Bird of Honduras? By Corey • March 18, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share The national bird of Honduras is the Scarlet Macaw.

Honduras 151

Honduras 2011 Deer Birds 151

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2015

Hence, this Friday, I sat at the Danube riverbank with Swarovski STX in front of me, scanning the vast expanse of water: a Ferruginous Duck , three Velvet (White-winged) Scoters , Little and Great Crested Grebes … but no Slavonian Grebe. And, last Sunday, one such vagrant was photographed on the Danube in Belgrade. Photos (2) by S.

Serbia 165

Serbia Norway France Japan 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2016

Once you eliminate the risque jokes (I know, I know, but it’s a family blog) the Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet might have the most comical name in American birding. How did this itty-bitty bird come to be saddled with a moniker that sounds exactly like a punchline about bird names? To find out more, we must work backwards.

Costa Rica 102

Costa Rica 2014 Family Collecting 102

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2024

Of course, excellent opportunity to go birding with my friends Brad and Laura. My colleague Doug wrote me an email describing the whereabouts of these “rosy finches” and my wife had to manage my excitement with horse tranquilizer… What a fantastic little birds. It is mid-March and I am back in Colorado for meetings.

Denver 165

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 165