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.

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Dissection Birds Research Europe 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2013

Many of us are still enjoying the final weekend of May, so let’s cut to the chase and talk about our best birds. My best bird this weekend was an Eastern Wood-Pewee calling from a bare branch. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend' How about you?

2013 216

2013 North America Birds Eggs 216

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The Bank Swallow ( Riparia riparia ) is North America’s smallest swallow. The recently released 2014 State of the Birds Report lists the Bank Swallow as one of the common birds in steep decline. The recently released 2014 State of the Birds Report lists the Bank Swallow as one of the common birds in steep decline.

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North America 2014 California Birds 211

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2016

As a boy growing up, I scoured every bird book I could get my hands on. I guess it is that gruesome boyhood interest in any bird that would use thorns and barbwire to impale its prey on. These fiercely territorial birds. Here is a pair birds that I visit quite often, in an arroyo near La Ventana, Mexico. Migrans and L.i.

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Butcher Birds North America Mexico 150

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

” While certain New Jersey decisions may be dubious, their state bird, the American Goldfinch, is a beautiful choice. The legislature named the goldfinch the state bird in 1935 , sharing the designation with Washington and Iowa. Unlike many other songbirds, these goldfinches subsist entirely on a vegetarian, seed-based diet.

New Jersey 150

New Jersey United States Legislature Iowa 150

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Isla Rasa was declared a sanctuary in 1964, and egg-collecting and disturbance during the breeding season are discouraged. These factors have caused the IUCN to rate this bird as “Near Threatened” 2. You know what one of my favorite things is about bird blogging? www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUBX_tlHySc. v=FUBX_tlHySc.

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San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 163

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2012

Like all good things even Baby Bird Week must come to an end. And though we are sad to see seven days of adorable baby birds come to an end we can be happy that at least some of them will grow up to adulthood and make more baby birds. Sunday, 15 July It’s Baby Bird Week on 10,000 Birds!

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Costa Rica Birds North America Albatross 182

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2012

Most of the Osprey breeding in North America are migratory, only Florida, the Caribbean and Baja California host non-migratory breeders 1. Osprey pairs usually form at the nest site where females are fed almost exclusively by their mates prior to egg laying behavior 1. To see all of our Bird Love Week posts, just click here.

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California North America Sacramento Breeders 247

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

The Mourning Dove ( Zenaida macroura) is among the most abundant and widespread terrestrial birds endemic to North and Middle America. This gentle bird frequents bird feeders and readily nests almost anywhere. A seemingly rather peaceful bird, it gets its name from its easily identifiable mournful call.

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Hunters Hunting North America Game 208

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Producing a book about birds and nesting is a dangerous business. The truth is that there are few images cuter than baby birds in the nest opening their mouths and begging for food, but there are curmudgeons amongst us, myself included, who don’t like to admit this. And of birds courting and mating. We simply refuse to squee.

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Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2016

Northern Flicker nestlings hatch slightly asynchronously as the adults begin incubation one to two days before the last egg is laid. According to Birds of North America Online , on day 10 or 11 their eyes are beginning to open. They also have this strange looking white fleshy fold at the jaw hinge, and a white egg tooth.

North America 106

North America Eggs America Birds 106

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2014

The featured image above shows a female incubating eggs from my first resident breeding pair back in 2007. These elegant birds nest in cavities of various sites, including trees, cliffs, and nesting boxes. The four to six eggs are white and unmarked. You can also see the bird’s leftt wing sticking out.

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Eggs North America 2007 Woodpeckers 172

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2015

They nest on large inland lakes in western North America and migrate to the Pacific coast in winter, however they maintain local populations year-round in California. They normally lay 3 to 4 eggs per clutch. What a great bird! Click on photos for full sized images. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbRrxw-H6xA. v=ZbRrxw-H6xA.

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California North America Eggs America 145

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

All four major flyways in North America — the aerial migration routes traveled by billions of birds each year — converge in one spot in Canada’s boreal forest, the Peace-Athabasca Delta in northeastern Alberta. About three billion birds fly north to the Boreal Forest each spring to build nests and lay eggs.

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Obama 2008 United States Industry 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

So how do nesting birds deal with the excrement of all those nestlings until they fledge? Here’s a photo of a House Finch nest before the eggs hatch and the hatchlings start producing fecal sacs. The fecal sac is a translucent gelatinous membrane containing the excrement of nestling birds. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHSgyxRQXvg

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Bald Eagle Chickens Birds North America 250

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2015

The Brown Pelican occurs in both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America and northern South America. They nearly disappeared from North America between the late 1950s and early 1970s because of pesticides entering the food chain. The Brown Pelican is Louisiana’s state bird.

Pelicans 157

Pelicans North America Peru Fish 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

In the mid-1970s, a local breeder was burglarized and a few of his birds escaped, after which the breeder released his remaining stock of about 50 birds 1. Since its introduction, this dove has spread quickly across the North American continent. They feed from grain storage and spillage areas, livestock yards, and bird feeders.

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Breeders 2002 North America Bahamas 202

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2012

A few weeks ago I was working out in the garden and noticed a small bird flutter into the garden. This bird didn’t look like the Bewick’s Wrens I was used to seeing. I believe the bird pictured above (click on photos for full sized images) is possibly a young bird going through its prejuvenal molt.

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Mississippi North America Eggs America 175

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Bird Surprises Bird Surprises By Bill • March 8, 2011 • 9 comments Tweet Share Sometimes we watchers see birds do things that surprise us—things birds are not supposed to do.

2011 244

2011 Birds Michigan Ohio 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2018

I found one bird perched inside the platform! Pairs average 59 successful copulations per clutch, starting 14 days before, and peaking a few days before, the start of egg-laying 1. Pairs copulate most often in early morning, at the same time as egg-laying 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

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Eggs North America Fish America 134

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2015

When I first approached the nest tree I saw an adult squirrel climbing the snag near the sapsucker entrance and, knowing that squirrels will eat bird eggs and nestlings, I was quite concerned. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. Click on photos for full sized images. It should be here later today.

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Squirrels Woodpeckers North America Eggs 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2013

A birding friend of mine listed nesting White-headed Woodpeckers ( Picoides albolarvatus ) on the local Shasta County listserve so I thought I’d head up to Lassen Park to check it out. The White-headed Woodpecker is a non-migratory bird found in mixed coniferous forests dominated by pine trees in far western North America.

Woodpeckers 154

Woodpeckers North America America Eggs 154

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2011

The female chooses the nest site, builds the nest, lays around 10 eggs over a two week period and incubates them for about a month. References: 1 Birds of North America Online a. entrance hole. The male seldom sticks around once the female begins incubation.

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Jordan North America Abandon Abandoning 182

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2015

From the 1913 USDA Farmers Bulletin #513, Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard: “The bluebird is one of the most familiar tenants of the farm and dooryard. For rent the bird pays amply by destroying insects, and takes no toll from the farms crop. ” Nest Boxes (Bird Houses) from 1912. It was in 1926 that Thomas E.

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Tenant Farming Illinois North America 163

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Baby Bird week couldn’t come at a better time for someone in the High Arctic, suddenly there are birds hatching everywhere. Baby birds here, as everywhere else fall into two broad categories, altricial and precocial. Precocial birds hatch in a relatively developed state. And now onto some precocial birds.

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Eggs North America Breeding Europe 228

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2014

More than 99% of the population of Tricolored Blackbirds ( Agelaius tricolor ) live within the state of California and form the largest colonies of any North American passerine bird 1. Therefore the actual numbers of birds killed are grossly underestimated. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

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Blackbirds California 2014 2013 214

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2013

Especially the bird breeding season, which passes by at the blink of an eye. Two weeks in July though eats through prime birding time up here. But I just haven’t seen birds like normal, although a large part of that has been effort. Fresh whitewash gives me hope that they were still there, but I’ve not seen a bird.

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Abandon Abandoning Abandonment Eggs 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2012

It is not bird bloggers but birds that Suzie Gilbert spends her time rehabilitating. Despite the fact that some of us could use a twelve-step program to kick this birding addiction, Suzie, our newest beat writer here on 10,000 Birds, will not be treating us. Why go birding when you can just stroll through the house?

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2009 North America Bird Rescue Rescue 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2015

Another species of Python, the African Python ( Python sebae ) has established a small population in the 2,877-acre Bird Drive Area (BDA) in South Florida. Photo Credit: Invasive and Exotic Species of North America (www.invasive.org). The population of African Pythons in the Bird Drive Area appears to have been contained.

Pythons 211

Pythons Florida Mammals Reptiles 211

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. For birders, it’s the extremely large book, shelved in a place where it can’t crush the field guides, used to research the history of a bird in their area. It included surveys of nocturnal and marsh birds, and a point count survey of songbirds.

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Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 258

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2013

In North America, at least in the eastern part of it, we celebrate the return of the Baltimore Oriole to parks and farms this time of year. Icterus galbula is a handsome bird, to be sure. There is no doubt about it, this is a striking bird. Birds orioles' The prototypical oriole. But that would be incorrect.

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Baltimore Broker North America Raised 211

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

Author Sherrida Woodley thinks deeply about dearly departed birds. But he tried, using the Craigheads’ techniques, and he learned from that young bird, and eventually many others along the way. Tom Cade, a quiet, down-to-earth ornithologist, more than once remarked that falconry is really just another form of bird watching.

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Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2013

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park offers close viewing of these birds as well as interpretive signs throughout the park. Over 130 bird species have been observed on the five miles of hiking trails that wind through evergreen and hardwood forests. Photo from Wikipedia Commons taken by Terry Gray.

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California North America Costa Rica Niger 239

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

But they don’t live in North America. I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. In North America, you’ve got Bears at the large end, Cats in the middle, and at the smaller end, the Mustilids. This means that they eat a lot of rodents and birds.

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Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Shortly after the first bird leaves the feeder, the remaining woodpecker peaks around the edge of the feeder. These birds inhabit foothill and mountain woodlands and are closely associated with oaks and usually found in pine-oak woodlands. Acorn Woodpeckers are obviously very handsome birds and a load of fun to watch.

Woodpeckers 201

Woodpeckers Breeders Groups North America 201

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2024

So Eduardo set aside the afternoon to show me some of the city, and take me birding in two city parks. Being a westerner — raised in California, and now living in western Mexico — I was perhaps most excited about the migratory birds that breed in eastern North America. Then, around 4:00 p.m.,

Mexico 244

Mexico Birds Raccoons Baltimore 244

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2014

One of the two sub-species of Red Knot occurring in North America, the Rufa subspecies breeds in the Canadian Artic Region and migrates along the east or Atlantic coast of the United States. In both cases, knots, which feed on the crabs’ eggs, can miss their peak refueling opportunity. Birds in Delaware Bay.

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Endangered Species Protection Delaware Species 160