10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

One good thing about birding during a pandemic–the forced restrictions on place and time translate into more time to observe what birds do. Bird behavior–endlessly fascinating, but so much still hidden and unknown. Extreme behaviors also push scientists to look at birds in new ways.

Research 238

Research Birds Science Costa Rica 238

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2023

The birds I’m referring to in this post are all flycatchers that occupy woody, forest habitat; but they are very infrequently in the same place at the same time. While the bird above recalls a Great Kiskadee in size and structure, both Variegated and Piratic Flycatchers are considerably smaller and slimmer.

Trinidad 153

Trinidad Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 153

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2023

May is a busy month for birds migrating through Shanghai – and of course, last May was completely missed due to the lockdown. So, I spent a lot of time birding this month, and to keep this post at a manageable length, it mostly only covers the first half of May. The video is notable for the bird basically refusing to move at all.

Birds 130

Birds Raised Cattle Mammals 130

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

Instead, we’ve got other bird news to cheer us up (or at least take our minds off avian’s inexplicable inability to capture U.S. Project FeederWatch data prove that woodpeckers are at the top of the backyard bird feeder pecking order. sports championships ). And as a ferocious storm bears down on much of the northern U.S.,

Massachusetts 100

Massachusetts Eggs Falcons Rights 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

The first eggs were laid in the first week of July, which is the case each year. The eggs take 28 days to hatch and it is then at least 35 days before the chicks are developed enough to fly and there have been problems with predation as in other years. Pied Oystercatcher sitting on eggs in the nudist area of Cable Beach.

Breeding 159

Breeding Eggs Camels Raised 159

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2015

There are sixteen pairs of Pied Oystercatchers and they have varying success at raising young birds. To the north they are very unlucky with predation before the eggs even hatch out, but to the south the eggs hatch out and then the predation occurs on the chicks.

Feral Cats 159

Feral Cats Eggs Feral Cats 159

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

If you need to capture a bird for study or rehabbing, there are a number of tools at your disposal. Mist nets are a popular strategy. One scientists posits that harvesting of horseshoe crabs (their eggs are a preferred Red Knot food source) at a crucial refueling stop on the birds’ migration could be part of the problem.

Science 166

Science Massachusetts Research Eggs 166

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2011

Besides the avian attributes of flight, feathers and laying eggs, potoos are quite possibly the most unbird-like birds in the world. This bird’s gape is impossibly large and cavernous and is used to net beetles, moths, insects and even small birds. What a truly fantastic and enigmatic bird!

Costa Rica 249

Costa Rica Jamaica Eggs Cooking 249

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

The highly specialized foraging strategy of flamingos makes them vulnerable to the effect of subtle changes in habitat quality. Egg harvesting to sell as food was intensive then, with thousands taken annually from the breeding colonies in Chile. Egg collection for local consumption still continues at lower scale.

Chile 155

Chile Endangered Species Eggs Argentina 155

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

When you monitor a species of birds over many years you learn a lot from your observations and you soon become aware of the fact that some birds are just better at parenting than others. There is egg predation, chick loss and sometimes possibly just some “bad parenting”! Three eggs in the nest.

Eggs 165

Eggs Raised Breeding Family 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

Gaines, notwithstanding that the story (1) takes place in the Uruguay of 1999, with plenty of commentary on the Uruguayan political scene of that time, (2) is narrated by a bird illustrator who identifies the birds he sees only by their common Spanish names, and (3) flashes back to the use of torture by South American juntas in the 1970’s.

Uruguay 156

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 156

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2019

Not only did we observe the bird species most days, but we also had the privilege of observing them at a nest. It was also interesting to note how clumsily the Oriental Pied Hornbill appear to get around the trees and that such a large bird can disappear so easily into a tall dense tree. Oriental Pied Hornbill with a changeable lizard.

Singapore 113

Singapore Seals Eggs Australia 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2017

Drag some other bird bodily out of a hollow tree and thrash the feathers off them? Steal and eat their eggs? But for millions of years up until now you haven’t had an international audience of thousands of highly social mammals with their own particular quirks and evolutionary strategies watching your every move around the clock.

Bald Eagle 100

Bald Eagle Belize Iowa Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2011

The first eggs are laid during the first week of July each year and if these eggs fail to hatch or the chicks are lost they will lay further eggs within a few weeks. Sadly a lot of eggs are lost to feral cats and chicks are sometimes taken by birds of prey. Nest site with 3 eggs-one white!

2002 167

2002 Feral Cats Eggs 2007 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2011

Brown-headed Cowbirds evoke strong feelings in many birders, some of whom can’t abide a bird that lays its eggs in other birds’ nests, often to the detriment of the nest owners’ offspring. Now nearly ubiquitous from forests to urban centers And our young have even more bird species as mentors.

Eggs 160

Eggs Buffalo Sparrows Humane 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2015

Both pelicans have a very specialized foraging strategy that depends on abundant fish near the surface. Some pesticides killed pelicans directly, while DDT contamination led to thin-shelled eggs that broke under the weight of the parents. The Brown Pelican is Louisiana’s state bird. Peruvian Pelican in non-breeding plumage.

Pelicans 157

Pelicans North America Peru Fish 157

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.

Eggs 194

Eggs North America Breeding Europe 194

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 186

Woodpeckers Breeders Groups North America 186

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

This is the second part of a post showing some birds seen at Nonggang in December 2022, along with the usual (mostly irrelevant) comments. The poor bird’s Latin species name is macgrigoriae , apparently (HBW) named after Jane Grant McGrigor, the daughter of Maj. Sir James McGrigor (1771-1858) Director Gen.

China 242

China Birds Pythons Eagles 242

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. This bird is represented in an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph. Can’t say that it is a particularly obvious name from seeing the bird.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2023

The last time I birded Longcanggou, a national forest park in China’s Sichuan province, was in November 2021. Now, 14 months later, the place has changed – unfortunately, for the worse, at least as birding is concerned. Some individuals even rejected their own eggs when they were in the minority.

Eggs 175

Eggs China Birds Mammals 175

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

Yes, the warbler formerly known as Dendroica kirtlandii , now Setophaga kirtlandii , is one of those birds that make birders’ hearts pulse quicker and their legs churn faster. Look what happened when the bird made the first of three appearances at the Biggest Week in American Birding at Magee Marsh! photo by Lynn C.

Michigan 240

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 240

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

“A reading of recent research shows that Australian birds are more likely than most to eat sweet foods, live in complex societies, lead long lives, attack other birds, and be intelligent and loud.” When going to Australia, one of the two birds I wanted to see most was the Tawny Frogmouth.

Birds 242

Birds Australia Ducks Mountain Goats 242

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2023

I visited Tengchong in late 2020 and wrote about it – but I also went there earlier, in 2017, and this post shows some photos I took during that trip, along with the usual comments that seem to be much more about ridiculing my fellow humans (especially ornithologists and the like) than providing useful information on birds.

China 193

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 193

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

The vast majority of the 10,000+ living species of birds are passerines, and the vast majority of those have a similar system of breeding: Mom and dad bird make a nest and share parental responsibilities roughly equally, if not identically. It turns out that the two strategies may be related.

Breeders 210

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 210

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

so I’m a bit behind in my intense pursuit of scientific findings related to birds. First, the bird butts. It is interesting to note that the vast majority of birds flying by out there are going the other way. The local Bald Eagles are getting busy, I suspect there is an egg in the nest. But I do have a few items.

Birds 185

Birds Bald Eagle Zoos Philippines 185

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

– Birds are indeed dinosaurs, yet, are indubitably not. Knowledge is knowing that a bird is a dinosaur. That was probably a great strategy for rapid reproduction … live very fast and die very young. Dinosaurs went extinct, and birds are amazing anyway. Better to call me an ape’s uncle. Well, except maybe you.

Monkeys 145

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Life is hard for baby birds, as the world is filled with reasons why they might not make it too adulthood. Starvation and predators make it hard to grow up, and birds have evolved a lot of strategies to give (at least some of) their chicks the best chance in life. Seabirds are one group of birds that go for the latter strategy.

Eggs 166

Eggs Puffins Breeding Raised 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2012

Most people think of brood parasitism and two kinds of bird spring to mind: the cowbirds (most often the Brown-headed Cowbird ) and the Old World cuckoos (most often the Common Cuckoo ). But the honeyguides, indigobirds, and a single species of duck all do the classic cuckoo strategy (obligate interspecific brood parasitism) as well.

Eggs 156

Eggs Neglecting Adoptable Hunting 156

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

There are few bird names that will elicit great big smiles and Penguin is one of them. Other contenders are Kookaburra, Shoebill, and Umbrellabird, but people smile when they hear these names because they know a song or because they can’t believe these are real names of real birds. <pause> Do I have your attention now?

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 278

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2012

When people think of birds and their sex lives…most of us don’t know much, although it’s not for a lack of interest. Within the bird world, so many different strategies and methods of mating and reproduction have evolved, it simply boggles the mind. This is just a small slice of how birds get it done.

Albatross 203

Albatross Birds Lifestyle Raised 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2021

Once upon a time, bird field guides included nests. Decades later, Richard Pough’s Audubon Bird Guide, Eastern Land Birds (I happily own the 1948 edition) included nest and egg descriptions for each species as well. But somewhere along the way, nests and eggs got dropped from our field guides. Harrison. (A

Eggs 244

Eggs Birds United States Sparrows 244

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2012

Think about the difference between birds and mammals. Think about the difference between a typical bird, say, your favorite common songbird, and Elk. Both Elk and songbirds have the same basic method of inseminating eggs, which is one of the steps in reproduction (but not by any means the first!),

Mammals 168

Mammals Eggs Abandon Abandoning 168

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

This is the thing—no matter how devoted you are to birds and birding, once you get to Africa, you can’t resist the mammals. This means you need to pack a mammal guide in addition to your bird guide. I am not usually a fan of mammal, animal, or bird guides restricted to one particular park or recreation area.

Rhinos 247

Rhinos Mammals Animal White Rhinos 247

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2012

There is no raptor quite so removed from the typical confines of what a bird of prey should look and behave like. They are the most terrestrial bird of prey in the world, regularly covering over 20 miles a day in their relentless search for food. So long that they have to crouch to drink or pick up food.

Botswana 233

Botswana Eagles Porcupines Hunting 233

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2024

Welcome to Birding Tongbiguan, part 1. The authors of the paper sound a bit helpless, stating that “At the time of discovery, both birds [two bee-eaters] were still alive, but it was not possible to free them from the net because the bees began to attack the ringer.” Of course, the same applies to pizza services for humans.

Squirrels 141

Squirrels Birds China Bears 141

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

The person who named this bird apparently cleverly chose the name Yellow-rumped Flycatcher to distinguish the bird from the Narcissus Flycatcher, which is also yellow-rumped. In Chinese, this bird is called White-browed Flycatcher, which introduces some (possibly undesirable) logic into the world of bird names.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147