10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2015

A manicured green lawn in front of the building and an iridescent blue bird on a smallish aloe tree. It was June 1999 and I was observing my first ever bird on African soil. The next bird was some crow-like UFO observed from the shuttle bus. I asked the bus driver about the bird and he asked me back: “The bi’d?” “Umm,

Africa 209

Africa Botswana Birds Europe 209

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2014

Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. After taking an ornithology course last year, he was hooked and spends most of his free time birding or reading birding blogs. Of course, birding was on the itinerary!

Finland 165

Finland Estonia Birds Europe 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2024

However – and I am not saying this out of misplaced national pride – there is one bird in the Netherlands that proves Jefferson wrong and Buffon right: the White-tailed Eagle (or Sea Eagle ). The post Oostvaardersplassen first appeared on 10,000 Birds. He even got a large Moose fed-exed to Paris to prove the point.

Beavers 141

Beavers Netherlands Eagles Geese 141

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

Yes there are birding sites and there are birds – but hardly much info about them (beside Fat Birder ). Local birding sites are well known – among local birders. Nevertheless, describing where to bird is easy. Nevertheless, describing where to bird is easy. Corn Bunting and Yellow Wagtail – common.

Serbia 175

Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 175

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Usually only several birds overwinter in Serbia – the biggest count ever was less than 10. I observed my first GS eagles in India some 8 years ago, then the first for Europe in Greece only last December , and finally I have them in my home country list. There weren’t that many birds at all, they hated the sounds as much as I did.

Moldova 118

Moldova Birds Serbia Greece 118

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2014

So we have a brown, slender-billed bird in font of us which we now know is a brown warbler, either of the genus Acrocephalus or Locustella. No, seriously, a brown warbler with stripes in central Europe really means you are either looking at a Grasshopper Warbler or a Sedge Warbler. So easy a group it is not even worth blogging about.

Europe 212

Europe Kazakhstan Sparrows Abandon 212

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2015

This time I was lucky enough to join a fam trip organised by Natural Greece, an ecotourism company from Athens, and spend a few days at my favourite Kerkini Lake, which you already birded through my bins ( April and September ). These cute little birds are common in the villages. Picture 10: Rock Sparrow – Petronia petronia.

Greece 244

Greece Woodpeckers Eagles Birds 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2017

There should be thousands of birds at this time of the year, Dimitris Michalakis from the Karla Lake management authority told me. In the northern section, the water was deep, interspersed by reed-islets, but the only birds were a few Little Egrets and Black-headed Gulls. Now I can say I was. Lesser Kestrel.

Greece 186

Greece Killing Pelicans Eagles 186

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2018

We were heading to the Djerdap (Iron Gates) Gorge National Park, stretching along the south bank of the Danube in eastern Serbia, to do the 400 km / 250 mi bird tour interconnecting possibly the very best sites around Belgrade reachable within a day. The deep beech forest of Djerdap was still full of birds.

Serbia 118

Serbia Woodpeckers Birds Bears 118

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2016

Two more sparrows on the macadam ahead of me… In my early birding days, I would simply assume that they are sparrows, possibly not even taking another look at them, but now I am too old to be so naive. My response to additional stress is – bird more and not less. It actually makes perfect sense.

Romania 130

Romania Sparrows Battery Turtles 130

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2016

How much time do you devote to birding? How high is birding on your list of activities – is it the very first or merely one of? These are the types I recognise: Coffee Break Birding – 10-15 minutes, usually not planned ahead but squeezed out of your schedule. It is a good option if you know that there is that one special bird.

Birds 111

Birds India Africa Serbia 111

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2016

I remember, several times while motionlessly surveying birds, I found myself being investigated by Striped Field Mice , who would dare to come to sniff me. Europe: The sun is scorching the area, and the birds are nowhere to be seen. No, birds are way too smart for that stupid trick. My first ever Balkan Egyptian Vultures!

Wildlife 178

Wildlife Tigers Asia Europe 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2016

In the most of Europe, Brown Bear is a mythical creature that lives only in mediaeval tapestries and folk tales. House Sparrow – Passer domesticus. Tree Sparrow – Passer montanus. It has become extinct, one may say, but such formulation hides the gruesome fact: it has been exterminated. Not at all.

Bears 269

Bears Greece Europe Slovenia 269

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2013

A Common Buzzard in the ground, another on the top of a bush… Buzzards were the most obvious birds, most of them coming from the more northerly countries to overwinter here and serve for target practice to a hoard of trigger-happy poachers. Large birds flying through silver fog… buzzards? Birding Europe Serbia'

Serbia 213

Serbia Hoarding Europe Woodpeckers 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

They belong to the same species like those found back in Europe, Sus scrofa – which inhabits a belt stretching from northern Africa and Europe all the way to Indonesia, but a different subspecies, S.s. Rao Travel, and the post-conference bird tour by Arpit Deomurari. Acknowledgements.

India 222

India Birds Eagles Boars 222

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The other day I was exploring a new area for the first time, birding the national park that I’ve watched only in BBC documentaries, the place famous for the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world – more than 1300 pairs! Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows. Have you heard of it?

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2017

I have just returned from Costa Rica, the country about which I knew very little, despite it coming under my radar all the way back in 1999 when the “Africa – Birds & Birding” magazine published some of John Graham’s experiences from his visit in 1993. The unspoken words “to watch birds” were left hanging in the air.

Costa Rica 179

Costa Rica San Jose Serbia Europe 179

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

MARCH 15, 2015

I still know my audience - this is primarily a blog read by birders in North America, who see the term “squirrel” as little more than a synonym for house sparrow, starling, pest and cholera. Germany, like most of Europe and very much unlike North America, is home to only one species of squirrel.

Squirrels 162

Squirrels North America Germany Europe 162

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

It is the end of January and my year list reached 110 birds. Without rarities and vagrants, Serbia has 333 regularly occurring species and my national list of 91 birds represent a good 27 per cent of local bird diversity. My January 2018 list (4 birds in bold are globally threatened): 1. It came by automatism.

Owls 105

Owls Greece Serbia Woodpeckers 105

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

From the time he can remember, every camping, hiking, or simple trip outside was focused on finding wildlife with herps, mammals, birds and native fish as his primary interests. When it comes time to for me to plan a vacation I first figure out what herps occur in the area and then what birds and mammals I can also find.

Salamander 138

Salamander Germany Birds Blackbirds 138

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds , Terminology / Cow Birds Cow Birds By Rick • March 22, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share So what do Buffleheads and Bitterns and Hornbills have in common? They’re all named for livestock.

Cows 142

Cows Cattle 2011 Birds 142

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

Will Raup is a birder from upstate New York who helped Corey learn a lot about birds when Corey was first starting out as a birder. When you think of invasives, you think of the birds that have been helped by human beings to get where they are, such as House Sparrow or European Starling.

Cattle 170

Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 170

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2016

There is of course the dry, cactus strewn desert areas, but with mountains up to 7000 feet, the habitat for our local birds is quite varied. While considered a migratory bird for this area, we do have a few the summer over. Many of the birds that do stay year round tend to congregate around the mangrove trees.

San Jose 100

San Jose North America Mexico America 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2011

I had the good fortune to be asked to represent one of the UK’s national birding magazines ‘Birdwatching’ on a press trip to Southern Portugal earlier this month. In May 1992 European Union governments adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe.

Portugal 250

Portugal Legislation 2000 Adoptable 250

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

This special place in a birder’s heart or on a list of best birds of the year certainly pertains not only to their extravagant lifestyle but also to the fact that most birders – particularly visiting birders – often struggle with finding them. Crazy, I know. And you know what? A silly name from a German prespective.

Germany 100

Germany 2016 Hamburgers Austria 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

This thrush is extremely common in urban and suburban Germany and one of the most conspicuous bird species here, comparable to the American Robin in North America. A few dead birds were collected by authorities and sent to a laboratory for investigation. The Usutu Virus has spread considerably in central Europe over the last 10 years.

Germany 160

Germany Blackbirds 2006 Denmark 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2012

There were quite a few common birds in the fields, the business park, and the residential area in the vicinity. Our time ended up paying off as we were treated to a flyover Northern Lapwing and a family of Syrian Woodpeckers , one of the birds we had hoped for on the trip. Beautiful, beautiful, butterflies. Black Redstarts. Stonechats.

Hungary 160

Hungary United States Birds Woodpeckers 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2014

Our bird guide, Georgos Spiridakis, is driving slowly along this dirt track, checking the mud all the time. The bird is not showing again, so we use the elimination system: the first and the last are way too different, and dealing with the other two, we ID it as a Lesser Spotted Eagle.

Greece 161

Greece Pelicans Breeding Buffalo 161

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2022

When you spot a brand new bird identification guide, especially for your home region – in this case, Europe – reaching for it comes naturally. A few months ago I birded Amazonia and carried another weighty tome with me, a 1.2 Yes, Europe’s Birds is a photographic guide.

Europe 250

Europe Birds Colombia Branding 250

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

It is commonly kept in captivity and has therefore established many feral populations world-wide originating from escaped / released cage birds. This is what happens when people choose their pet birds on visual factors alone without taking vocalizations into account. Very stupid thing to do.

Germany 244

Germany Netherlands Zoos Geese 244

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

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

(Boring bureaucratic note to dissuade casual readers: This post covers birds seen in Shanghai in January 2023, except for those seen at Tianmashan – these are shown in a separate post. End of note) Probably the most interesting bird in Shanghai this month was a Barred Cuckoo-Dove choosing a small downtown park to feed on berries.

Birds 147

Birds Geese Fish Industry 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

And reports of birds nesting – not owls, of course, those weirdo snow fetishists, but other birds nesting – light up my life. Most exotics, at least in the bird world, stick close to their point of arrival and barely hang on – or don’t – over the generations. In 1998 W. And of Wyoming.

Montana 134

Montana 2011 New York Bahamas 134

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

“Crissal&# is a made-up adjective derived from a made-up noun, “crissum,&# denoting the feathers surrounding the vent of a bird. • Explore These Related Posts Cow Birds Half Hardy I Am Heron, Hear Me Roar Good Gully: A Birder’s Oddity The Magenta’s Petrels.Or I had no idea I should have been embarrassed.

2011 140

2011 Tucson Arizona Deer 140

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2019

Once you’ve been around the birding block a few years, your appreciation for the lifer experience deepens greatly. Even in my species-rich territory of central Mexico, I only average about one lifer each month now, after five years of birding the area. In Rome, I saw one that turned out to be an Italian Sparrow.

Spain 194

Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 194

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2011

littoralis is a regular winter visitor in Britain that remains relatively undetected due to the similarity in plumage of most wintering birds to our own resident Rock Pipits A.petrosus. Or These Blasts From The Past Reason To Become A Bird Watcher #13: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! The Scandinavian Rock Pipit A.p.

2011 151

2011 Deer Fish New York 151