10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

Hopefully you celebrated by enjoying some fine birds! I took a family trip down to rural Pennsylvania, where I can always count on seeing an abundance of Eastern Kingbirds … and I did. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2015 158

2015 Pennsylvania Sparrows Birds 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. Where can I see Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow followed by a fantastic meal ? These and other important birding related questions come to mind and during a normal July, I would be personally and actively helping answer them.

Costa Rica 211

Costa Rica Birds Thailand Family 211

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

At the end of 2022, let us celebrate the local field guide, a sub-genre that many of us feared would die, the victim of technology, development, and globalization, but which still shines bright, fewer in number but brilliant in quality, thanks to birders and birding organizations that believe in knowing your patch and your state.

Los Angeles 194

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 194

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2018

July often means travel, which sometimes means tourist attractions, which occasionally means exotic or introduced bird species. We may know these birds well, but should we love them? The reason I ask is because my family and I visited the Bronx Zoo this weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Following me here?

2018 100

2018 Zoos Birds Raised 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

If you read my weekly posts bookending theweekend birding experience, you know that I pay close attention to phenology. The way the ebb and flow of each season impacts out experience of the natural world must inform our efforts to observe avifauna if we want to optimize our experience. Birding best bird weekend'

2014 168

2014 New York Birds Experience 168

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In September, I had the fantastic opportunity to travel to an increasingly popular destination for birding: Honduras. Chris Lotz, the owner of the international bird tour company Birding Ecotours , invited me to join him on a familiarization trip that included several highland sites as well as Pico Bonito Lodge.

Honduras 213

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 213

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Around this time of year, I keep an eye out for White-throated Sparrows landing around my home… they were right on time! Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a total surprise while on a family outing to Edgemere Landfill in Queens. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

2014 167

2014 Birds Sparrows Experience 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2018

This past weekend marked one of the peak moments of migratory bird activity globally, at least in an aggregate sense. Family obligations kept me on the sidelines during Global Big Day, but I did manage to sneak in a little birding before traveling. What was your best bird of the weekend? Did you notice? How about you?

2018 101

2018 Birds Sparrows Experience 101

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2015

Just like we did last year my family spent this past weekend camping at North Lake State Park, up in New York’s gorgeous Catskill Mountains. And, not surprisingly, the breeding birds present were largely the same species as last year which was not a problem at all! It’s about birds! How could we not?

Birds 162

Birds New York Family Sparrows 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2019

Growing up birding in Western New York was also a time when the old woods of the Niagara Gorge were punctuated with the songs of hidden Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos and the lazy notes of Eastern Wood-Pewees. Seeing the uncommon birds is key to reaching a big total no matter where one goes birding. San Vito and Buenos Aires.

Costa Rica 199

Costa Rica Species Birds New York 199

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2017

I was so crippled with envy over Corey’s current Neotropical sojourn (with a few family commitments thrown in) that I could barely bring myself to look at birds at all. However, I did spot a curious assemblage of House Sparrows perched in a row along the roofline of one specific house. How about you?

Guatemala 100

Guatemala 2017 Turkey Birds 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2013

In fact, we lead the world in these ubiquitous red birds, a fact that undoubtedly chafes terrorists and freedom haters everywhere. My best bird this weekend was hardly rare, but spotting a Great Blue Heron in a suburban yard far from water definitely caught my attention. That’s his third new bird in Queens in less than a month!

St. Louis 167

St. Louis 2013 United States Arizona 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2015

Back in early March, Andrew Spencer asked me if I would like to go birding in western Mexico with him and another friend in May. Before I knew it, it was late May, and I was on the road in Colima, Mexico with Andrew Spencer and Nathan Pieplow on a birding adventure! Black-chested Sparrow is pretty sharp! Time flew by.

Mexico 174

Mexico Birds Owls Sparrows 174

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2021

Louisiana is a magical place to bird. At the same time I was ogling Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Upland Sandpipers, Marybeth Lima was also birding Louisiana. Chapter Two is a potpourri of stories about nemesis birds, birding by ear, birding for science, under the rubric of birding ‘for the love of it.’

Louisiana 264

Louisiana Species Mississippi Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

Birds can be enjoyed in a wide variety of ways. Those of us who chase rare birds for our counties, states, or other human-made geographical distinctions watch birds for more reasons than the twitch. For example, we might just enjoy the calls and antics of those White-throated Sparrows while searching for a Harris’s.

Costa Rica 182

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 182

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. There are many dusty side roads in this area, many of which offer productive birding.

Mexico 191

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 191

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2011

The best birdof my weekend was a Brown Creeper that hung around long enough for me to share with generally nature-numb friends and family; what’s more fun than pulling back the curtain and showing people the world that whirls unnoticed all around them? Corey can’t choose between three choice sparrows spotted in Queens.

2011 150

2011 Sparrows Birds Experience 150

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

There is GISS and there is Birding by Impression and they are not the same. GISS—general impression, size, shape—is intuitive, the result of an unconscious cognitive process derived from experience in the field. Experienced birders can identify birds using GISS; all birders can identify birds if they adopt the BBI approach.

Birds 169

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 169

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

That’s right, I, along with my family and some really good friends, was camping. It also had nesting Gray Catbirds , fledgling Chipping Sparrows , singing Red-eyed Vireos , and a patch of jewel weed that attracted Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. And, of course, as I do sometimes, I managed to sneak in a bit of birding.

New York 174

New York Cooking Chipmunks Owls 174

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 221

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 221

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

“Target birds” The term can foster excitement but is easily contentious. Aren’t all birds worth watching? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating and watching every bird but there’s also nothing wrong about going to great efforts to see lifers only found in dreams. Fiery-throated Hummingbird.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 202

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2011

Sparrows have almost completely taken over for wood-warblers and temperatures are finally waning as is only proper. He lost nearly a day off of his trip but I am sure that he managed to see some birds once he arrived. Let’s assume that he saw something delightful and tropical like, say, the national bird of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 174

Costa Rica New York City Atlanta 2011 174

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

All of these titles deal with birding in specific North American geographic areas: The Atlantic coast, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The photos show the forms of the bird seen on the east coast and are annotated with notes on plumage and other distinguishing field marks. It’s time for some short book reviews. Well, short for me.

Pennsylvania 165

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 165

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Most of these birds are small, finch-like species with thick, conical bills for cracking seeds or eating insects. Writing in the Journal of Avian Biology in 2003, Van Remsen theorized: [T]he bill may exert more influence on our cognitive perception because of its proximity to the bird’s face.

2003 210

2003 Sparrows Family South America 210

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2020

How long does the bird stay aloft, and how many dives does he do? Other “ Explores” are directed at the soft, amorphous practice-singing of young, first-year songbirds ( Explore 24, in Chapter 4, “How a Bird Gets Its Song”) and the specific differences between warbler dawn and day songs ( Explore 52, in Chapter 7, “When to Sing, and How”).

Virginia 242

Virginia Boston North America 2020 242

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

Of course, that is just my perspective and I have been known to think that birds that don’t show up until May are late if they aren’t here by mid-April. I tend to get angry when I have not seen the number of birds I think I should have and when I am angry I type fast and crazily. Besides, suffering brings birds, right?

New York City 163

New York City New York Walruses Birds 163

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2019

It’s never too late or too early to buy a children’s book about birds. It’s been a few years since my last roundup of children’s bird books, and children’s book writers, illustrators and publishers continue to produce picture books that feature avian protagonists. First, the board books.

New York City 147

New York City Pelicans Birds New York 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2018

The birding around Lago de Yojoa in Honduras is frankly phenomenal, as I learned during a June 2018 birding junket organized by the Instituto Hondureño de Turismo. Peraza , could not sit still knowing that so many tasty target birds could be found within easy driving distance. EL RANCHO HOTEL Y RESTAURANTE.

Honduras 137

Honduras Birds Farming America 137

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.

Hungary 160

Hungary United States Birds Woodpeckers 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

My first birding trip ever was to Arizona. I saw a lot of birds, learned a lot about birding (including the fact that I had lousy binoculars), and gained good birder friends. I had a list of birds I had missed and a list of birds I needed to see again—second lifers I call them. At least for birders.

Arizona 102

Arizona Lovebirds Phoenix New Jersey 102

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2011

In summer, when feathers are worn and younger birds are molting into their next plumage, gulls can be downright ugly. The experience served to remind me why some people devolve into Larophiles but, don’t fear, I have not sunk to that low and disturbing condition myself (at least not yet). Gulls can be gorgeous.

New York 180

New York Collecting Sparrows Experience 180

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

And it looks even better in my hands while I dream about a visit to regions of Brazil I had scarcely heard of before being provided with a review copy of the first volume of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil.*

Brazil 200

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Birds 200

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

All the local avian characters have been extra-antsy despite the weather, all contending for best bird of the weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. Where Are You Birding This First Weekend of March 2011?

2011 154

2011 New York Deer Birds 154

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

APRIL 2, 2013

The many islands of the Caribbean Sea are as unique a place to experience the amazing potential for speciation and diversity as the more famous Galapagos and Hawaiian islands are. As a hanger-on of my wife’s family I find myself this week in Aruba, one of the ABC islands just off the coast of northern South America.

South America 165

South America Netherlands America Sparrows 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

These will be a series of shorter posts that will be scheduled while I’m traveling and filming for Nikon’s Birding Adventures TV. On the contrary, if you are a traveling birder, you might just find your next birding destination right here on 10,000 Birds. And this place has birds to boot!

Portugal 172

Portugal 2011 Deer Birds 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

The vast majority of guests that visit these “birder-friendly&# lodges are birders and the primary target market of these places is the birding segment. This is not a birding lodge. Add to this the fact that you can be birding within 2 hours of leaving the USA and you have a pretty unbeatable birding vacation!

Dominican Republic 184

Dominican Republic 2011 Birds Deer 184