10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2020

Will bird tour agencies, guides, eco-lodges survive? Will the threatened species make it through if there are no birding tourists to make those birds and their habitats valuable to local people just the way they are (as opposed to tropical timber)? What will be left of birding tourism? Colombia 1959 bird species 2.

Uganda 257

Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

12 species of cuckoos are on the Costa Rica bird list. Tortuguero- one of many excellent birding areas in Costa Rica. This Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo was seen and captured on camera by Josh Beck in Panama, the most reliable place to connect with this rare species. Another, the Cocos Cuckoo requires a looong (but pelagic filled!)

Costa Rica 262

Costa Rica Panama Washington Cats 262

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 237

Research Birds Science Costa Rica 237

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

It actually makes a lot of sense, the geographic features of the isthmus between North America (including Mexico, because Mexico is part of North America) and South America cut across political lines, as do birds. It is the first bird field guide to every country of Central America (plus the islands governed by those countries).

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

This shouldn’t have to be stated, especially in a book on bird evolution by an evolutionary biologist with a Ph.D. How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals about Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity by Douglas J. Futuyma is a synthesis of theory and research about evolution and birds. that’s three birds).

Science 228

Science Albatross Research Birds 228

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. These and other important birding related questions come to mind and during a normal July, I would be personally and actively helping answer them. Which tours saw the most roosting owls?

Costa Rica 227

Costa Rica Birds Thailand Family 227

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2017

Of those migrating birds my best was actually one that doesn’t generally winter in the neotropics. Nonetheless, a spring Vesper Sparrow in Queens is a wonderful bird, and I really liked the one that I came across in Cunningham Park, so it is my Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2017 100

2017 United States Mammals Panama 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2022

Bird names say much about human perception, they can also give us insight into the people who invented names for official bird descriptions. Sunbittern also works because what else could that bizarre and ancient bird be called? Sunbittern also works because what else could that bizarre and ancient bird be called?

Costa Rica 272

Costa Rica Pennsylvania South America Panama 272

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2020

Here are some of the things I learned reading Birds in Winter: . Birds who store food in advance of winter (corvids, t**s, and nuthatches) have a larger hippocampus (the brain structure that regulates memory) than non-storing birds do. Author Roger F. The book is organized logically by seasonality.

Research 176

Research Birds Hoarding Sweden 176

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

Something has always puzzled me in my years working in the bird feeding industry: why don’t we offer more fresh fruit to birds in our yards? Heck you can even find mixes with heavy fruit flavoring…but why don’t we offer fresh fruit scraps to birds on tray feeders instead? Is it a convenience issue?

Nigeria 251

Nigeria Birds Belize South America 251

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2020

And this doesn’t mean you are obsessed or a little bit too much into birds because keeping track of a year list actually comes with some side benefits. Yeah, many of us living the birding life do so anyways because we can’t help it. I strongly suggest the experience of sharing Turquoise-browed Motmots. Go birding!

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica 2020 Morals Farming 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2018

Peer into the branches of the big trees and we might see the shapes of an Emerald Toucanet, tanagers, woodcreepers, and other birds doing their thing in the cloud forest life. Stop to listen in many a cloud forest on this side of the globe and we are also soothed and entertained by the songs of birds.

Costa Rica 145

Costa Rica San Jose Birds Eagles 145

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. Personally, I enjoy birds in every way. After a bird rich morning at Cope’s.

Costa Rica 194

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 194

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

For many folks who live in places with cold winters, toucans are the birds on cereal boxes. It was all too easy to look at that natural cartoon of a bird and leave it as that; some funny looking caricature of a supposed wild bird because really, how could such a strange thing exist? Yes, this bird acts like a jay.

Costa Rica 186

Costa Rica Panama Eating Eggs South America 186

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2018

In addition to Spanish, several other languages continue to be spoken, the pines and cypress trees of the Guatemalan highlands only occur as introduced species once you travel south of Nicaragua, and dozens of bird species that occur in Costa Rica and Panama don’t even make it to Nicaragua. How true this was!

Costa Rica 120

Costa Rica Guatemala Birds Nicaragua 120

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

Birders head to Costa Rica to see stunners like Resplendent Quetzal , Three-wattled Bellbird , Orange-collared Manakin , fancy hummingbirds , tanagers, and literally hundreds of other birds. This bunch of possible Costa Rican crypto birds can be grouped into four main categories: (1). Bird species that require further research.

Costa Rica 223

Costa Rica Species South America America 223

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2017

In large part, my lack of full birding national coverage stems from another feature shared with the state that harbors the New River gorge, and one that helped create conditions that can result in mega diversity. In general, “photogenic” pretty much sums up the San Vito experience. Dang, this jade bird is so beautiful!

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica West Virginia Birds Panama 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

If you know only a little bit about Charles Darwin, you know that he figured out Evolution via his study of the finches (and other birds) of the Galapagos. Today we view the Galapagos birds, including some finches and some mocking birds, as a great example of evolution. They did it before the Panama Land Bridge formed.

Tortoises 209

Tortoises South America Panama Culling 209

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. We’ve traveled to lots of places, seen lots of great birds, and met lots of great birders. So, as we’ve done for the last several years we thought we would share our Best Birds of the Year with you. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours?

2014 197

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 197

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2016

Better check eBird again, better check the rare bird alert once more to see if we need to rush to the beach, that feeder with the lost warbler, bunting, or hummingbird. Either way, we can relish in our best birds of the year and feel satisfied that once again, we have all seen a bunch of cool birds. was my bird of the year?

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica 2016 Species Birds 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2015

” these brown, long-tailed, noisy birds are small enough to hitch rides on backs of the real deal. This spectacular, turkey-like bird roams the floor of tropical forests from eastern Mexico south to northwestern Ecuador. Although this big bird isn’t on our menu, Ornate and Black-and-white Hawk-Eagles relish it.

Costa Rica 180

Costa Rica Turkey Ecuador Hunting 180

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2017

Shortly after arrival, I saw a bird that had me yelling for Robert to come down from his room in the Casa Marbella and look in the scope. That or Albuquerque… Yeah, we were pretty happy to see a bird often referred to as a “rat with wings” (by non-birders of course) because it doesn’t usually vacation in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Albuquerque Eagles Panama 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

As 2012 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 and 2011 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

2012 155

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 155

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 178

Portugal 2011 Deer Birds 178

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 194

Dominican Republic 2011 Birds Deer 194

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 212

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Birds 212

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2021

If you haven’t been to Costa Rica, or if you’ve birded Costa Rica but somehow missed their damselflies and dragonflies (not a problem! I know how intense some birders can be), I can tell you from experience that there are some exquisite, stunning odonates flying around there. Paulson received his Ph.D.

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica North America Family America 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

Picidae, Woodpecker, is one of those charismatic bird families that everybody gets excited about. He has authored Woodpeckers of Europe (2004), Birding in Eastern Europe (2006), a monograph on The Black Woodpecker (2011), and numerous popular and scholarly articles. The poetry is in the words themselves and the photographs.

Woodpeckers 252

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 252

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2017

In Costa Rica, we don’t get many chances to chase birds. The same goes for other challenging resident birds like the Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, Speckled Mourner, and Gray-headed Piprites. No matter where in the world we bird, it seems like the ones we twitch are the birds that aren’t supposed to be there.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Nicaragua 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2011

What started as me posting a link on my private Facebook page about how much I hate the Transportation Security Administration, quickly turned into a very revealing conversation about race and could be a very large and underlying issue of why we don’t see more people of color in birding or enjoying nature in general. I was taken aback.

Laws 242

Laws Colorado America Kazakhstan 242

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2017

Here are some facts to keep in mind about Good Birders Still Don’t Wear White: Passionate Birders Share the Joys of Watching Birds: (1) This is not a dress code. (2) The 37 essays by birders, bird artists, photographers, tour leaders, ornithologists, field guide authors, and other members of the tribe (even bloggers!)

2017 151

2017 Costa Rica 2007 Hunters 151

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2011

Smith is the Staff Scientist Emeritus with the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Centre in Panama. The discovery of this tale, coming out of my discovery of Semipalmated Plovers breeding up here, has been one of the most fascinating stories about bird life for me since I arrived up here. Dr. Neal G.

Research 174

Research Europe Iceland Panama 174

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2012

We now interrupt all talk about birds and migration to consider dragonflies. Together they comprise Ondonata, an order of insects that, like birds, are beautiful in flight and challenging in identification. Unlike birds, they do not vocalize; unlike butterflies, they are totally predatory, not a vegetarian amongst them.

United States 241

United States Costa Rica Massachusetts North America 241