10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2021

Are 12s right for birding? Or have you ever birded with 12s? With such a background, my decision to test the new birding frontier of Swarovski 12×42 extra-wide FOV binoculars didn’t appear strange at all – to me, at least. If you spot a small bird with, e.g., 8s, you will walk towards it until you get a better view.

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Birds Raised Rights Experience 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

But it seems the birds like this habitat, probably as this is a rare more open area on these otherwise mostly heavily forested hills. The monastery is quite large compared to a bird guide (Bella from Alpinebirding on the left-hand side). And compared to birds, for that matter. Please consult your own bird guide for more details.

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Birds Germany India 2018 210

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2023

After Jason recently asked ChatGPT for birding advice, the management consultant in me – constantly thriving for efficiency improvements – immediately thought of the next step. The Seasonal Spectacles: Shanghai’s birding scene comes alive during the spring and autumn migration seasons.

China 164

China Endangered Species Sanctuary Protection 164

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

In 2007 I was working in a university building that was just begging for bird feeders. This was where I set up my bird feeders, just one at first, then expanding as everyone expressed delight in seeing the Carolina Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Downy Woodpeckers. There were no dead birds for weeks. I hoped it was an anomaly.

New York City 253

New York City Birds Illinois Science 253

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

There’s something wonderfully primeval about the Northern Bald Ibis: it has the look of a bird that really ought to be extinct. The fact that it’s not is quite surprising, as this curious bird has come very close to the brink. Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In

Morocco 223

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 223

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

With the lockdown lasting until the end of May (ironically thus pretty much including the whole spring migration – the divine sense of humor is a rather malign one, I am afraid), June still had the freedom of birding anywhere in Shanghai, not just inside a smallish compound. Accessorizing for birds.

Singapore 147

Singapore Mountain Goats Birds Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2018

July often means travel, which sometimes means tourist attractions, which occasionally means exotic or introduced bird species. Encountering exotics raises all manner of questions in birders, the toughest of which rarely center on identification. We may know these birds well, but should we love them? Following me here?

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2018 Zoos Birds Raised 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2021

“Gamebirds” to some, cool, cryptic understory birds to the birding people, grouse crouch protected as unfettered winds sway the top of the tall prairie grass. Then there are the ones that live in PA , the state bird, “the grouse” that a great many non-birders are aware of, my Uncle Fred was one of them.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Chickens Pennsylvania Litter 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2022

The raising of these young chicks is not over yet! We are really enjoying the experience of observing another bird species that is black, white and red breed in our local patch. The male Mistletoebird called out as we approached and the chicks continued to call out for more food. Mistletoebird chicks out of the nest.

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Family Breeding Raised Experience 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2014

Continued from: Calilegua National Park Birding Trip Report. This is a very hot and dry region known as El Chaco where many interesting bird species can be found. Gonzales the greater the size of soybean farming fields and our expectations to see birds on this road trip had quickly died and turned into a boring flat-land ride.

Argentina 184

Argentina Farming Chile Birds 184

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2015

I am within one of Florida’s sub-tropical zones, and my birding experiences have expanded, with life birds galore. Almost every lunch break I head out onto the beach, looking for birds along the sand. I know what everyone is thinking: “Erika, you are birding at absolutely the worst time of day. Why bother?”

Florida 157

Florida Birds Mice Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2022

A recent episode of the American Birding Podcast featured an interview with Virginia Rose (Founder and President) and Freya McGregor (Coordinator) of the non-profit Birdability. The mission of Birdability is to “share the joys of birding with people who have disabilities, and to ensure that birding is accessible to everybody.”

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Portland Oregon Laws Experience 190

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

What if there was an international multi-day Birding competition? Enter the inaugural Peru Birding Rally Challenge , the first international birding event of it’s kind in the world. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open.

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Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 224

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

And where all those birds are? This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? I am talking 600 or 700+ bird species.

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Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. Gray-necked or Red-headed Picathartes in Korup National Park, Cameroon.

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Sierra Leone Ghana Cameroon Equatorial Guinea 267

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

During the filming of this production, I got to experience “dirt hawking&#. Dirt hawking is a form of falconry that involves hunting rabbits and other small game with Harris Hawks (other hawk species also qualify). The odds are pretty much even between raptor and prey – as it would be with a wild bird and a prey animal.

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League Against Cruel Sports Rabbits Falcons Hunting 270

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2014

Among birds the Egyptian Vulture uses rocks to crack Ostrich eggs, the New Caledonian Crow and Woodpecker Finch (one of several Darwin Finches of the Galapagos Islands), uses sticks to extract grubs from inside a branch. This is similar to the fact that all birds, even first time breeders within a species build identical nests.

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Fish Woodpeckers Ostriches Eggs 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

British birders are very serious about birding and their birds. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S.

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Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 143

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2011

My 8-year old daughter got interested in birds from a VERY early stage. By age 2 she could identify over 10 species of birds in our Johannesburg, South Africa, yard by call alone. So I guess for some people birding skills come naturally but, for others, birding skills need to be learnt.

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Birds Game Wildlife Family 278

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2011

We here at 10,000 Birds thought this would be a perfect time to look back and figure out what each of us considered our Best Bird of the Year, just like we did last year. Not only did we not expect to see this seabird this far inland, it was a life bird for me! We would like you to join in!

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2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 181

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Paging through a fieldguide, it’s always with a sense of dismay and sadness that I come across reference to an extinct species. This is particularly poignant if the bird has disappeared during the course of my birding days or “on my watch” as I like to think of it. This bird was kept in captivity until it died a year later.

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Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 237

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. Two other birds, both residents, surprised us.

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Mexico Birds Raccoons Baltimore 193

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Most of the books about extinction, including Fuller’s Extinct Birds (now, ironically, out of print), describe what was lost and look for explanations, scientifically and historically. The idea of Lost Animals was conceived after the publication of Extinct Birds (2001), a 400-page, four-pound book on 75 extinct species.

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Animal Mammals Hawaii Dolphins 267

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2012

There are probably more identification guides about raptors than there are for any other bird group. This is a second edition that has been rewritten, updated, and re-invented, and it will doubtlessly become the hawk identification bible of our birding era. Yes, I saw the bird and it was incredible.)

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North America Bald Eagle Birds Eagles 222

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Yet, these very qualities are what make them so difficult to see as birders, and in my years of birding I had managed to spot just two: the Snowy Owl (which is active during the daytime) and the Barred Owl. Even better, when I raised my binoculars to the pine tree branch, I saw the owl close up, filling the circular frame.

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Owls Florida Family Raised 150

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2023

I recently asked ChatGPT some questions about the best birding locations in the United States and the results were decidedly mixed. Here are the queries and the ChatGPT responses are below: What is birding? What is a “nemesis bird” in birding? What is a “big year” in birding?

United States 147

United States North America Birds America 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2013

Due to the longevity of this species it appears that they are able to maintain their population. Further to the south the birds move into Roebuck Bay or to the reef at the far end of Cable Beach, where they raise their chick. Birding Australia Broome oystercatchers' Sooty Oystercatcher having a shake!

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Eggs Breeding Australia Raised 172

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. A robot that feeds baby birds so I can take a nap,” wrote Jodi in Massachusetts. “A Why is there no state or federal money available to care for federally protected species? Summer is high season.

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Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2014

In a recent article on birding in USA Today, I was quoted as saying the following : Nate Swick, editor of the ABA’s blog, says some people compare birding to golf, in that everyone keeps their own scores, relying on the honor system. Even at birding’s highest level, it’s still a pretty tight-knit community.

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Raleigh 2008 Rights Raised 208

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

Author Sherrida Woodley thinks deeply about dearly departed birds. Raised in and around the West Texas steppe country where temperatures reached 100 degrees with regularity, he began life as the Dust Bowl and Great Depression converged. such as California Condors and Passenger Pigeons. He came for the hawks.

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Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 178

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

I don’t really know – from my own experience with school bullies or from Jack London’s novels? Attempting to bluff the bear in believing that they were even bigger bears, Hoshino suggested raising their hands, to appear taller. Finally, the list of birds mentioned in the examples include: Acorn woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus.

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Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 115

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version.

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Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 201

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!

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Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 227

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

The closer one raises her head, than lies back. Telia watches him in half-amusement, then raises and gives a low, bull-like roar, provoking the lapwings to an excited screech, makes a few steps and lies down. Telia yawns, raises and sprays her urine on a dead tree stump, marking her territory. The other two are motionless.

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Tigers India Killing 2012 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’ve been fortunate to encounter many owls in my birding life, sometimes because I’m looking for them, sometimes happily by happenstance. I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read.

Owls 209

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 209

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2021

The slate of birds available to the ardent birder in a particular place is a constant cycle of regulars, not-so-regulars, visitors, rarities, and vagrants. I chased birds for a few years when I first got started, but my laziness eventually took over. For the traveling birder, almost every bird is guaranteed to be a new bird.

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Birds Falcons Raised Species 236

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2013

This was the local name meaning “ugly” used for these primates by the people of the Gonder area in northern Ethiopia when the German naturalist Rüppell “discovered” this species for science in the 1830’s. Gelada communications include intense staring with raised eyebrows. A harem male grooms one of his females. Photo by Adam Riley.

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Ethiopia Primates Mammals Fur 160