10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2022

Thank you, goddess of birding luck and text group people).* My inner self felt stuck in an area between disbelief and total joy and the voices near me were echoing this state of mind: “Oh My God,” “I never thought I would see this bird,” “Look at that bill!” “How did that bird get here?”

Birds 264

Birds Compassion Eagles Science 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2020

Sure, they’re always a dependable, can’t-miss tick whenever you need them to be there, whether it’s the first day of the year, or the first few minutes of a Big Day or Christmas Bird Count. But there’s no getting around the fact that the starling is likely the most detested bird on the continent – as far as birders are concerned, anyway.

Farming 209

Farming New York Breeding Unwanted 209

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2019

Corey spent the first half of the weekend finishing up his family trip in southern California and the rest of it getting back to New York and recovering from a red eye. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2019 135

2019 New York Birds California 135

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Win a Copy of Hawks at a Distance Great Horned Owl Taking a Deer Leg Cats Are Still Public Enemy Number One, For Birds Crossley ID Guide Giveaway Winners.Or These Blasts From The Past Bald Eagles are Getting Spoiled… Help Save Migratory Birds! • Explore These Related Posts More Habitat for Snowy Plover? Thanks for visiting!

Experience 162

Experience Experiments Deer 2011 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2019

My extended family from The Bronx visited us this weekend for some upstate festivities. What could be better than the New York State Fair, especially after a Bald Eagle deigned to circle overhead in honor of everything that makes the Empire State great? What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2019 133

2019 Costa Rica Bald Eagle New York 133

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2018

Most Americans celebrated a long weekend filled with a lot (maybe too much) food, family, and shopping. My family actually pays attention to eagles too, which makes them more interesting to see. My family actually pays attention to eagles too, which makes them more interesting to see. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2018 115

2018 Bald Eagle New Jersey New York 115

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2021

I didn’t plan on taking such a long break away from the Birds and Booze beat, but life got in the way the last several weeks, mostly on account of moving into a new home. And what could be better than a new bird-themed brewery opening up less than two miles down the road from me? Good birding and happy drinking!

New York 264

New York Boston 2019 Collecting 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

This, 2022, has been a curious year for books about birds and birding. Despite the absence of two major publishers—Lynx and HMH–from the new title publishing scene (hopefully not permanently), we were happily surprised to read and peruse many excellent books. But this is more than a coffee table book. Highly recommended.

Sri Lanka 251

Sri Lanka Malaysia Birds Suriname 251

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 169

New York City New York Walruses Birds 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2015

Actually, signs that winter won’t release its icy grip so readily are also apparent… my traditional Easter family hike was canceled on account of snow. Our travels this weekend took us on the New York State Thruway, which passes through Montezuma NWR. What was your best bird of the weekend? Spring is here!

2015 199

2015 Jamaica New York Birds 199

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2019

Growing up in Niagara Falls, New York, June was a celebration of summer. 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.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Species Birds New York 203

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2019

If you’re not finding mid-June birding all that exciting, you’re definitely not alone. Worry not, though, because you’ll find plenty of avian-themed excitement in our Bird Renaming Week extravaganza, which you’ll be pleased to know has already begun. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2019 113

2019 Virginia New York Birds 113

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 172

2014 New York Birds Experience 172

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 237

Science Albatross Research Birds 237

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

The winds this weekend in western New York must have been favorable for migration, because the only nonresident I could track down was a Swainson’s Thrush. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was one of the several Black Vultures that went overhead during a family hike to Anthony’s Nose in the Hudson Valley.

2015 160

2015 Bears New York Birds 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2017

The year 2016 is done and gone and 2017 beckons us onward, bright and new and shiny, hopefully full of birds. As birders we love the turn of the calendar as it allows us to start a new year list and take stock of the previous year’s sightings, twitches, dips, and photos. See one for yourself at the top of this post.

2017 124

2017 2016 New York Birds 124

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2018

” OK, we don’t really shout “Yee-haw” in New York, but our profane exclamations are not fit for a family-friendly blog. Suffice to say that our experience echoes across the United States and Northern Hemisphere. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? How about you?

2018 100

2018 ALA United States New York 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2013

Even the solo birders out there have to appreciate that birding together is often better than birding alone. Corey and I don’t get out in the field together much, since we’ve determined that the ongoing security of 10,000 Birds requires the two of us to live in separate cities. Another new Queens bird for Corey!)

New York City 176

New York City 2013 New York Nashville 176

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2014

Is it mere coincidence that Father’s Day falls on such a perfect weekend for birding? I took my brood to explore Chimney Bluffs State Park, where we explored a glacier-carved landscape unlike any I’ve seen in New York State. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

2014 172

2014 Whales Whaling New York 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

After all, while I like to believe that I am a pretty good bird blogger I’ve never written anything like a field guide. The book I am writing is the New York edition in the new series of American Birding Association field guides. Yeah, I’m kind of surprised too. And the references I use!

New York 218

New York New Jersey Colorado Pennsylvania 218

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! That’s my boy!

Birds 162

Birds New York Family Sparrows 162

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 223

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 223

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 169

New York City Pelicans Birds New York 169

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

This last year of the twenty-teens was a monumental birding year for me. I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. I birded Uganda, which was my first time on the continent of Africa. Such travel brings a lot of birds and the 863 species I saw this year is the most species I have ever seen.

2019 147

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

My family and I indulged this weekend in the kind of deep-fried treats you can only find at the New York State Fair… bacon-wrapped corn dog, anyone? What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. How about you?

New York City 100

New York City 2016 New York Birds 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Last week here at 10,000 Birds we did a theme week called “ Extinction Week.” His topic was the report recently issued by the Audubon Society where the organization claimed 314 species of birds in the United States and Canada are threatened by climate change. It will be family friendly and it is well organized.

New York City 237

New York City New York United States Canada 237

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.

North America 279

North America Research Birds Groups 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2016

Some birds are leaving, making room for welcome new arrivals. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was either of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers that he saw at the Ramshorn Livingston Sanctuary in Catskill, New York, while he was on a walk with his family. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary New York Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

The New York Football Giants have won the Super Bowl for the second time in 4 years. This weekend, however, I didn’t see any special birds, unless you count the bird M.I.A. Corey, on the other hand, birded like a boss; his Best Bird of the Weekend™ was either of the two Snowy Owls at Breezy Point in Queens.

2012 162

2012 Owls New York Birds 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2012

Plus my New York Football Giants just advanced in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Sure, I’m likely omitting some other far more important factors involving family, friends, and professional success, but the little things mean a lot. Not a bad bird at all! What was your best bird of the weekend?

Debeaking 165

Debeaking Atlanta 2011 United States 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2011

It was a gusty weekend in New York City and environs, with fall finally feeling like fall is supposed to feel. 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 187

Costa Rica New York City Atlanta 2011 187

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 176

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 176

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 260

Virginia Boston North America 2020 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2017

The 118 th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) began yesterday and I’m sure many of you have at least one count scheduled in the next few weeks. If your CBC experience is anything like mine here in eastern New York, you’ll be counting an awful lot of crows. Allagash Brewing Company: Uncommon Crow.

New York 124

New York Portland Washington Geese 124

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2020

The hapless Sooty Tern ( Onychoprion fuscatus ) is the classic hurricane bird, but other pelagic species are entrained in storms and blown ashore as well, like Bridled Terns ( Onychoprion anaethetus ), White-tailed Tropicbirds ( Phaethon lepturus ), and Magnificent Frigatebirds ( Fregata magnificens ).

India 183

India Squirrels North America America 183

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 Monte in California agreed: “I’d like some time just to watch healthy wild families.”. Summer is high season.

Wildlife 254

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 254

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). What do you make of this one?

New York 194

New York Collecting Sparrows Experience 194