10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

After three attempts, I finally found this incredibly rare vagabond sandpiper spinning amongst more common local species; interestingly enough, it prefers the company of Bonaparte’s Gulls , which the phalarope happens to resemble in both winter plumage and feeding territory. A subspecies as Best Bird of the Weekend?

2020 264

2020 Birds Sparrows Experience 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

The (Big) Year that Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record – which is the book’s full title, or Arjan Dwarshuis’s Big Year, as I prefer to call it shortly, is a highly anticipated and a long awaited travelogue of the author’s 2016 race against time across 40 countries in his attempt to break the world birding record.

Papua New Guinea 250

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname South America 250

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 185

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 185

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

APRIL 25, 2021

Weekends like these tend to fill those of us closer to the poles with envy for our birding friends even the slightest bit closer to the equator. While I knocked down plenty of first of spring birds this weekend, I most appreciated the appearance of a species that hangs around all winter. What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 230

Birds Sparrows Experience Experiments 230

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2022

Costa Rica has long been one of the more frequently visited global birding hotspots. In addition to providing many people with wonderful life experiences, these birding visits have helped increase our understanding of local bird distribution. More Birding in the Northern Volcanoes. Does Wing-banded Antbird occur?

Costa Rica 259

Costa Rica Birds Albatross Protection 259

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2023

It is home to four diverse forest ecosystems (deciduous, mixed, boreal, and lowlands), experiences seasonal weather systems ranging from cold dry Arctic winters to humid, thunder-storm filled summers, and, according to the latest official checklist, hosts four professional sports teams with bird names.* state and Canadian provinces.

North America 213

North America Birds Owls Canada 213

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

The end of September doesn’t necessarily mean the end of what you might enjoy about September birding but it definitely signals the beginning of what you love about October. I was shocked to still find a number of shorebird species up at Braddock Bay, perhaps because of how much productive mud the dropping lake levels have exposed.

2020 220

2020 Connecticut Virginia New York 220

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2021

If you haven’t figured out where to visit first once the world opens up, watch this space: we’re going to sharing ideas for your next big birding trip all of February. Not many birds, unfortunately, but somehow a lovely pair of Hooded Mergansers found some open water to enjoy. What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 200

Birds Sparrows Experience Experiments 200

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

It is near a river, attracting some birds that like to eat wet food. As the national bird of Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the African Fish Eagle is usually very busy whenever it stays in these countries, giving speeches, opening shopping centers, etc. The birds I asked about this pretended not to be related to anyone though.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2020

One of the things Corey most enjoys about a new year is the way it resets your year list, giving you an excuse to pay a little more attention to the common species as you check them off your year list. In that spirit, Corey chose the lowly feral Rock Pigeon as his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 143

2020 Feral Sparrows Birds 143

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

” Yet, response-driven creatures like birds look past little things like blizzards to appreciate how much later the sun sets each day. Corey got out birding both days this weekend and had a typical suite of winter birds for the northeastern United States, with everything from Razorbill to Common Redpoll. How about you?

United States 152

United States Birds Sparrows Humane 152

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Not all birds are created equal. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. Central Africa has one of those birds. Lesser Striped Swallow.

Uganda 264

Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 264

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. These and several other species might end up being armchair ticks if and when we take a closer look at their evolutionary history.

Costa Rica 213

Costa Rica Species South America America 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2023

This leaves Shanghai in June with basically just the year-round species and the summer breeders, maybe with a few added ultra-lazy individuals of migratory species. This leaves Shanghai in June with basically just the year-round species and the summer breeders, maybe with a few added ultra-lazy individuals of migratory species.

Birds 130

Birds Eggs Breeders Breeding 130

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 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

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 198

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 198

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2021

Fortunately, China still has lots of interesting birding locations left for me. But of course, it is also nice to remember past birding trips. One in November 2018 included a one-day birding trip in the Drakensberg area, a mountain range in the border area between South Africa and Lesotho. That does not make much sense, I know.

South Africa 234

South Africa Africa Lesotho Nigeria 234

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

An expanse of habitat as vast as Murchison Falls NP in Uganda, as excessively generous in beauty and biodiversity, permits endless ways to experience both its birds and animals. The Masindi Hotel holds the distinction of being the oldest and most historic hotel in Uganda and has some terrific birds on premises.

Uganda 188

Uganda Senegal Africa Game 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

If you like birds on posts, if seeing “little brown jobs” posing nicely in the distance as you drive or walk along a dirt road only to have it fly away as you approach makes you deliriously happy, then North Dakota is the place for you. I wanted to see prairie birds and I wanted to experience a new state.

North Dakota 140

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 140

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

And I love making my little garden (some 1400 square feet) more attractive to birds. But I would never have imagined how important it would be to my emotional well-being to have a bird-friendly garden during lockdown. In recent years, I have moved much more in the direction of plants that attract birds.

Birds 156

Birds Woodpeckers Madagascar Nashville 156

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 261

Costa Rica 2020 Morals Farming 261

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2021

Last week, I took you to the La Mesa reservoir, the higher-altitude of the two thorn-forest sites on my regular birding rotation. This site is near and dear to my heart, and not only because of its birds: It is the area immediately around the auditorium of the church my wife and I pastor, Comunidad Vida (Life Community).

Turtles 233

Turtles Mexico Branding Sparrows 233

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

This is my best place to pick up species that inhabit, or visit, the border between the Hot Country thorn forest and highland pine-oak forest habitats. I dipped on one of my favorite birds from this area, the Lesser Roadrunner , as well as the marvelous Sparkling-tailed Woodstar (a long-tailed hummingbird).

South America 195

South America Sparrows Mexico Bears 195

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 215

Costa Rica Birds Thailand Family 215

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 255

New York City Birds Illinois Science 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Imagine for a moment that you are a bird. Hordes of House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons are more than willing to push you around rather then let you have that choice morsel you just found. Almost every year there are a few birds that stick around at Bryant Park long after they are gone from the rest of the New York City area.

New York City 215

New York City New York Birds Sparrows 215

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2015

At least that means winter birds are on their way. Corey had a huge number of birds to choose from this weekend as northwest winds were continuous through New York City all weekend long. But of all the species he spotted he felt either of the two Grasshopper Sparrows at Kissena Park in Queens was his Best Bird of the Weekend.

New York City 150

New York City 2015 New York Sparrows 150

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Of course, birds only represent a sliver of the near-infinite flora and fauna that, collectively, grows, blooms, dies back, and lapses into dormancy over the course of a year. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was his favorite species, a Green Heron , at the Great Vly in his hometown of Saugerties, New York. How about you?

2016 154

2016 New York Birds Collecting 154

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 216

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 216

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2014

With this weekend consumed by Halloween excitement, bats were more easily encountered than birds. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a relatively common species though it was uncommonly cooperative. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend' How did you fare? How about you?

2014 169

2014 Bats New York Birds 169

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

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? What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2018 100

2018 Zoos Birds Raised 100

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 175

Mexico Owls Birds Sparrows 175

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2014

From atop a terrific sledding hill, I enjoyed watching American Tree Sparrows lend class and native charm to flocks of House Sparrows. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was any one of the forty-five Canvasback he counted at the World’s Fair Marina in Queens. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2014 163

2014 Sparrows Birds Experience 163

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2018

This crazy climate change must be wreaking havoc on birds. Well, maybe I was confused at the appearance of this unexpected bird, but it was definitely noisy. Corey spent all weekend searching across Queens for birds to add to his year list. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

New York City 100

New York City 2018 New York Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2024

And if you like birding, it’s a good place to spend time before or after meetings and explore. Late autumn 2022, I decided flying in a day early to do some weekend birding. It was David’s first time birding. Now it was a bit lighter, diurnal birds became vocal. A weekday would be better for timid birds.

Parrots 159

Parrots Woodpeckers Industry Fast Food 159