10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

Collins Birds of the World is “ a must for the travelling birder ,” as the BBC Wildlife Magazine reviewer has put it. When I moved to Botswana, to learn my birds I got myself the thickest local field guide. It is not a concept for a total beginner, more of a reminder to someone with some experience. And I cannot agree more.

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Birds Botswana Africa Ecuador 255

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

If you followed Dorian’s adventures on his Big Year blog, Biking for Birds , you are familiar with many of these stories, but not the major one, the internal journey that was going on inside Dorian’s mind as he pedaled and birded: his history and multi-year struggle with alcoholism and related addictions.

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Birds Los Angeles Massachusetts New York City 228

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.

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United States Birds Sparrows Humane 154

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

Last week, I received an email from an American couple that has recently moved to Morelia; they found me right here on 10,000 Birds. Although birding is not their first reason for moving here, they are enjoying meeting the lovely locals, such as the Broad-billed Hummingbird and Vermilion Flycatchers. Fame suits me, I must humbly admit.)

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Mexico Birds Costa Rica Alabama 232

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2020

North America is home to many amazing bird species, including several which require a special effort to see and appreciate. These birds also invite one to sites that are unique within the United States – the climate, vegetation, and landscapes all add context and heighten the experience of seeing one’s first Elegant Trogon or Painted Bunting.

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America Arizona North America United States 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

Bird Day is a lovely, little jewel of a book. The idea is to portray one bird for each hour of the day in words and art, presenting the diversity, beauty, and wonder of avian life. Angell’s black-and-white illustrations bring sparks of energy and visual clarity to the fascinating bird behaviors described by Huber.

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Chicago Barn Owls Penguins New Zealand 193

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2023

It borders the Hudson Bay to the north and four Great Lakes to the south, accessible by car and sometimes feet from the United States over bridges with names like Rainbow, Ambassador, and Seaway Skyway. state and Canadian provinces. state and Canadian provinces. © 2023 by Chris Earley and Scott & Nix, Inc.,

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North America Birds Owls America 224

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2022

Last week we talked about the human “snowbird” migration, in which thousands of northerners flock south to the Sun Belt of the United States to escape the frozen wasteland their home states and provinces will turn into from about November through March or later. Good birding and happy drinking!

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Madagascar United States New York America 197

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.

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Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

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?”

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Birds Compassion Eagles Science 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2024

I don’t remember where I first learned about Elizabeth Gould–possibly when I was birding Doi Angkhang, Thailand and saw a stunning little bird named Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird–but I have been fascinated by her story and her art for the past five years. And I’m so happy I did. Twelve years!

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Australia Birds Europe Collecting 202

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2021

When the variety was first planted on the West Coast of the United States in the 1970s, American winemakers might have adopted the literal translation “pinot gray” as a linguistic compromise, but perhaps that would risk sacrificing too much invaluable European cachet in those early days of domestic winemaking?

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2017 South America Oregon Adoptable 262

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2022

If you are plugged into the birding community, you’ve probably seen photos of this errant eagle, normally found in Russia and Asia but now be-bopping around the United States and Canada. Birding has become a family affair for my relatives. What an incredible way to end the 2021 birding year.

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Eagles Russia Massachusetts United States 236

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.

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New York City Birds Illinois Science 261

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

If you think it is rather pretentious to start a birding blog post with a Kafka story, I fully agree with you. Anyway, the story is not quite how I remembered it, to be honest, but fitting enough to describe the almost claustrophobic birding experience in ever-shrinking Nanhui. I just want to point out it could be much worse.

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Raccoons Birds Oregon China 229

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.

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Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 257

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2022

Jeff Gordon resigned as president of the American Birding Association, effective November 30, 2021. In my view, the ABA faces other questions too, including its role in today’s birding community. There are countless field guides and other birding books, websites, blogs, tour companies, and podcasts.

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2019 Legislation 2017 2018 292

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

Corey saw quite a few quality birds on his trip to the southeastern United States in the last week but he best bird he saw that fits the criteria of having been seen on the weekend was a nice Sora in the early morning sunlight at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge’s Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive. How about you?

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2019 Iceland United States Birds 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2016

Both Mike and I were eminently pleased that Trump’s wall has not yet been built and we hope that the wall, if it is ever built, will not be tall enough to keep vagrant birds from getting into the United States. Wouldn’t our birding be less fun if Hendrickson Park held only Canada Geese ? How about you?

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2016 United States Geese Birds 155

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2018

If the cold weather across much of the United States is any indication than T.S. Eliot was correct when he stated that “April is the cruellest month.” On my wanderings I picked up quite a few species that were new for my year list but my Best Bird of the Weekend was one that countered cruelty with happiness.

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North Carolina Cruelty 2018 United States 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2015

Here in the United States, we are gripped by March Madness. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a Common Redpoll at the feeders in Forest Park on Saturday morning. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

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New York City 2015 United States New York 186

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2022

With nine years of experience using it and birding with beginning birders, I would like to update that opinion. Without birds like Blackburnian Warbler to spark people’s interest in birding, we would have far fewer birders. He has been birding since he was a kid, led birding trips across the U.S.

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United States North America Species 2013 229

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2018

Of the several FOY birds encountered this weekend, I was most pleased with American Kestrels , which we spotted on power lines along much of our journey while traveling on Easter. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was going to be Brown-headed Nuthatch , that specialty of the southeastern United States. How about you?

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2018 United States Birds Collecting 101

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2019

Easter weekend means many things to many people, but most of us with school-age children in the United States can’t help but link this floating holiday with travel, seeing as how so many K-12 schools use the weekend anchor their Spring Break. Corey is loving the sun and sand and rum and birds in Barbados.

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2019 Barbados Congo United States 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2018

We’re all feeling the impact of one of the hottest summers on record in big swaths of the United States and beyond. Forget how about how you’re holding up… how are the birds doing? His Best Bird of the Weekend was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that had turned a crabapple tree into its personal convenience store.

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2018 United States Birds California 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2015

All standard calendars include a 4th day of July, but we in the United States place just a bit more emphasis on recognizing that date. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was one he enjoys seeing every summer on New York’s beaches, the Piping Plover. Ellen DeGeneres ?astutely How about you?

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2015 United States Endangered Species New York 156

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Unlike most of you, I live in what is currently the second snowiest city in the United States. But we have splendid birds in Western NY all year long. Corey had a pleasing plethora of good birds from which to choose his Best Bird of the Weekend from this week. Not a bad Best Bird of the Weekend by any standard!

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Bald Eagle 2016 United States Birds 135

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2015

It is truly getting into the dog days of summer here in the northeastern United States. To beat the heat I birded the coast on Sunday morning and was rewarded with expected birds of shore and sea. To beat the heat I birded the coast on Sunday morning and was rewarded with expected birds of shore and sea.

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New York City 2015 United States New York 161

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

To be precise, “Birding Shanghai from June 10 to June 30, 2022” – but that is even less of an exciting title than the one above. The reason for this post only covering the period from June 10 being that an earlier post, “Revenge Birding”, was about the first 9 days of June. You should try it too.

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Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 197

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2018

I had to get my birding in early this weekend, so a flyover flock of Tundra Swans up at Braddock Bay took care of business nicely. Corey didn’t see as many birds this weekend as he would have liked because the remnants of the nor’easter that struck the northeastern United States on Friday meant high winds all weekend.

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2018 United States Birds Experience 101

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2018

Suffice to say that our experience echoes across the United States and Northern Hemisphere. Perhaps summer still has plenty of air left in it and school in the upper latitudes won’t begin for another month, but birds really will be taking up their autumnal migrations soon. How about you?

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2018 ALA United States New York 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2017

This is it, people… your last chance, at least in the United States, to wear white without committing a social faux pas. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was easy to choose as he spotted a Buff-breasted Sandpiper out in the Rockaways, only the third he’s ever seen in Queens. What’s that? How about you?

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2017 United States Birds Experience 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2014

March Madness is on everyone’s mind right now, at least in the United States. Because of said snow, the smart birds are refraining from returning to Rochester; we’re dealing with a lot of confused robins and smug starlings. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

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2014 United States New York Birds 166

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2013

The weather outside is frightful, but winter birds are so delightful… guess that’s as good a reason as any to brave the cold. Alas, I had no time outdoors this weekend, which leaves House Sparrows sheltering a giant wreath as my Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2013 ALA United States North America 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2019

One of the things I love about birding around Morelia, in central Mexico, is the wide variety of habitats I have nearby. Now, something odd happens when you go really high in central Mexico: the countryside begins to look more and more like the United States’ Pacific Northwest.

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Mexico Washington Birds United States 133

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2017

While we in the United States celebrated Father’s Day this weekend, the rest of the world just celebrated the weekend. I enjoyed my special day in the company of my special ones, though their limited energy for hiking meant that we missed the special birds at Powder Mill Park. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2017 United States Cows Birds 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2013

Here in the United States, April 15 is Tax Day, which means that countless Americans have toiled through the last 48 hours to prepare their taxes. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a total surprise. You can imagine Corey’s shock when he got a better look at the bird and it was, indeed, a Yellow-breasted Chat.

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2013 United States Jamaica Birds 200