10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

At the request of blog management, I’m embarking on a series of posts on the names of birds. Since we’ve covered some generalities already, once a month I’ll be exploring how a species, genus, or family of birds got its name, and how those names fit in with our larger understanding of, and relationship with, birds.

Falcons 259

Falcons Eagles Meat Geese 259

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

So it is odd that this rather drab landscape would host some of our most colorful birds. I’ve said it before, but this large raptor with the massive, eagle-like bill is not a Hawk or Eagle , but a genetic Falcon. There were, of course, many other birds seen that day. There were Vermilion Flycatchers , of course.

Eagles 207

Eagles Falcons Sparrows Species 207

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2019

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. Seeing the uncommon birds is key to reaching a big total no matter where one goes birding. The Northern Wetlands.

Costa Rica 197

Costa Rica Species Birds New York 197

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

While the hunting of game with trained birds of prey can be a controversial topic among birders , falconry was a valuable early source of information on birds, and its history, culture, and imagery continue to fascinate bird lovers, as we shall see.

2016 126

2016 Portugal Falcons Japan 126

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 188

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2024

Lesser Kestrels are one of those birds that have a special fascination for British birdwatchers. They are very rare birds in Britain, but have been recorded from Scilly in the south to Fair Isle in the north. Lesser Kestrel really is an appropriate name, for they are a lesser bird than the familiar Common Kestrel.

Falcons 188

Falcons Spain Europe 2012 188

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 212

Dissection Birds Research Europe 212

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

Within 140 ac / 60 ha of Rancho Naturalista’s Reserve, there are 500 bird species – or 55% of the nation’s total! While I already visited Costa Rica once, I do not feel overly-confident with its birds. And Verbena attracts another specialty bird and a regional endemic (from Honduras to Panama), the Snowcap.

Costa Rica 241

Costa Rica Rats Parrots Raccoons 241

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. There are many dusty side roads in this area, many of which offer productive birding.

Mexico 187

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 187

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.

Peru 220

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 220

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2012

Sure, I’m likely omitting some other far more important factors involving family, friends, and professional success, but the little things mean a lot. As promised, I watched Falcons get plucked, pinioned, and debeaked this weekend. Note that I only condone this treatment for the highly localized Atlanta Falcon.

Debeaking 164

Debeaking Atlanta 2011 United States 164

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

Let us no more speak of this week’s extraordinary failure by a cast of Falcons to finish off their prey. Instead, we’ve got other bird news to cheer us up (or at least take our minds off avian’s inexplicable inability to capture U.S. sports championships ).

Massachusetts 100

Massachusetts Eggs Falcons Rights 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

One of these days, Jeopardy will feature a category called “Field Guides” and the first clue will be: “This landlocked South American country finally got its own bird field guide in 2016, but it wasn’t available in the United State until 2019.” Bolivia doesn’t come up much in discussions of birding travel.

Bolivia 169

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 169

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2016

One of the most impressive birds in North America is the Golden Eagle. ” The bird is massive. ” The bird is massive. Golden Eagles have a global breeding population of around 300,000 birds, 3% of which spend at least part of the year in Mexico. In fact, the caracara has been called the “Mexican Eagle.”

Albania 101

Albania Mexico Eagles Kazakhstan 101

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2012

My family and I have taken our show to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. We haven’t seen many birds yet, but did enjoy the sight of a juvenile Peregrine Falcon unruffled by a mob of belligerent Blue Jays. Corey’s best bird of the weekend was a Common Raven that flew over his apartment on Saturday afternoon.

2012 158

2012 Michigan Falcons Birds 158

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 209

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 209

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

The proprietor of our ecolodge guides my small group of birders up a steep slope where we see, just at the point where a scope view deteriorates into pixels, a huge bird—a Chaco Eagle, also known as a Crowned Eagle—on a huge nest. McWilliam realizes he’s dealing someone special, a career falcon egg-thief.

Falcons 202

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 202

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

So instead let’s talk about South Africa’s best kept birding secret (at least outside of the country) Wakkerstroom. I have 10,000 Birds contributor Adam Riley to thank for telling me I had to add it to my list, and a quick bit of research showed that he was right on. A terrible shot of Barrow’s Korhaan.

South Africa 145

South Africa Africa Falcons Family 145

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. And perhaps 20 others by sight.

Birds 277

Birds Game Wildlife Family 277

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2023

Either way, they are perhaps more central to our stories and lore than other birds, a familiar example, as Darlington reminds us, being Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In the human psyche, owls can be cuddly signs of good luck and benificence (as they are in Japan, and Harry Potter movies) and, at the same time, eerie and unsettling.

Barn Owls 113

Barn Owls Owls Serbia Finland 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2016

I purchased my first Sibley— The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America —in 2003. Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips? Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips?

North America 155

North America 2003 Birds America 155

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Producing a book about birds and nesting is a dangerous business. The truth is that there are few images cuter than baby birds in the nest opening their mouths and begging for food, but there are curmudgeons amongst us, myself included, who don’t like to admit this. And of birds courting and mating. Peregrine Falcon nests.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

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

JULY 22, 2017

Birds with white on them are much more likely to take the form of goodies like the Snowy Cotinga , or two species of tityras. In Costa Rica, even the super shy Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon is seen more often than the island pigeon with the snow-white cap. I recommend staying there but what about the birds?

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Bats Birds 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Our favorite birds of prey fly south. My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird. North American Migratory Bird Flyways. Peregrine Falcon. The STK families will be departing the panhandle of Florida, with flights possibly hugging the Gulf coastline. Delicious autumn! I would fly about the earth.

Belize 211

Belize Mississippi Bald Eagle Mexico 211

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 144

New York City Pelicans Birds New York 144

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2019

The Gyrfalcon ( Falco rusticolus ), the largest falcon in the world, is as sought after by falconers as it is by birders – and for many of the same reasons: namely, the rarity with which these imposing raptors of the Arctic visit us residing in more temperate climes.

2016 100

2016 Iceland Falcons Europe 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

Those bigger birds of prey command respect, but it’s not like falcons are unknown. Even outside of Atlanta , Peregrine Falcons spend their breeding seasons smiling for the ( web ) camera from atop edifices all across the country. Submit an eBird report of all the birds you see and count, especially the Kestrels.

2011 159

2011 Bald Eagle Atlanta Falcons 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2013

The Spring Wings Festival , held this past weekend, was the perfect way for a birding-festival newbie like me to get into the swing of things. Its small size, laid-back nature, and ample opportunities to get up close and personal with birds make it a good fit for experienced birders, but also for people looking to get their feet wet.

Nevada 165

Nevada Birds Barn Owls Cows 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

“In 80 birding tours to more than 100 countries, that was definitely the best day of birding I have ever had in my life!’ What a way to sum up what is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest birding sites and certainly my favorite in southern Africa. However, the great birding experience that is Sani starts lower down.

Lesotho 165

Lesotho Africa Birds Rats 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2013

Two-thousand-twelve was a pretty darn good year for me birding-wise and otherwise. Seeing 525 species was nice, as was the fact that I birded in four countries, nine of the fifty states in the United States, and fifty-one counties. I went to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida. Mottled Duck ?

2012 143

2012 Czech Republic Hedgehogs Hungary 143

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2015

This year, what with family plans and other commitments, I didn’t get out on the pond until later than usual but it was worth the wait. Saturday saw me squelching through the mud at the north end of the pond and Sunday had me leading a field trip for the Queens County Bird Club from the south end of the pond.

Jamaica 162

Jamaica New York City Wildlife New York 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. There are large avian handbooks and small ‘how-to bird’ guides, and quite a few excellent books of both types have been published.

Birds 114

Birds North America Breeding America 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2016

The scientists, who studied bird populations in Europe and China , speculate that urban areas may have some appeal for passerines that rural areas otherwise lack. Birds like cuckoos, who lay their eggs in songbirds’ nests, and whose young then off the hosts’ own chicks, tend to avoid cities.

China 101

China Europe Research Falcons 101

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

Ethiopia, a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa).

Ethiopia 237

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Game 237

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.

Ireland 141

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 141

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2017

I just finished three days of guiding in Costa Rica, each of which was a day trip from the Central Valley, every one a bonanza of new birds. However I didn’t even need to push my vehicle, nor did we have to push ourselves past any sort of birding limit to connect with several quality birds. more birds, and so on!!

Costa Rica 137

Costa Rica Owls Birds Eagles 137