10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

But some days, I also hear the loud calls of a Laughing Falcon. Once in a while, there’s even that coveted Great Lakes bird intent on doing its own chickadee-like thing, the Golden-winged Warbler. At least it does for a young bird, at least it has for a month. That’s how long we have seen the young Merlin out back.

Costa Rica 184

Costa Rica Falcons Farming Baltimore 184

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 216

Dissection Birds Research Europe 216

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

No luck there, but I did get into a bunch of nice birds, including what I mistakenly thought was my first Brown Thrasher of the year. Corey had a wonderful Saturday birding Queens and Long Island with Carlos Sanchez and Anthony Collerton. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2016 154

2016 Jamaica Birds Falcons 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

One of the primary reasons that these hawks make such excellent falconry birds is because they are one of only two raptor species (the other is the Galapagos Hawk ) that hunt cooperatively. I have never been one to advocate the needless killing of animals for whatever purpose. Take lions, wolves, hyenas to name a few.

League Against Cruel Sports 270

League Against Cruel Sports Rabbits Falcons Hunting 270

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

We watched the bird for awhile as it foraged and though the injury was painful to contemplate for we humans the bird seemed to be getting by alright. I was reminded of the American Redstart I saw foraging in New Jersey several years ago and hoped that this bird would prove as resilient as I had observed that redstart to be.

Culling 157

Culling Falcons New Jersey Killing 157

Critter News

MAY 16, 2010

It's just weird how many birds are being killed in England, Scotland and Ireland. A horrific total of 6 eagles, 10 buzzards, 3 red kites, a Peregrine falcon and a sparrowhawk have all been poisoned in recent weeks across Ireland, England and Scotland. And these are just the ones that we know about and have been discovered.

Ireland 100

Ireland Killing 2010 Falcons 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2017

Most birders are enamored both of raptors and Pete Dunne, which is why Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America is a book any birder would love ( Carrie certainly did.) No wonder we had such an excellent response to our triple-tiered Birds of Prey giveaway. What could be simpler? Kudos to Zach S.

North America 101

North America Falcons Birds Eagles 101

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 244

Costa Rica Rats Parrots Raccoons 244

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 223

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 223

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2012

You see, everyone knows the bats, wolverines, spiders and cats get their turn as well known superheroes, but what about the birds? Well, rest assured there are plenty of those, so enjoy a countdown of the (utterly subjective) top ten superheroes inspired (in some small way) by birds! Heroes, mind, you won’t find the Penguin here.

DC 221

DC Phoenix Birds Falcons 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2014

The snake was wrapped firmly around the hawk’s tail, neck, and wings, and had enough strength to immobilize the bird but not to kill him. Key West Wildlife Center takes mostly birds, but will rescue mammals, marine mammals, and both land and sea turtles as well. It was an immature broad-wing on his first migration,” says Tom.

Reptiles 203

Reptiles Chickens Sea Turtles Wildlife Rehabilitation 203

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

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

You get three or four books in one with Jonathan Meiburg’s A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey. Meiburg doesn’t say it in so many words, but it’s almost as if he believes he and the birds are in telepathic converse. And it’s more than the sum of the parts.

Guyana 238

Guyana South America Washington DC 238

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2019

The three huge eagles are lottery winner rare and the Orange-breasted Falcon has never been documented for the country but the rest are seen here and there on an annual basis. However, that healthy suite of hawks, kites, and forest-falcons comes with an ironic footnote. A juvenile Ornate Hawk-Eagle. Just let that sink in for a moment.

Costa Rica 178

Costa Rica Eagles West Virginia Opossums 178

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2015

If you thought that migrant traps and spring in south Texas were birdalicious (and they can indeeed be spectacular), how does an ecosystem with 400 and even 500 plus species tickle your birding fancy? This brings us to the first obvious upside of rainforest birding in Costa Rica; a chance at a lot more species than other habitats.

Costa Rica 167

Costa Rica Birds Texas Cattle 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2019

Falconry Month at Birds and Booze: I’ve decided to dedicate this month of March 2019 to wines and beers related to the history of falconry – or hawking – for no other reason than that I’ve recently acquired several bottles adorned with mostly medieval European iconography relating to this “sport of kings”. A portrait of Mary (ca.

Hunting 113

Hunting France Falcons Horses 113

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

JULY 4, 2017

There are birders who watch hawks and there are hawk watchers who bird. The guide presents 69 species and 1 subspecies, from “NEW WORLD VULTURES: Cathartiformes” to “OSPREY: Pandioninae” to “FAMILY: Accipitridae” (Kites, Hawks, Eagles, Hawk-Eagles), to “FALONIDS: Falconidae” (Falcons, Forest-Falcons, Caracaras, Kestrels, Merlin).

Mexico 160

Mexico America North America Falcons 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

Birds are supposed to have feathers and birds without feathers look incomplete, like they left home with shaving cream on their ear and toothpaste spots on their shirt. The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. Here’s the kicker though.

California Condor 179

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 179

Critter News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This time it was a young female peregrine falcon.

Killing 100

Killing Falcons Wildlife Tagged 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2012

The young birds had looked like they were ready to fledge, the season is getting late and they looked ready to leave. I half-heartedly searched the opposite side for the fledged birds and turned to climb back out. As I walked along the ocean’s edge I looked ahead with my bins to see if any birds worked the shoreline.

Falcons 167

Falcons Killing Fur Owls 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2014

That’s when the state and feds demand that we fill out complicated forms detailing every bird we’ve taken in during the year, supposedly using the North American Ornithological Society’s abbreviation for each species. Upon arrival, each bird receives a chart, which is soon filled with hieroglyphics.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 230

Wildlife Rehabilitation Wildlife Mice Vet 230

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2012

I’m not a big fan of bird banding. When I see a band I imagine something slipping beneath it and trapping the bird, I’ve seen photos of birds with so many bands it looks like they’re wearing stockings, and then there’s the awful story of Violet , whose band eventually killed her. to find out her actual age.

Rabbits 235

Rabbits New Jersey Neglecting North America 235

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2015

H5N2 is a bird influenza virus that is making news. This mainly affects domestic fowl, and in this sense is not a topic central to 10,000 Birds. But, wild birds are part of the story, and the virus itself has changed and has been known to make wild birds ill. Ostriches are infected as well as, in one known case, Falcons.

Mississippi 174

Mississippi Fowl Turkey Minnesota 174

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2018

I needed 4 more birds to round it up to 400, and as I said, I had only a few more days left. At home, I may find a new bird, perhaps two, but four? Last evening, Nikos Gallios, the owner and manager of Limneo 3Bs (bed, breakfast & birding) in Chrisochorafa Village asked me what my targets are? The solution? The Kerkini Lake.

Greece 180

Greece 2017 Pelicans Geese 180

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The other day I was exploring a new area for the first time, birding the national park that I’ve watched only in BBC documentaries, the place famous for the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world – more than 1300 pairs! Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows. Have you heard of it?

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

The newest bird on the brink to capture her fertile imagination is the California Condor, on which she graciously shares her research and ruminations: Sometimes as a writer you recognize there’s been something overlooked in your midst—something quietly abiding. Their hallmark: They don’t kill. Their size doesn’t escape you.

California Condor 206

California Condor California Idaho North America 206

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

His second book on migration is a tale of many birds and many research studies all connected by the theme of migration and by his thoughtful narrative voice. In fact, early, photographic versions of several chapters appeared in Living Bird and Audubon Magazine (see the above links). is through the personal and the specific.

Cyprus 249

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 249

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2016

We have seen Peregrine Falcons fly through circling flocks of shorebirds and Brown Goshawks attempt a kill, but generally they are able to escape by their constant circling. We wish them all a safe journey and hope to see them return alongside juvenile birds later in the year.

Taiwan 100

Taiwan Breeding Japan 2017 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

(In which the author, rather than jumping out of his 13th-floor window out of his frustration over his long lockdown, describes a final 15 Australian birds, whether or not anyone is interested). This photo of a pair of Little Corellas looks like it could easily be on the cover of a romance novel published specifically for a bird audience.

Birds 182

Birds Pelicans Falcons Parrots 182

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

The magnificent history and diversity of birds on Earth came into sharper focus this month with the publication of 28 new scientific papers in Science and other journals. One of the central papers, Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds (Jarvis et al. American Flamingo photo by Dick Culbert).

Family 279

Family Parrots Birds 2014 279

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2014

The second edition of the National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 2nd Edition has one of the longest book names in bird bookdom: National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 2nd Edition: Now Covering More Than 1,000 Species With the Most-Detailed Information Found in a Single Volume.

North America 177

North America America Birds Family 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

As 2013 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 , 2011 , and 2012 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

2013 167

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2012

Migration is the single most dangerous thing that birds do and many don’t survive as Greg pointed out in his recent post. A warning – there are some graphic images of dead birds in this post. Another major hazard for migrating birds is roads. migrating Merlin eating a bird Birds migrate.

Feral Cats 182

Feral Cats Cats Killing North America 182

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2019

Falconry Month at Birds and Booze: I’ve decided to dedicate this month of March 2019 to wines and beers related to the history of falconry – or hawking – for no other reason than that I’ve recently acquired several bottles adorned with mostly medieval European iconography relating to this “sport of kings”.

2016 114

2016 Hunting Collecting Killing 114

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2018

The bird life certainly changes a bit, with a complete lack of water, unless you are at a town, well, or station, as many of the ranches are referred to. Wedge-tailed Eagles roam the skies, along with Brown Falcon, Black Kites , and Nankeen Kestrels. Speaking of Brown Falcons, here are a couple that were perched just outside Ulara.

Australia 112

Australia Camels Kangaroos Hunting 112

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

At Sea With the Marine Birds of the Raincoast opens with the unexpected appearance of a Laysan Albatross. Having shown us the bird, the boat, and the water, Fox then introduces herself: “Albatrosses, petrels, fulmars, puffins and gulls live out their lives along these transect lines; my job is to count them all.”.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100