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 137

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 137

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2018

Our calendar– the birding calendar –has just shifted into overdrive. In fact, some might argue that, on an international level, this weekend represents one of the zeniths of birding activity and engagement. Last year’s Global Big Day accounted for at least 65% of all the bird species on the planet.

2018 100

2018 Birds Collecting Killing 100

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

AUGUST 22, 2014

This week in birding news has it all covered. To wit: As if beach-nesting birds don’t have enough problems , along comes a new scourge: nudists. Disregard what Mary Poppins advises ; in Swansea, UK, feeding the birds will cost you (and a whole lot more than tuppence). Birding in the Bronx? Er, sort of.

San Francisco 175

San Francisco Wisconsin Sanctuary Birds 175

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2012

After a brutal colonization that included genocidal campaigns against the Herero (80% killed) and Nama (50% killed) tribes, the Germans lost control when South Africa invaded soon after the declaration of the First World War. This family group is performing their loud croaking territorial calls.

Namibia 242

Namibia Angola Lovebirds South Africa 242

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 237

Costa Rica Rats Parrots Raccoons 237

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2016

I asked a group of wildlife rehabilitators: “What are some of the Worst Bird Myths? Had they been able to make the jawbone talk, no doubt its first words would be, “You can’t put a baby bird back in the nest, because the parents will smell your hands and abandon it.”. s and “Kill me now!”s. Feel free to vent!”. s, “Gaaahh!”s

Wildlife Rehabilitation 171

Wildlife Rehabilitation Porcupines Raccoons Birds 171

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2015

As for the pseudo-warblers, I’m not actually against them so much, they are after all a family that, while wanting for a name that is descriptive and not derived from a misapplication of European names, are easy to identify and pleasant enough on the eye (with a few exceptions). Baby’s First Bird, if you will.

Africa 174

Africa Feral Ethiopia Tanzania 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2016

And then, two canids appeared in my scope field of view… My plan was that the downpour should finally be over in the morning, so I could go birding. They are sitting in the wet grass at the edge of the water, observing the bird movements around them. I am thrilled: this is more than just birding, this is a full-scale safari!

Serbia 123

Serbia Sheep Birds Eagles 123

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2017

The three young men returned to their friends, bragged about their exploits, and showed them trophies: metal banding tags, which members of the Pacific Rim Conservation had carefully placed on the albatrosses’ legs in order to keep track of individual birds. The young men had severed the birds’ legs in order to remove the tags.

Albatross 214

Albatross Honolulu Hawaii Killing 214

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 6, 2011

Robert Gallardo is well-known to many readers of 10,000 Birds as an outstanding Neotropical nature guide, author, and manager of La Chorcha Lodge. We are talking about the flora and fauna and in particular the birds, whose sole beauty makes them an easy target for some people. And these are just the direct assaults against birds!

Honduras 185

Honduras illegal Parrots Birds 185

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. Presumably, in the early days of ornithology, some scientists spent most of their time transcribing bird calls. A beautiful bird though. This post shows some of them. It’s the eyes, I guess.

San Diego 197

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 197

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

10,000 Birds readers love terrific bird photography but hate bird abuse. He was first drawn to birding after realising that even the most urbanised spaces could harbour relatively high levels of bird diversity, and now spends time exploring other birding habitats around the region.

Eagles 269

Eagles Singapore Fish Ethics 269

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2014

I spent this past weekend in Saugerties at my folks’ house in order to look for Easter eggs, let Desi enjoy time with his cousins, and generally have a good ol’ time with family. Should you ever find yourself in Saugerties with some time to kill you could do far worse than to visit the Great Vly. Conk-a-ree!!!

New York 168

New York Birds Ducks Blackbirds 168

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2013

The permit allows the Hopis a total of 40 birds that may be sacrificed for use in religious ceremonies. The Navajo also use eagle feathers as part of rituals, but don’t believe in killing the birds. The ruling is important because as recently as three years ago, several Hopi were prosecuted for illegally killing eagles.

Eagles 168

Eagles Bald Eagle illegal Killing 168

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. T urkey Vulture, photo by Dawn Puliafico.

California Condor 175

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 175

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2011

For 13 years now, friends and family have been gathering in an undisclosed corner of Potter County, Pennsylvania during the third weekend of July to create a glorious giant chicken of wood, straw, and gunpowder only to burn it. This year, though, the birding was better than usual. See why we keep the location undisclosed?

Chickens 174

Chickens 2011 Pennsylvania Birds 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2019

Cory is perhaps the worst kind of person after whom you could name a bird. Instead, he led a life of leisure: playing billiards and golf (he competed in the 1904 Olympics as a golfer but somehow didn’t finish the course), traveling, and amassing a massive collection of dead birds, over 19,000 all told. I kill them.”*.

Boston 113

Boston Killing Protection Collecting 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2020

Going birding is even more of a no-brainer now than before. Many moons ago, when I used to work in the (supposedly) booming petrochemical industry in Trinidad, most of my time was actually spent birding. I racked up a staggering number of life birds in the surprisingly rich surroundings during my four-odd years slaving for The Man.

Trinidad 206

Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 206

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 217

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 217

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

Hannah Buschert was first exposed to birds and birding during a required ornithology course at Oregon State University and she quickly caught the birding bug. This is Hannah’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. Hannah and Erik ready to see some birds! I love to go on cruises.

South Africa 261

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 261

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2016

Following on from last week’s post about Langi Crossing and some of the larger birds species that you can expect to find I will now let you know of some of the smaller species you may encounter along the Fitzroy River at this location. There’s something special about inquisitive birds! Female Rufous Whistler.

Birds 100

Birds Zebras Investigation Species 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2012

I was going to continue talking about birding in Sydney today, but an incident on Friday needs to be addressed quickly, before the immediacy of the memory is gone. And that bird is the Southern Cassowary. Although slightly shorter than the Emu , the cassowary is a sturdier, heavier and generally larger bird.

Sharks 214

Sharks Birds Australia Boars 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

For now, I present a story of an excellent day''s birding on a visit to Los Angeles last week.]. It was 7:04am when we saw our target bird. Common birds to the southern California birder, wonderful sights to me. Where to bird next? We did see what I suspect was Luke’s favorite “bird” of the trip.

Los Angeles 171

Los Angeles Woodpeckers California Birds 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Asides / Does This Make My Mom A Bird Blogger? Does This Make My Mom A Bird Blogger? These Blasts From The Past New York City Canada Goose “Kill Zones&# Revealed Help Save Migratory Birds!

2011 140

2011 Deer New York New York City 140

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2011

The Front Range of Colorado offers unique birding experiences from top to bottom. The more eyes one has equals the more birds one finds. Venues for birding are on the short list, but where the immediate Denver locale comes short in numbers of sites, we make up for in quality of birding. Then there is Denver. Our capital!

Denver 162

Denver Colorado Birds Delaware 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2016

The Greater Roadrunner , Geococcyx, californianus , an iconic bird that is the symbol of many Native American, and Mexican legends. This speedy ground dwelling birds namesake has been used for a popular American car model, and without question, one of the all time great Sunday morning cartoons that we all grew up with.

Rattlesnake 100

Rattlesnake Mexico Coyotes United States 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

There are certain families that I habitually fail to encounter when opportunities arise. I’ve had pretty lousy luck when it comes pittas and broadbills, and I also am really bad when it comes to the various night birds such as owls, nightjars and related species. It isn’t that I never see them, just that I often miss them.

Uganda 163

Uganda Family Australia Killing 163

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2012

This post is old news to those who pay attention to what I say on Facebook but I am still pleased as punch to point out that I have finally reached the 500-bird milestone in the American Birding Association area (basically North America north of Mexico). There were, however, several rarities around that would get me to 500 birds.

San Marino 104

San Marino Los Angeles Birds Laws 104

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

But they also have a bird-of-paradise, the Victoria’s Riflebird , and a Black Butcherbird on the bird feeders for you to admire as you drink a cup of tea on the veranda. A Southern Cassowary ( Casuarius casuarius ) that may have tried to kill me. Sure you might be disembowelled by a massive Southern Cassowary.

Guinea 168

Guinea Parrots Australia Family 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Conservation / Want to Go Bird Banding in Amazonian Peru? Want to Go Bird Banding in Amazonian Peru? One way volunteers help is by participating in a bird banding workshop called Bird Ringing Forever.

Peru 188

Peru 2011 Deer Birds 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2012

Ideally, we like to release birds where they came from (as long as it’s not a dangerous area), and with as little fanfare as possible. You open the door, and your fit, strong bird flaps once and plummets to the ground, overcome by the stress of the car ride. Bird people understand this. Regular civilians, maybe not so much.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 157

Wildlife Rehabilitation Rescue Killing 2012 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2019

But they are also highly-prized for their ruthless and powerful efficiency in killing – medieval illustrations depict them downing cranes and a twentieth-century painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes shows a falconer’s Gyrfalcon inflicting a lethal strike on a Gray Heron ( Ardea cinerea ). Good birding and happy drinking!

2016 100

2016 Iceland Falcons Europe 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

With shore side access limited to the northern end of the lake, that protection allows for a large population of water based birds. This is a bird that I have no memory of when I was a kid growing up here. In a 3 mile stretch of grassland, with sprinklers flowing, I counted well over 100 of these dark birds.

Dogs 102

Dogs Mules Deer Oregon 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2013

After a successful morning’s birding and a very fine lunch, Peter and I made our way to our next site, Bang Poo. In fact the area where the pier hit the mangroves was crammed with birds, including Pied Fantails, a very vocal Oriental Magpie Robin, Green Herons and Little Egrets. This piece follows on from Part One.

Thailand 102

Thailand New Zealand Family Bats 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

She is an excellent mother, managing not only to feed her four large cubs, but their visiting father One-eyed who comes by every now and then (he has two more families and being the good father he is, visits them all regularly, usually around lunch time). Very dusty Swarovski CLs.

Tigers 237

Tigers India Killing 2012 237