10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2023

May is a busy month for birds migrating through Shanghai – and of course, last May was completely missed due to the lockdown. So, I spent a lot of time birding this month, and to keep this post at a manageable length, it mostly only covers the first half of May. The video is notable for the bird basically refusing to move at all.

Birds 130

Birds Raised Cattle Mammals 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Audubon guides to birds have been around since 1946. The first guide bearing the National Audubon Society imprint was Audubon Bird Guide; Eastern Land Birds , written by Richard Hooper Pough, and illustrated by Don Eckelberry. Plate 28 from Audubon Bird Guide, Eastern Land Birds, by Richard H. Knopf, 1994/97.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

Typical of the species. The last time I had seen a Summer Tanager was during a Christmas Bird Count in 2012. Sightings in Trinidad have been sporadic, 38 to be exact since the formation of the T&T Bird Status and Distribution Committee. This is an immature bird, as evidenced by the yellow wash on his underparts.

Trinidad 220

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 220

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2021

The first indication is the grumblings of the other bird in our garden. The most vocal species is the Brown Honeyeater. When we first hear the other birds indicate a threat we look to see what the threat is. They are mainly ground dwelling birds and really do not look adept at flying.

Australia 209

Australia Raised Family Birds 209

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 236

Dissection Birds Research Europe 236

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2022

Every place has its common birds, the species that do very well in a given habitat. As we like to say, these are species that are “hard to miss”, birds that, if you are watching, will be seen. As one might expect, signature birds take many forms. Birding in a local park? What about urban sites?

Costa Rica 147

Costa Rica San Jose Asia Geese 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2019

Lots of birds, a lot of really cool birds! Some local populations of birds and animals couldn’t adapt to the radical ecosystem-wide changes and just died out but a fair percentage did survive and continue to persist where green space lingers. The Emerald Tanager is one of those cool ones.

Costa Rica 201

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Sparrows 201

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

With the lockdown lasting until the end of May (ironically thus pretty much including the whole spring migration – the divine sense of humor is a rather malign one, I am afraid), June still had the freedom of birding anywhere in Shanghai, not just inside a smallish compound. Accessorizing for birds.

Singapore 147

Singapore Mountain Goats Birds Giraffes 147

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 183

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 183

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. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump.

San Diego 221

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 221

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2018

July often means travel, which sometimes means tourist attractions, which occasionally means exotic or introduced bird species. Encountering exotics raises all manner of questions in birders, the toughest of which rarely center on identification. We may know these birds well, but should we love them? Following me here?

2018 100

2018 Zoos Birds Raised 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

On that glorious day, I observed ten critically endangered birds, representing 8% of their Costa Rican, or 2% of their global population!! In my previous post , I dealt with Rancho Naturalista Lodge itself and birding within their private reserve. But, let’s start at the beginning. A group (maybe 4-5 ex.)

Costa Rica 249

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 249

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

JUNE 6, 2012

There are few families of birds as bewitching as the birds-of-paradise. They are feathered jewels with extraordinary breeding dances almost unrivalled in the bird world. There are, however, two species that are more accesible than the rest of the family. www.youtube.com/watch? Not that I was complaining.

Indonesia 201

Indonesia Birds Australia Guinea 201

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2015

I am within one of Florida’s sub-tropical zones, and my birding experiences have expanded, with life birds galore. Almost every lunch break I head out onto the beach, looking for birds along the sand. I know what everyone is thinking: “Erika, you are birding at absolutely the worst time of day. Why bother?” Snowy Plover.

Florida 157

Florida Birds Mice Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. They are also believed to be related to the Rail-Babbler of Tropical Asia.

Sierra Leone 272

Sierra Leone Ghana Cameroon Equatorial Guinea 272

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

Gaines, notwithstanding that the story (1) takes place in the Uruguay of 1999, with plenty of commentary on the Uruguayan political scene of that time, (2) is narrated by a bird illustrator who identifies the birds he sees only by their common Spanish names, and (3) flashes back to the use of torture by South American juntas in the 1970’s.

Uruguay 156

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 156

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. We simply refuse to squee.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2019

Birds are singing and migrating, freshets are running, and trees are budding – yes, it’s time for all those things. And given what these birds have been through, this caution is certainly warranted. At last, it’s spring in the northern half of the world. What’s in a name?

North America 113

North America Vermont America Farming 113

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

The Juniper Titmouse ( Baeolophus ridgwayi ) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. You can also see my 10000 Birds post on the Oak Titmouse here. Thanks to my friend Rebecca Carrier for penning this post for 10,000 Birds on my behalf. One of my favorite bird species living by my house is the Juniper Titmouse.

2017 165

2017 New Mexico Groups Abandon 165

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2019

We have observed some beautiful birds in Victoria during our visit including the Spotted Pardalote and Rufous Fantail. There are numerous bird species that we only observe when we are many miles from home and some bird species we have rarely observed. Two new birds for 2019 just like that!

Portland 147

Portland Tigers 2020 2019 147

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 239

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 239

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2013

The Florida sub-species of Burrowing Owl is now classified as a threatened species in Florida and it is one of the rarest sub-species of Burrowing Owls. Loss of habitat due to development, disturbance at burrows and negative interactions with humans are some of the threats facing this charismatic species.

Owls 245

Owls Florida Raised Coyotes 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2020

Luis Gonzalez is a Miami resident and IT major who was originally born and raised in Cuba. He has been an avid lover of the natural world since he was a kid, with a strong love for paleontology when he was younger, but he only took up birding in his last year of high school and hasn’t looked back since.

Canada 174

Canada Cuba Miami Florida 174

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.

Birds 279

Birds Game Wildlife Family 279

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

When you monitor a species of birds over many years you learn a lot from your observations and you soon become aware of the fact that some birds are just better at parenting than others. This year one pair of Pied Oystercatchers has once again proven to be able to raise young. Three 3 month old Pied Oystercatchers.

Eggs 165

Eggs Raised Breeding Family 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Tropical birding demands tropical birds, those families and genera unique to their latitudes rather than shared via migration across various climate zones. Sometimes, they even have the same species… I’m looking at you, House Wren ! So why is this bird called the Red-ruffed Fruitcrow? It eats fruit.

Colombia 202

Colombia South America Argentina Ecuador 202

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2011

It’s a common call/email/text that most bird watchers get this time of year: “HELP! I just saved a baby bird! Both of those sites allow you to enter your zip code or state and find someone nearby who has the state and federal permits that allows them to treat wild birds. Do not worry about touching the baby birds.

Birds 266

Birds Fox Raised Ducks 266

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

This particular species is not native to New Zealand (similar to its status in North America). The bird is now bonded to humans and an ambassador to her class and the bird has quite the vocabular y. Birds starlings' A European Starling in New Zealand made the news this week.

New Zealand 168

New Zealand North America Laws Humane 168

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2019

While I harbor mixed feelings about zoos in general, this facility seems to make the best effort possible to keep animals in interesting enclosures, move them to different areas of the zoo to maintain novel surroundings, and invest money and space into a 30 acre mixed species enclosure, where the animals can move freely.

Geese 113

Geese Zoos Canada Rhinos 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2017

We had high hopes for our first morning’s birding with our main goals being the two hummingbirds that are most easily found in the east, the Antillean Crested Hummingbird and the Green-throated Carib. Curse the lumpers who stole species status from the white-shielded Caribbean race of coot! Such awesome creatures.

Puerto Rico 109

Puerto Rico Birds Woodpeckers 2017 109

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

This species are long living and so the population appears to be sustainable at this stage despite the predation. One particular bird in our area is at least 24 years old and has maintained the same territory for many years. Every time someone goes near the nest the birds walk off to distract the person and try to lead them away.

Breeding 159

Breeding Eggs Camels Raised 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2016

One of the birding highlights of our trip was not only having two Pallid Cuckoos feeding around our tent, but that they were quite cooperative at landing in an open area with a nice blue sky background! Pheasant Coucals are also a member of the cuckoo family, but are unique because they do actually raise their own young.

United Kingdom 100

United Kingdom Raised 2013 Africa 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

After a very good Wet Season with substantially more rain than normal over the first few months of 2017 the land was flooded and a huge variety of birds arrived in the Broome area to take advantage of the ideal conditions for breeding. The Australian Painted Snipe nest was positioned on higher ground in between the fence and the highway.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Raised 2017 100

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 151

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 151

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2022

A recent episode of the American Birding Podcast featured an interview with Virginia Rose (Founder and President) and Freya McGregor (Coordinator) of the non-profit Birdability. The mission of Birdability is to “share the joys of birding with people who have disabilities, and to ensure that birding is accessible to everybody.”

Portland 206

Portland Oregon Laws Experience 206

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2017

From Florida to Maine and back again I toured urban forests, marshes, estuaries, and more, stopping along the way to visit family and friends. One particular resting place brought me to familiar birding territory: Pleasure House Point, Virginia Beach. As for me, I loved birding there just as much now as I did four years ago.

Virginia 100

Virginia Branding 2013 Blackbirds 100