10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2017

I hadn’t until a little over a month ago when while flicking through one of my volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) I came across it. I was looking for a new project to write about on Wikipedia, something unusual, and this species appealed for reasons I can’t quite define. One mystery was its movements.

Science 106

Science Argentina South America Uruguay 106

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

One good thing about birding during a pandemic–the forced restrictions on place and time translate into more time to observe what birds do. Bird behavior–endlessly fascinating, but so much still hidden and unknown. Extreme behaviors also push scientists to look at birds in new ways.

Research 215

Research Birds Science Costa Rica 215

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2019

This is the same history of conquest and despoliation which now puts many of these very species in danger of extinction. Most of the white people birds are named after are not directly culpable in settler colonial genocide and militarized white supremacy, or certainly not as culpable as McCown. McCown is an extraordinary case.

Birds 260

Birds North America Cooking Campaign 260

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 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

They also remind me why I love birding in Michoacán. The Trogon family (and order, since the order only includes one family) is quite widespread, being found in all the tropical (and some subtropical) regions of the world. Honesty requires that I confess to having seen none of these species. Those are good numbers.

Mexico 178

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 178

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2023

Here goes: Paradise Flycatchers are a genus in the broader (and rather large) family of Monarchidae. There are 17 different species of them, a few of them endangered, particularly some island endemics. Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16 not their own). Below are some photos of the female.

Japan 130

Japan China Guinea Germany 130

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 152

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 152

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

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 5, 2015

There is GISS and there is Birding by Impression and they are not the same. Birding by Impression is a conscious, deliberate method of identifying and recognizing birds based on the study and evaluation of “distinctive structural features and behavioral movements” and comparison with nearby and similar species.

Birds 169

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 169

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Birding for the Curious: The Easiest Way for Anyone to Explore the Incredible World of Birds by Nate Swick brings birding back to its roots—a simple, joyous way to enjoy nature using our eyes, ears, hands (for sketching), and brain. There are now no excuses except a lack of curiosity. And, nobody wants to admit that.

Birds 263

Birds North Carolina North America Science 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

These birds may be the North American ash tree’s last line of defense against the EAB invasion. A study in the journal Biological Invasions used Project FeederWatch information to determine that populations of the above-named birds increased (although the Hairies and Downies initially decreased) in areas of heavy EAB infestation.

Woodpeckers 273

Woodpeckers Illinois Science Chicago 273

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

Happy New Year, 10,000 Birds readers and writers! Everyone is looking back on their best birds of 2019, so I thought it would be a good idea to look at a book that looks back a little further: Urban Ornithology: 150 Years of Birds in New York City , by P. The Bronx also has a special place in birding history.

New York City 147

New York City New York Birds Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2016

Blackbirds, as a family, often have those simple descriptive names that are easy to mock ( Yellow-rumped Warbler , ugh) until a non-birder comes describing such a species to you and asking for an ID. It is a bird, and it is indeed black, so that part of the tag is accurate enough. Take Brewer’s Blackbird.

Blackbirds 189

Blackbirds Boston Science Sparrows 189

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2017

The World’s biggest citizen science wildlife count takes place this weekend. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is the prominent bird organisation in Great Britain. Very little effort is involved and the birds are likely to be familiar garden species, easily recognised. How easy is that?

Birds 100

Birds Wildlife Science Protection 100

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 262

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 262

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

JANUARY 7, 2014

It took me a while to wrap my mind around the concept of Birds and People , Mark Cocker and David Tipling’s book that, in 592 pages, explores the intersection of just that—birds and us. Nor have I overlooked “sightings” of birds in movies mouthing other birds’ calls. I’m not sure why.

Birds 207

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 207

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

Birds are a subset of dinosaurs (See: Honey, I Shrunk the Dinosaurs. Prior to the extinction of all of the other dinosaurs, resulting from a cosmic impact event about 65 million years ago, the ancestors of modern birds were different from modern birds in many ways, but also similar in many ways. So how did beaks evolve?

Alligators 209

Alligators Chickens Research Birds 209

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2020

Sure, they’re always a dependable, can’t-miss tick whenever you need them to be there, whether it’s the first day of the year, or the first few minutes of a Big Day or Christmas Bird Count. But there’s no getting around the fact that the starling is likely the most detested bird on the continent – as far as birders are concerned, anyway.

Farming 180

Farming New York Breeding Unwanted 180

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. It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation.

Owls 203

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 203

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Hugh Powell is a science editor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Hugh, who years ago helped me find my first Pauraque in the Rio Grande Valley , visited Peru as part of the 2014 World Birding Rally, where he stopped thinking of himself as an experienced birder. This is his first contribution to 10,000 Birds.

Peru 254

Peru Birds South America Owls 254

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2019

For many North American birders, wood warblers represent everything exciting, compelling, and immediate about birding. That fallacious family name seems to have encouraged all manner of knaves, dunderheads, and miscreants when time came to label species. Consider some examples: NAMED FOR OTHER BIRDS. NAMED FOR PEOPLE.

Rights 113

Rights Connecticut Tennessee Nashville 113

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

I bring this up not to boast (well, not much) but because I think that this approach to wildlife travel is somewhat neglected in birding circles. Read most accounts of how birders see birds outside their patch and one way or another, they’re tourists. Ugandan Mangabeys were part of my family once.

Uganda 160

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

There is a fantastic paper just out in Science : “Sustained miniaturization and anatomoical innovation in the dinosaurian anceestors of birds” by Michael Lee, Andrea Cau, Darren Naishe and Gareth Dyke. But birds are dinosaurs. Birds have a number of features that distinguish them from, say, camels. As Lee Et.Al

Camels 196

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2014

Few people can imagine (or even take seriously) the life of a birding guide at a lodge in the tropics, so I thought it would be a nice exercise to outline what an average day for me was like at Cristalino Lodge. White-bellied Parrot was one of many target species at either of the canopy towers. 4:30AM: It is time to wake up!

Otters 160

Otters Parrots Birds Brazil 160

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

It is now the month of love, and there are few birds I love more than the alcids. According to Reedman , murre is the old Cornish world for a Razorbill , and eventually became a vernacular term for alcids more broadly; murrelet, then, makes simple sense as a name for the smaller members of the family. The Long-billed Murrelet , well.

North America 114

North America Science Collecting Fish 114

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2018

In a little less than two weeks my family and I will be enjoying a long weekend on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Having never birded in Mexico at all I was initially concerned about identifying the myriad species that can be seen. I’m using the relatively new quiz feature on eBird ! The concept is simple.

Mexico 105

Mexico Belize Honduras Science 105

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2011

Be warned, The Atlas of Birds is not a map book, though it does contain maps, lovely orange and purple and green bird distribution maps. It is not an encyclopedia, though it does summarize research, explain basic concepts, and ends with a section on bird statistics. Intriguing, isn’t it?

Albatross 193

Albatross Birds Campaign Protection 193

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2016

Great Tit Telomeres, Baby Talk, Brainy Birds. This morning, I have three interesting scientific findings related to bird for you. First, birds may age more quickly in urban environments. Third, which we already suspected, bird brains are adjusted to provide extra smartness in a way not seen in mammals. urban or rural).

Mammals 108

Mammals Zebras Birds Primates 108

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 230

Owls Florida Raised Coyotes 230

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2015

It is a good place for South African birders, as several species are found here and nowhere else in South Africa, and it holds a small number of endemics that it shares with the Mozambique lowlands. It was pretty awesome to see so many tuskers, as well as families of elephants safe in their special park.

South Africa 145

South Africa Elephants Africa Lions 145

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

Last week a mystery bird from New Jersey rightly caused a fair bit of confusion among birders of the Garden State and beyond. The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. New Jersey mystery sparrow.

New Jersey 216

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 216

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

These were the sounds I heard as I walked around a small pond in Amherst, Massachusetts last week, looking for dragonflies, listening for birds. Or, one of the 145 species of Glass frogs living in the Cental and South American rainforests, I could look through the transparent skin on their undersides and see their internal organs.

Reptiles 182

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 182

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. The 39 owls include five endemic Caribbean species.

North America 216

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 216

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

The birds that wear tuxedos and star in major motion pictures. People call them “flightless birds&# but they do in fact fly; They just do it underwater. The evolution of the living penguins is one of the best known cases among birds, or even vertebrates in general, mainly through the study of DNA, bio-geography, and anatomy.

Penguins 189

Penguins Seals Peru Science 189