10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

It has been more than 5 years since I last went to Australia, and I was even less of a qualified bird photographer then than I am now. So, the basic idea is to show 15 species of Australian birds in each post and give you the usual trivia about them. And that seems to be the only vaguely satisfying thing left to do at the moment.

Australia 198

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 198

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2022

According to a bird guide published in 1911, “Competent authorities have proposed to divide the world, biologically, into two parts – Australia and the rest of the world, and they have considered Australia the more interesting part.” Apparently, King Parrot are an Australian grindcore band formed in Melbourne in 2010.

Birds 147

Birds Australia Parrots Memphis 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2023

In many ways, birding Wawushan is a nightmare for a solitary and crowd-hating birder like me. An unnamed bird guide called them “avoidless tourists”, which sums it up rather nicely. So, all this makes birding this place an occasionally less than pleasant experience.

Pandas 218

Pandas Birds Eggs China 218

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2022

Personally I’ve seen over a hundred species over several birding trips there, the overall species list for the location is approximately 160 – a tally that will only increase. It was admittedly difficult to concentrate on any single bird with trogons calling non-stop. This large and charismatic bird was surely the bird of the trip.

Trinidad 251

Trinidad Squirrels Birds Groups 251

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

This was actually the place where the late Richard ffrench spent much of his time as a music teacher, amassing countless observations of birds that would later form the basis of one of the essential birding guides for Trinidad and Tobago. Noisy Yellow-crowned Parrots indicated that it was time to stop the car and get out.

Trinidad 218

Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 218

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2011

” Darwin locals say there has always been the phenomenon of drunken parrots in the streets at this time of year. They lose coordination, and they lose their fear of humans. All are agreed that each year more birds seem to display the behaviour and they do so at about the same time. They have trouble flying.

Parrots 181

Parrots Australia Humane Birds 181

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2022

According to Wikipedia, the national bird of Australia is the Emu – which I have not seen yet. Duncan – in a 10,000 Birds post – apparently also thinks it would make a good national bird. Duncan – in a 10,000 Birds post – apparently also thinks it would make a good national bird.

Australia 147

Australia Birds Parrots Ostriches 147

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 224

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2022

Being sacred may not have been that great for the Ibis in Egypt though – apparently, mummies of the Ibis are by far the most common bird mummies found there. And it seems that most of these mummified birds came from the wild rather than being specifically domesticated, according to DNA studies. ” ( source ).

Birds 147

Birds Australia Sheep Zebras 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2020

But here is the truly tragic part: I was not birding during those years! My hosts had arranged for me to stay in a beautiful private home, high on a ridge overlooking the city, and the forested area surrounding the home attracted some very noisy (and, for me, exciting) birds. The White-throated Magpie-Jay: such a beautiful bird!

Birds 166

Birds 2006 Mexico Morocco 166

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Have you ever birded a place so young that birds still have no names ? … – part 2 – Once I finish this writing, with a strange mix of emotions I will put the Lynx field guide Birds of Colombia to the bookshelf for the first time, more than half a year after I received it. Cerros de Mavecure, photo by Juan Carlos.

Dolphins 263

Dolphins Colombia Otters Birds 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2012

The latest news from IUCN Redlist regarding birds is not good. This gloomy article made want to go birding in the Amazon before it is gone. The exuberance of the Amazon jungle is a compelling drive to get people to explore this disappearing eco-system, so I thought I would post some beautiful pictures of Amazonian birds.

Parrots 208

Parrots 2012 Birds Humane 208

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 Birds Parrots 2014 279

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2021

If the avian realm had self-conscious, talking ambassadors, “spokebirds”, which species would partake in birding conferences? The Accipiters and other bird predators would either have to be prohibited from attending or at least need to be kept separate from the rest of the tasty looking attendees. Rails being ridiculous?

Costa Rica 247

Costa Rica Belize Guatemala Protest 247

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

Birds can be enjoyed in a wide variety of ways. Those of us who chase rare birds for our counties, states, or other human-made geographical distinctions watch birds for more reasons than the twitch. Personally, I enjoy birds in every way. After a bird rich morning at Cope’s.

Costa Rica 194

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 194

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2014

I enjoy collecting children’s books about birds and nature that I come across in the expected (book stores) and unexpected (academic library conference reports) places. Parrots Over Puerto Rico is a wonderland of colors and shapes. The parrots called as they looked for deep nesting holes in the tall trees.

Puerto Rico 241

Puerto Rico Parrots New York City 2013 241

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. Bird in southern Asia and there are mynas and magpie-robins.

Costa Rica 147

Costa Rica San Jose Asia Geese 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

Whether it is birding tourism or simply spreading awareness about biodiversity, it is always with the aim of getting us humanoids to treat nature a little (ideally, a lot) better. As a rule, any tree which sprung up at the fenceline was left alone – as it was highly likely it was planted there by bird droppings.

Opossums 264

Opossums Barn Owls Hunting Reptiles 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

They looked out their windows and across their patios and up from their apartment terraces and saw–birds. This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2016

In her book, “ On a Wing and a Prayer, “ Sarah Woods describes the bird that captured her interest when she first visited Panama: “At more than one metre tall and able to kill a monkey with a single swipe of its powerful, knife-like talons, [H]arpy [E]agles are incredibly hard to find.” ”

Panama 100

Panama Grizzly Bear Porcupines Eagles 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2012

It’s clear that birds copulate, procreate, and promote their genes with alacrity. Do birds feel love? It’s easy to observe this attachment behavior in parrots, especially pets. It’s easy to observe this attachment behavior in parrots, especially pets. To explore this question, it’s probably best to first define love.

Birds 273

Birds Parrots 2003 Raised 273

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. Everyone talks about human rights and there exists so many groups that are either governmental or non-governmental who work toward that cause. How many institutions exist who speak for them?

Honduras 190

Honduras illegal Parrots Birds 190

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2015

Though I have been birding for a few years now, I had only birded west of the Mississippi once before my recent trip to Austin, Texas. Given how far west I found myself, I was hoping for at least a handful of new birds. As we walked, I noticed two unique birds on the power lines. Next to it was an even stranger sight.

Austin 113

Austin Texas Birds Non Human 113

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Australia is a vast country with a very small human population, which mostly clings to the edge of the continent. The lack of people does not mean we have any less extinct or threatened bird species than other countries. Handbook to The Birds of Australia, 1865. Preface,p.xxiv.

Species 176

Species Australia Birds Parrots 176

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. Salmón, J.

Mammals 113

Mammals Zebras Birds Primates 113

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

This is Liz’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. The rise in drone popularity over the past few years has been meteoric — and in our typical human arrogance, we’ve once again ignored the fact that for the past 150 million years, the sky has belonged to the birds.

Birds 188

Birds Protection Idaho Bears 188

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Re-evaluate the songs Double-pack with a photograph Extra track (and a tacky badge) So sing The Smiths in “ Paint a vulgar picture “ As you can probably guess, the main purpose of my posts not centered on a specific location (e.g., “Birds of Shanghai”) is to reuse photos I have already used in such location-specific posts.

South Africa 219

South Africa Africa India China 219

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2015

We assume natural selection has shaped birds to avoid predators. Noticing predators, reacting to them perhaps with an alarm call, and escaping them, as well as other behaviors, keep the bird alive and thus allow it to reproduce. We would expect, then, that natural selection favors birds that are good at these things.

Birds 127

Birds Research Humane Pets 127

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Islands, with their high levels of endemism and specialization, are particularly fragile and vulnerable to human activity. Unfortunately, these features that make island ecosystems so unique have also lead to a disproportionate number of extinct island birds relative to continental ecosystems. Painting by Jacques Barraband, ca.

Cuba 252

Cuba Parrots Collecting Columbus 252

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

The USA’s only truly indigenous parrot was wiped out by a combination of factors, although direct persecution through hunting seems to have been the major contributor. Today, if you want to see parrots in the USA you need look no further than Miami. But its not just parrots that are doing well in their adopted city.

Miami 141

Miami Parrots Research Birds 141

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 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2011

Bird “instrumental music&# is bird song. Bird song is defined in various ways, but I prefer the functional definition used by evolutionary biologists. A bird song is a communication having to do with sexual selection. Drawing of bower birds from Darwin’s 1871 volume on sexual selection.

Zebras 261

Zebras Birds Humane Raised 261

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

Where one to draw up one of those lists of “top ten x to see before to die”, a formula that is perhaps a morbid way to phrase quite a jolly question, and you were to examine which ten birds you had to see in life, I would imagine the question would divide people endlessly. Just ten birds out of ten thousand?

New Zealand 189

New Zealand Parrots Sanctuary Family 189

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

Broad-billed Parrot. What do the eight birds above have in common? Eight more birds. What right do we have to even exist when our very existence as humanity is what has caused a rate of extinction not seen except during cataclysmic events? Writing about extinct birds is invariably depressing, especially for a birder.

Mauritius 172

Mauritius Djibouti Guam Birds 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

Found throughout South America in ever-dwindling numbers these extremely beautiful birds – threatened by habitat destruction and collection for the wild bird trade – are often difficult to see and hard to find. These threats are further exacerbated by the naturally low reproductive rates of these cavity-nesting birds.

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 South America 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2011

A profound and deep understanding of birds is hard to complain about. Despite the vacant look in the eye of a Rock Pigeon , birds are not stupid…they cannot afford to be, or else they wouldn’t be here now. And the ultimate question, the one we may never know the answer to… what is a bird thinking ?

Emotional 216

Emotional Science Birds Mammals 216

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2016

It’s been nearly three weeks since the family and I left Breckenridge but I’m still thinking about all the birds that we enjoyed from my aunt and uncle’s backyard deck at 10,500 feet above sea level. Cassin’s Finches made me much more familiar with them as they are a bird I have seldom seen.

Birds 100

Birds New York Fox New York City 100