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 279

North America Research Birds Groups 279

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Journeys With Penguins: Tracking the World’s Most Extreme Penguin is a different type of penguin book. Kooyman (co-author with Jim Mastro) spent decades studying Emperor Penguins and can be considered the world’s foremost expert on the species. Author Gerald L.

Penguins 178

Penguins Seals Leopards Research 178

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. We’ve traveled to lots of places, seen lots of great birds, and met lots of great birders. So, as we’ve done for the last several years we thought we would share our Best Birds of the Year with you. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours?

2014 209

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 209

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

The task of wrestling this topic down into something that the human mind can manage, without losing sight of the big picture because it’s snowing in Buffalo, is likely to be the task of a lifetime for many science communicators. Few issues of our day are as huge, in scope or in implication, as climate change.

Netherlands 160

Netherlands Birds Buffalo Science 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

He’s got a different view on how bird watchers should respond to The Big Year than the one Corey recently expressed here. I am already on record that the story will effectively change birding forever. However, I reacted totally differently. We have to take baby steps to promote our way of life. Do not hesitate, Do not Pass Go.

West Virginia 252

West Virginia Chickens Missouri United States 252

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 237

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 237

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2011

We here at 10,000 Birds thought this would be a perfect time to look back and figure out what each of us considered our Best Bird of the Year, just like we did last year. Not only did we not expect to see this seabird this far inland, it was a life bird for me! We would like you to join in!

2011 205

2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 205

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2013

But there is one Cape bird that stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to character – the African Penguin. An African Penguin peers protectively around its fluffy chick. But their endangered status is belied by the fact that they are one of the easiest rare birds to find in Africa.

Penguins 237

Penguins South Africa Africa Sharks 237

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The descriptions of the territory’s birds, seals, whales, introduced mammals, invertebrates, and plants are written within the framework of the conversationist, so it is more than a field guide, it is a record of endangered wildlife and the efforts being made to protect it. Who can resist penguins and whales?

Georgia 176

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 176

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

The NYC owls have little to do with the book in front of me except that it too is about birds and people. The 26 essays in When Birds Are Near are all about the real-life and emotional spaces where people overlap with birds. The essays range widely in place, bird, and voice, though the emphasis is on the North American.

New York City 214

New York City Birds Owls Fox 214

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

JUNE 6, 2023

Christian Cooper comes on screen about two-and-a-half minutes into The Central Park Effect , appreciating a Prothonotary Warbler at ‘the Point’ while telephoning a friend with the news (this is pre-text group), a nice hint of the collegial networks that underlie Central Park birding. Memoirs are rare in the birding world.

Emotional 229

Emotional Birds Minneapolis Nepal 229

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2013

But when you think about it, climate change might be more important to the people who read 10,000 Birds than a lot of other groups of people. Also, these human-occupied area are probably full of toxins and other impediments to normal use by wildlife. And penguins. Forget about penguins. These features will become rare.

Maryland 245

Maryland Birds Penguins Wildlife 245

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

AUGUST 13, 2013

How far is the closest human settlement? The species must be listed as a separate, full species by both of the most widely used ornithological bird lists, Sibley/Monroe and Clements. Only problem is, last time I checked there were no birds down there, let alone endemic ones. So we can rule that one out.

Birds 228

Birds South Africa South America Feral Cats 228

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, experts have determined that the current rate of bird extinction is somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000 times the background rate. Globally, 1,313 bird species of a total of count of 10,064 are threatened, a frightening 13% of the total.

Endangered Species 213

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Ideally, it should be one even less relevant than previous ones (like the one on wet birds, the one on blue birds, or the ones just showing birds eating or sleeping). Then I had an idea – a post based on birds starting with the same letter. I was just wondering about another topic for a post. Are you still with me?

South Africa 345

South Africa China Nevada Africa 345

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2011

As part of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil giveaway we asked readers of 10,000 Birds to name the bird in Brazil that they would like to see more than any other species. It is a really neat bird that I have not seen before. It would mean that I was birding in a really cool place! Come quickly!”

Brazil 228

Brazil 2011 Birds Wildlife 228

10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2014

First off, it seems that New Zealand’s two iconic families of ratites, large flightless southern birds that includes emus, rhea, ostriches, cassowaries and the extinct elephant birds, are not particularly closely related. New Zealand’s birds and mammals come from a number of sources.

New Zealand 166

New Zealand Penguins Sea Lions Lions 166

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2019

Might be a good subject for a continuing feature of some birding blogsite, too.). She wanted to join in the annual Audubon Christmas bird count in 2004, and she did — but she couldn’t identify a thing. I visited the bird for a couple weeks until one day, it was gone. Yellow-headed Blackbird, you’re an easy bird to miss.

Bald Eagle 189

Bald Eagle Blackbirds Birds New Jersey 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2016

A recent study found that conducting bird surveys by drone produced results that were at least as accurate, if not more so, than other counting methods. The Australian research team used drones to photograph populations of Crested Terns , Frigatebirds , and Royal Penguins. Which may be all well and good.

Penguins 100

Penguins Birds Research Humane 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

In fact, the Dodo belonged to a clade (sometimes called Raphini) of 15 remarkable, bizarre, intriguing island-adapted pigeons, some of which are still alive today, but eight of which have been hacked from the tree of life, driven to extinction by humans. All of the birds within Raphini are highly specialized for island life.

Solomon Islands 279

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 279

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

I’ll be the first to admit the selection of ducks so far at Booze and Birds has been rather paltry. Stumpy Duck is part of Trillium’s Small Bird Series, a collection of lighter, lower-alcohol beers brewed for summer, with each can sparingly decorated with a different bird in miniature. Not exactly a small bird.

Ducks 107

Ducks Houston Boston Fowl 107

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2015

The question is, can a bird guide actually make the jump and still work in a field situation? I had a copy of Sasol’s eBirds of Southern Africa on my iPhone (and iPad), but I had bought it to brush up on my African birds in my spare time, like on bus trips or particularly long meetings. You can use this in a number of ways.

Africa 156

Africa South Africa Zimbabwe Penguins 156

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2011

To a birder, migration means that you can live in Minnesota, New York, Paris or Moscow and see exotic tropical birds such as Piranga olivacea and Icterus galbula on a regular basis without buying a plane ticket. The birds do the flying for you. But what is migration, why do birds do it, and how is it accomplished? Image source.

Research 212

Research Humane Compassion New York 212

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

Last month woodpeckers, this month penguins. None fly, most are curious and social, which probably contributes to our cultural perception of penguins as one step away from human. King Penguins heading out to feed, Macquarie Island (beginning of book). Some are cute, some are dignified (and royal!).

Penguins 222

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 222

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2016

Electric storms closed the new walkway there and he amassed a total list of just 3 birds! It is a dream, nay, a mission statement of 10,000 Birds to see as many of the World’s birds as possible. Should the fancy take you, you could call up a 10,000 Birds life list (from 2016 onwards. Dor-ha-Bonim Beach Reserve.

2016 154

2016 Sanctuary Australia Ghana 154

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2016

Duncan has contributed to break through the unspoken target of 2000 birds for 10,000 Birds and on to a running total of 2011 as at August 31st. It is a dream, nay, a mission statement of 10,000 Birds to see as many of the World’s birds as possible. Little Penguin – Eudyptula minor. 13 Feb 2016.

2016 102

2016 Sanctuary Australia Ghana 102

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2016

The same can be said of 10,000 Birds beat writers, but we are not as sensitive on the whole. Next month, there will be a sweepstake open to all 10,000 Birds readers. It is a dream, nay, a mission statement of 10,000 Birds to see as many of the World’s birds as possible. Eilat Birding Center. 26 Mar 2016.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2016

It is a dream, nay, a mission statement of 10,000 Birds to see as many of the World’s birds as possible. Thus, a combined list of current beat writers will be compiled to see how many birds, weird and wonderful, common or unusual we can find between us. Little Penguin – Eudyptula minor. Eilat Birding Center.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2016

It is a dream, nay, a mission statement of 10,000 Birds to see as many of the World’s birds as possible. Thus, a combined list of current beat writers will be compiled to see how many birds, weird and wonderful, common or unusual we can find between us. Little Penguin – Eudyptula minor. Eilat Birding Center.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100