10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Chinese Penduline T**s are not particularly woke birds. White’s Thrush is described as “burly” on eBird – not entirely unjustified, I guess, but this description fails to capture the way the intricate patterns of the bird make for great camouflage and also for its own kind of beauty. Maybe the grandparents help.

Birds 195

Birds Blackbirds Indonesia Bhutan 195

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2020

I’ve always birded from home for as long as I can remember. I may not have known their correct species names (I thought Tropical Mockingbirds were roadrunners) but I knew they existed. Now, every day I end up subconsciously birding from before my eyes open in the morning. Tropical Mockingbirds on a neighbor’s tree.

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Birds Raised Owls Humane 221

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

There’s something wonderfully primeval about the Northern Bald Ibis: it has the look of a bird that really ought to be extinct. The fact that it’s not is quite surprising, as this curious bird has come very close to the brink. Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In

Morocco 223

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 223

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 218

Dissection Birds Research Europe 218

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

JUNE 17, 2023

After Jason recently asked ChatGPT for birding advice, the management consultant in me – constantly thriving for efficiency improvements – immediately thought of the next step. The Seasonal Spectacles: Shanghai’s birding scene comes alive during the spring and autumn migration seasons.

China 164

China Endangered Species Sanctuary Protection 164

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. The subtle white edging to the gape of this bird indicates it is near breeding time.

Trinidad 202

Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 202

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.

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Costa Rica Belize Guatemala Protest 233

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

JULY 5, 2022

In 2007 I was working in a university building that was just begging for bird feeders. This was where I set up my bird feeders, just one at first, then expanding as everyone expressed delight in seeing the Carolina Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Downy Woodpeckers. There were no dead birds for weeks. I hoped it was an anomaly.

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New York City Birds Illinois Science 253

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. This post shows some of them. And of course, I would have been wrong.

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San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 205

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.

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Birds Fox Raised Ducks 265

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2015

She runs Birds of Texas Rehabilitation Center in Austin County, Texas. He said the federal government’s and Alaska’s state rules were, for the most part, okay; they were consistent and generally made sense for the safety of both humans and wildlife, and in many respects, coincided with his own views of protecting the native environment.

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Collecting Wildlife Rehabilitation Solomon Islands Texas 240

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2013

It also has one of the highest human population densities in the state. Not surprisingly, this brings Burrowing Owls into close contact with humans across the county. 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.

Owls 234

Owls Florida Raised Coyotes 234

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.

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New Zealand North America Laws Humane 165

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2012

One of the defining characteristics of birds, besides the obvious features of wings and feathers, is their bills. From toucans to curlews and from hummingbirds to flamingos, birds display an almost otherworldly diversity in these body-parts. Bills are instrumental in defining three of the senses in birds – taste, touch and smell.

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Birds Mammals Mozambique New Zealand 214

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.

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Birds Protection Idaho Bears 182

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2013

You may not realize it when you look at those bizarre looking waders with the massive bills and the vacant expression, but you’re looking at a group of birds that has inspired humankind for literal centuries. It’s clear that ibis have been part of human civilization for as long as there has been civilization of which to be part.

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Birds North America Charlotte New Jersey 211

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2011

When climate changes, causing habitats to move, birds can get up and fly away to a new habitat, so really, they’ll be fine. I’ve been working on climate change lately (not causing it, but reading and writing about it) and birds have come up in a few places. Similar things happen to both fish and birds.

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Penguins Birds Cooking Fish 198

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

Dirt hawking is a form of falconry that involves hunting rabbits and other small game with Harris Hawks (other hawk species also qualify). One of the primary reasons that these hawks make such excellent falconry birds is because they are one of only two raptor species (the other is the Galapagos Hawk ) that hunt cooperatively.

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League Against Cruel Sports Rabbits Falcons Hunting 270

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

If you are a migratory bird in Europe and western Asia, this is your sweet spot. This grim scenario is a fact of life for millions of migrating songbirds, raptors, and other birds each year. There aren’t many solutions proferred—the article is really about consciousness-raising—but it’s well worth a read.

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Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 143

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2014

Somehow they manage to get the bird or animal to a rehabilitator, even though finding one is often a feat in itself. And they would realize that any species whose young tried to nurse with a pointed beak would be a short-lived species. A pet cat raising orphaned ducklings! To these people, we owe our gratitude.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Wildlife Feral Cats Hamburgers 257

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.

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Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2015

The previous set up made sure that you discounted 20 years of working in difficult jungle in remote countries to better understand and conserve rare and interesting species, and gets you ready to treat him like the truly arrogant monster he undoubtedly is. You see, the bird was collected for scientific study. How it raised its chicks?

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Collecting Papua New Guinea Science Birds 159

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2013

Birds may have evolved from an ancestor with four wings. A recent analysis of 11 fossil birds suggests that feathers found on their legs had features similar to primary wing feathers that would be used in flight. This raises an interesting question: Did these early birds have four wings, or three tails?).

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Apes Humane Mammals Research 194

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2015

Even sparrows, if you choose the right species and play your cards right, can be elevated to ‘cute’ status. a sea gull.''” Of course, that raises an important question – what is the most interesting gull in the world? We tossed this idea around on Facebook for a while and came to few conclusions. Sometimes.

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Seals Lifestyle Turtles Parrots 220

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Most of the books about extinction, including Fuller’s Extinct Birds (now, ironically, out of print), describe what was lost and look for explanations, scientifically and historically. The idea of Lost Animals was conceived after the publication of Extinct Birds (2001), a 400-page, four-pound book on 75 extinct species.

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Animal Mammals Hawaii Dolphins 267

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Paging through a fieldguide, it’s always with a sense of dismay and sadness that I come across reference to an extinct species. This is particularly poignant if the bird has disappeared during the course of my birding days or “on my watch” as I like to think of it. This bird was kept in captivity until it died a year later.

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Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 237

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

Author Sherrida Woodley thinks deeply about dearly departed birds. Raised in and around the West Texas steppe country where temperatures reached 100 degrees with regularity, he began life as the Dust Bowl and Great Depression converged. such as California Condors and Passenger Pigeons. He came for the hawks. I knew no falconers.

Falcons 178

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 178

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. A robot that feeds baby birds so I can take a nap,” wrote Jodi in Massachusetts. “A Why is there no state or federal money available to care for federally protected species?

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Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 245

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!

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2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 181

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2016

There’s a huge bird chasin’ the kids around the trailer park! By far, calls about the ‘big black bird” topped all the calls they received each day. The big black bird was the talk of the town, and appeared everywhere children convened. If people are its “parents” during this period, the bird sees people as its kind.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Mice Indiana Game 131

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

Primarily, Lapwings are an Old World family with over 20 species including Australasia’s Masked Lapwing , Asia’s Yellow-wattled Lapwing and the Red-wattled Lapwing of the Middle East. Masked Lapwing Africa is the spiritual home of the Vanellus family, boasting as many as 14 species including the abundant Crowned Lapwing.

Brazil 130

Brazil Protection Family Africa 130

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2011

European Storks are majestic, they’re graceful and stately and all of the positively connotated adjectives that are applied to birds to which humans have a long and pleasant history rooted deep in our western cultural heritage. In fact, there’s hardly a bird in the world that has such a venerated relationship with us.

North America 170

North America Pedigree South Carolina Brazil 170

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2011

Talk about pesky, a Northern Flicker like the bird above liked to peck foam off of the space shuttle. So, why do woodpeckers peck on human made structures? Reason 1: Territory This is the time of year when a variety of birds are setting up breeding territories. This is something that should be dealt with early.

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Woodpeckers Owls Blackbirds Raised 261

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

The closer one raises her head, than lies back. Telia watches him in half-amusement, then raises and gives a low, bull-like roar, provoking the lapwings to an excited screech, makes a few steps and lies down. Telia yawns, raises and sprays her urine on a dead tree stump, marking her territory. The other two are motionless.

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Tigers India Killing 2012 243

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Attempting to bluff the bear in believing that they were even bigger bears, Hoshino suggested raising their hands, to appear taller. Those bears live in the wild and are not used to humans. Finally, the list of birds mentioned in the examples include: Acorn woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus. Cactus finch, Geospiza species.

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Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 115