4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 17, 2011

Dogs are able to detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes and warn humans of impending heart attacks and strokes. In many ways, human emotions are the gifts of our animal ancestors. Donna Fernandes, president of the Buffalo Zoo, witnessed a wake for a female gorilla, Babs, who had died of cancer at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo.

Emotional 100

Emotional Animal Whales Whaling 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2020

Faithful 10,000 Birds readers will remember Suzie as our wildlife rehabilitation beat writer. Suzie wrote about her experiences as a bird rehabber in Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings (2009) and used those experiences as the source for her fictional children’s book, Hawk Hill (1996).

Wildlife Rehabilitation 261

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife 261

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Our wine of the week – the 2017 Raimat Saira Albariño – features these graceful, long-necked birds on its label, where the storks take shape in a flying formation of lovely geometric abstractions reminiscent of the work of Charley Harper. Good birding and happy drinking! Raimat Saira Albariño (2017). Three out of five feathers (Good).

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2017 Spain California Condor California 114

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.

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Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 277

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Long-time readers of this blog probably also know Tai Haku, the scuba-diving, tree-planting, bird photographing nature blogger at Earth, Wind, and Water. For a successful relocation, check out Rare Birds: The Extraordinary Tale of the Bermuda Petrel and the Man who Brought it Back from Extinction.)

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Puerto Rico Guam Virgin Islands Feral 190

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. Nests were in hollows in palm trees.

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Cuba Parrots Collecting Columbus 249

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

This is in addition to the many articles and exhibits and even film devoted to the bird, one of the few species whose death was witnessed and noted down to the exact day, Tuesday, September 1, 1914 (though there is some question about the exact time). We have a lot of source material. It’s an effective introduction.

2014 160

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

Happy New Year, 10,000 Birds readers and writers, listers and photographers, friends and fellow travelers near and far! Writing a post scheduled for January 1st for a birding blog is a big responsibility. On the first of the year, every bird is a new bird! It was a United States lower-48 birding year for me.

2018 161

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 161

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2022

According to a local African superstition that I just made up, it is not harmful to eat toxically colored birds if you eat them in the dark. Colonial history reflected in bird names. Unfortunately, the Fork-tailed Drongo is not the honest and god-fearing bird one could wish for.

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South Africa Africa Birds Cape Verde 190

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

To be precise, “Birding Shanghai from June 10 to June 30, 2022” – but that is even less of an exciting title than the one above. The reason for this post only covering the period from June 10 being that an earlier post, “Revenge Birding”, was about the first 9 days of June. You should try it too.

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Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 190

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

None fly, most are curious and social, which probably contributes to our cultural perception of penguins as one step away from human. They are software mascots, cartoon characters, animated film dancers, children’s book heroes, zoo celebrities, and documentary film stars. That’s a lot of books about a bird family that cannot fly.

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Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 203