10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2022

Some more photos of Australian birds mixed with irrelevant facts and mediocre half-jokes, as a way to pass away the time while being under lockdown in Shanghai (note: it is over now but this post was written during the lockdown). It must be a bit frustrating for a flower to be less colorful than the bird visiting it though.

Australia 197

Australia Birds Feral Cats Kangaroos 197

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

The chapter titles of Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds represent both ends of the spectrum: “A World Full of Poisons,” “Malaria,” “Forest Intruders,” “Lead Shock,” “Shot.” Conservation. It’s not easy.

California Condor 179

California Condor Falcons California Birds 179

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

The latter is possible, as the undisturbed areas of Nanhui keep shrinking, leaving less and less space for birds. Humans, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I have to say that the pattern suits the buntings much better than humans, though, and hopefully, it is also more pleasant for them to wear. They also look fairly cute.

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Birds Humane Japan Ducks 236

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 226

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 226

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.

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Dissection Birds Research Europe 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

Not professionally – these people come in SUVs and probably never recapture their gas money from the fish they catch (though come to think of it, neither do I with my bird photos). This is ok as birds do not have teeth anyway). One strange thing about Chongming is the inevitable presence of people fishing. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

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. Possibly also for doing the dishes.

Birds 147

Birds Australia Sheep Zebras 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 1, 2015

Science is fairly well established that yawning can spread like wildfire among groups of humans, as well as a few other mammals. New research suggests that the phenomenon of contagious yawning can also be seen in birds. In the other study, the birds—which seem to be great mimics of videos—were shown footage of budgies yawning.

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New York Mammals Science Birds 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2014

If you’re feeling fearful or ignorant, well, I can recommend vox.com’s coverage (as in most things), but you could also do worse that picking up Spillover – Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen. The book is about zoonoses, diseases that jump from animals to people.

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Humane Animal Africa Ukraine 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2015

No doubt he reads that bio and goes “It’s good, but what I really want to do is kill some f ing birds” Linda doesn’t waste any time in deciding which camp Chris belongs to. He’s in the truly arrogant camp before Chris’s reasons for collecting the bird are even discussed. Or how gracefully it flew?

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Collecting Papua New Guinea Science Birds 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Not so nifty for birds, though. An “invisible” building sounds infinitely more dangerous; let’s hope the architects have a plan to stave off bird fatalities. In the meantime, research into ways to make buildings safer for birds is ongoing. News bird collisions glass skyscraper'

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South Korea Chicago Minnesota Nashville 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2014

You’ve probably heard of many different kinds of bird cams—web feeds that spy on the inner lives of birds. Common Ravens tend to avoid nesting around lots of humans. Why else would they build their nest, which already contains two eggs, on the fire escape of the college’s science center?

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Boston Puffins Science Massachusetts 186

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 213

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2023

A characteristic of most but not all Paradise Flycatchers is the long tail of the male bird (tail length is thought to be a criterion by which females select their partners – please insert your own pornographic joke here). Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16 not their own).

Japan 130

Japan China Guinea Germany 130

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

A few years back, Audubon magazine published a thoughtful article and series of musings (including those of our very own Corey Finger) on the subject of why birds matter. Of course, if you’re reading this, then birds clearly matter to you, for any one of a number of reasons.

Birds 100

Birds Science Research Humane 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2013

Bird feeding is a major industry. We have citizen science projects like Project Feeder Watch headed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Owls are cool looking birds that appeal to a mass audience, even people who are not birders. It angered a lot bird birders. We attract birds in all sorts of ways. Is it ok with gulls?

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Owls Birds United States Tennessee 216

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

JANUARY 11, 2013

One the one hand, science is awesome. It seemed like a Rubicon for birding in general, and citizen science in particular, if you now need specialized recording equipment to even know what you’re seeing. But that’s not the fault of the science. Citizen science is not dead yet. Initially, I was sad.

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Science Research Humane Birds 176

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 167

China Endangered Species Sanctuary Protection 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2013

Some of those mysterious creatures were birds. The most obvious place that cryptozoology and ornithology overlap is in the area of Lazarus taxa and would-be Lazarus taxa — the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Eskimo Curlew, Pink-headed Duck , and the like — birds that no one doubts existed once, whether or not they exist today.

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Apes Birds Woodpeckers Primates 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2015

… especially if you’re a lady bird in heat. Because unlike those of mammals, avian ova need penetration by multiple sperm in order to successfully develop into baby birds. If you’re feeling particularly science-y, the full paper is here.).

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Zebras Pythons Mammals Eggs 145

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2018

Readers of 10,000 Birds know that diversity is one of the great hallmarks of modern day birds. And, he literally wrote the book(s) on California birds. Grinnell and his students conducted surveys of birds in the Mohave Desert, starting in 1908 and running to 1947 (Grinnell died in 1940). More recently, Kelly J.

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2018 Science Humane Species 101

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. So, for example, humans are apes. But birds are dinosaurs. It requires wisdom to not put the tomato in the fruit salad.

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Camels Whales Whaling Apes 199

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2019

It’s a matter of personal preference: neither does every reader like, say, science fiction, or the writing of Henry James, or romance novels. The wealth and depth of information about birds and birding, and the intertwining of birds into each plot, makes them irresistible. There’s no accounting for taste.

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Humane 2018 Laws Science 134

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.

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Netherlands Birds Buffalo Science 158

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2014

Many readers of 10,000 Birds are more than the casual birdwatcher…they are hopeless bird junkies. Truly depraved birding addicts. The question for the addict is, how does one keep birding fresh? Tired of birding the same polluted parks? Tired of birding the same polluted parks?

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Birds Portland Oregon 2015 203

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 110

Mammals Zebras Birds Primates 110

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 150

New York City New York Birds Breeding 150

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. because the Holocene had little rapid climate change.

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Penguins Birds Cooking Fish 200

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.

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Birds Egypt Family Eagles 215

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to think about science reporting on this vast Internet of ours. While Richard Dawkins thunders across the intellectual landscape with that one, though, I’d like to turn my attention to matters more practical: birds are using fire to obtain food. This can mean only one thing.

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Science Falcons Australia Humane 117

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2017

Today, the vast tract of land is protected, managed for science and conservation. At dawn, my feet hit one of the protected beaches with Wendy Allen, the manager of the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, one of the science and outreach organizations working within Hobcaw. Allen’s turtle transect was 2.5

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South Carolina Turtles Costa Rica Belize 100

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.

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Farming New York Breeding Unwanted 187

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.

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South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2016

I want to alert you to a recent study (from April) that looks at the plight of bird populations under conditions of climate change in Europe and North America. The study looked at common birds, and used data divided by either state (in the US) or country (in Europe). Stephens et al. Stephens, Philip, et al. 352:6281(84-87).

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North America Europe America United States 117

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2018

According to a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study, human-induced climate change has doubled the area affected by forest fires in the western U.S. Birds are able to fly away, but their nests and eggs can be destroyed. I was able to visualize six of the bird houses that survived. over the last 30 years.

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Wildlife Sacramento Shelters Science 102