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.

South Africa 197

South Africa Africa Birds Cape Verde 197

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.” The species was bred at the zoo of Memphis, Tennesee ( source ). chocolate-bird (??),

Birds 147

Birds Australia Parrots Memphis 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

Pink Pigeons were featured on episode four of the second season of The Zoo , the excellent television series about The Bronx Zoo,* and their story was disturbing. A bit of background: Pink Pigeons are medium-sized, pink/gray/ brown birds found on the island of Mauritius, Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.

Mauritius 102

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 102

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2023

As you probably are aware, male Lady Amherst’s Pheasants regularly get into fights with other birds. The typical scene is something like this: the pheasant enters a bird bar and orders a beer. Some other bird in the bar asks for its name, and it gives an honest answer: Lady Amherst’s Pheasant. Judge for yourself.

China 244

China Research India Zoos 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Presumably, in the early days of ornithology, some scientists spent most of their time transcribing bird calls. The Black-faced Laughingthrush (Longcanggou, Sichuan) is a real beauty, though this photo does not fully do the bird justice. A beautiful bird though. This post shows some of them.

San Diego 219

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 219

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 198

New York City Birds Owls Fox 198

Critter News

DECEMBER 12, 2009

Another animal dies at the Calgary Zoo and more questions are being raised about their practices. I don't track zoos, but this seems like an unusually high number of casualties. They were a part of the zoo’s breeding program for the rare birds. Tags: zoos welfare violations animal welfare.

Zoos 100

Zoos Animal Welfare Welfare Elephants 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

so I’m a bit behind in my intense pursuit of scientific findings related to birds. First, the bird butts. It is interesting to note that the vast majority of birds flying by out there are going the other way. The new rankings will be used in a major conservation initiative called the Edge of Existence program at the London Zoo.

Birds 185

Birds Bald Eagle Zoos Philippines 185

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

– Birds are indeed dinosaurs, yet, are indubitably not. Knowledge is knowing that a bird is a dinosaur. Wisdom is not charging people extra to see your reconstituted Jurassic Park style dinosaur zoo when all you’ve got is a barn full of chickens. Some sort of ancient fish-with-feet is the ancestors of humans.

Monkeys 144

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 144

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Germany is underrated as a birding destination. We have, for instance, very beautiful birds, like European Bee-eater , Blue Tit , and Kingfisher. Then of course, we have amazing birds such as Wallcreeper , Hoopoe , and Black Woodpecker. Then of course, we have amazing birds such as Wallcreeper , Hoopoe , and Black Woodpecker.

Germany 254

Germany Birds 2000 South America 254

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2012

I live near a small zoo. All of the animals, birds and reptiles who live there are native species who were once injured, have gone through rehabilitation, and ended up with a permanent disability which prevented their return to the wild. The man arrived at the zoo with bloody puncture wounds up and down both arms.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 216

Wildlife Rehabilitation Wounded Zoos Reptiles 216

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 278

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 278

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 156

New York City New York Birds Breeding 156

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).

2017 114

2017 Spain California Condor California 114

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

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 267

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife 267

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2014

It’s cold enough in Chicago—where our high temperature for the day was –2 degrees Farenheit—that the polar bear at the zoo spent the day inside. Midwest (and, soon, the East) bad for birds? Most birds will probably fare just fine, if the cold snap is as short-lived as predicted. So I’m grateful that birding has steeled me.

Polar Bears 164

Polar Bears Illinois Chicago Zoos 164

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 167

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

In 1850, the Passenger Pigeon ( Ectopistes migratorius ) was the most abundant bird in North America and possibly the world. ” In 1900, even before the last Passenger Pigeon’s death in the Cincinnati Zoo, Republican Congressman John F. Some people actually don’t consider human beings as animals.

Hunting 115

Hunting Hunters Gorillas Wolves 115

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 216

Brazil 2011 Birds Wildlife 216

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2013

From Owls in the Family to Wesley the Owl , the narrative in which a human interacts with another species and learns a bit about life along the way has long been a popular and affecting one. This is a pretty good model of the modern environmental ethic of self-restraint and respectful watching.

Stray Cat 172

Stray Cat Stray Zoos Owls 172

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.

Cuba 252

Cuba Parrots Collecting Columbus 252

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2013

I had an interesting email come in this winter: “I have been photographing birds for the past 8 years and have been confronted by numerous “Rude Birders.” I worked with education owls for over ten years, from Great Horned Owls to Saw-whet Owls (above bird). So, how close is “too close” for an owl?

Owls 269

Owls Barn Owls Agenda Zoos 269

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.)

Puerto Rico 195

Puerto Rico Guam Virgin Islands Feral 195

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 200

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 200

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.

Animal 270

Animal Mammals Hawaii Dolphins 270

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2018

But while that holiday has come and gone, 2018 remains the bicentennial year of the first export of Guinness to the United States, an anniversary the brewery is commemorating with a special release of Guinness Draught in cans decorated with its famous Guinness “Zoo” advertising art from the 1930s. Good birding and happy drinking!

Campaign 102

Campaign Sea Lions Lions Kangaroos 102

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

Animal rights is concerned with preventing the suffering or even use of animals by humans. One of the first examples I ever encountered was in the books of Gerald Durrell, the famous conservationist who was an early pioneer of the roles of zoos in conservation.

Animal Rights 267

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 267

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

There are the endemics, which are odd in their own way, and then there introduced species, which are so varied in their type and origin that you get the feeling you’ve arrived at the aftermath of a small zoo that escaped. There were no mammals, little game, and not many birds either. In many ways, that is exactly what happened.

New Zealand 162

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 162

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 161

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 161

4 The Love Of Animals

MAY 24, 2009

The week will bring underscore community spirit as people come together on behalf of the animals across the entire region of our nation’s capital.

DC 100

DC Washington Animal 2009 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. Further to the east, Asian Openbill displays the same special feature but is mostly a white plumaged bird.

Africa 246

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

But, in the next year, 2009, only one human was killed by a tiger, leading to a conclusion that all the tigers in the conflict area (practically, the wider reserve buffer zone) have been wiped out. During 1990s, the South China Tiger became extinct in the wild (some still survive in zoos) and the number of extinct races reached four.

Tigers 252

Tigers India Killing 2012 252

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

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.

Penguins 209

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 209

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2013

The way things should be is a very powerful motivating factor in human lives. Perhaps it would be better to move the tigers to that bigger reserve, or maybe a zoo. I wonder instead if this is actually about the difference between advocacy and action, and about the way things ‘should’ be. A hungry child should be fed.

Tigers 178

Tigers Hunting Game Protection 178