10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2012

I’m not a big fan of bird banding. When I see a band I imagine something slipping beneath it and trapping the bird, I’ve seen photos of birds with so many bands it looks like they’re wearing stockings, and then there’s the awful story of Violet , whose band eventually killed her. to find out her actual age. Should they keep her?

Rabbits 257

Rabbits New Jersey Neglecting North America 257

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 272

Owls Barn Owls Agenda Zoos 272

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 163

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 163

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

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

JUNE 29, 2011

The Gods of Birding, being both capricious and wrathful, decided to punish my insolence by washing up an Emperor Penguin on the coasts of the island upon which I make my home. Any given area has a general set of birds you might expect to see in it. I’d rather see a bird where it belongs. It’s actually kind of sad.

Penguins 169

Penguins New Zealand Zoos Birds 169

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 249

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 249

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

The Osprey tries another hunt, finally a successful one, while Telia goes deeper into the water and lies down. 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 257

Tigers India Killing 2012 257

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. Because, Ms.

Mauritius 104

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 104

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2014

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the demise of Martha at the Cincinnati Zoo, one would think that there is little left to say about the prolific life and tragic death of the Passenger Pigeon.

Slaughter 226

Slaughter Slaughtered Zoos Hunting 226

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

DECEMBER 4, 2013

My post last week where I defended game hunting as a conservation tool has, unaccountably, encountered a certain amount of push back. Who would have thought that a post defending hunting game in general would have not been universally acclaimed? I will address two of them in the new year, namely, “Is hunting moral at all?”

Tigers 186

Tigers Hunting Game Protection 186

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2012

No matter, the warm fire and comforts of home are nice, as is the winter birding here. On the way I managed to sneak in a manic day of birding in and around the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. So much birding was squeezed into this day that I have had to break it up into two posts! If you have two days there are even more options.

Thailand 157

Thailand New Zealand Terrapins Asia 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

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. He often defended that role in his books from animal rights activists who opposed “imprisoning” animals in zoos even if it saved them from extinction.

Animal Rights 269

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 269

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 179

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

The definition of the word HUNT is “to chase or search for game or other wild animals for the purpose of catching or killing.” ” Obviously the dictionary does not equate hunting with conservation. If you have some insane idea that Hunting Is Conservation: I think we all remember the fate of the Passenger Pigeon ?

Hunting 121

Hunting Hunters Gorillas Wolves 121