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The Predominately Western, Golden-crowned Sparrow

10,000 Birds

At first glance you might not recognize this bird as a Golden-crowned Sparrow ( Zonotrichia atricapilla ). It is an immature bird with an indistinct yellowish forecrown with dark stripes on its crown (click on photos for full sized images). This adult Golden-crowned Sparrow is more easily identified in its winter plumage.

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Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus

10,000 Birds

Any day of birding in New York State that includes a sighting of a Vesper Sparrow is a better-then-average day. The precipitous plunge of Vesper Sparrow populations has been largely because of changing land use practices. What has caused the decline? They really stick out when you see them with other little brown jobs.

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How To (And Not To) Transport Wild Birds

10,000 Birds

I am so happy to be back on 10,000 birds – I have missed Mike and Corey and my fellow Beat Writers! Normally I rant about environmental dangers and describe heartwarming/mind-boggling/headscratching wild bird rescues. Five hatchling House Sparrows in a Happy Meal box,” said Johanna Walton, also in Connecticut.

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The Wonderfulness of Local Field Guides: Reviews of ABA Field Guide to Birds of Maine & Birding Guide to the Greater Pasadena Area

10,000 Birds

At the end of 2022, let us celebrate the local field guide, a sub-genre that many of us feared would die, the victim of technology, development, and globalization, but which still shines bright, fewer in number but brilliant in quality, thanks to birders and birding organizations that believe in knowing your patch and your state.

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My Subtropical Bird Garden

10,000 Birds

And I love making my little garden (some 1400 square feet) more attractive to birds. But I would never have imagined how important it would be to my emotional well-being to have a bird-friendly garden during lockdown. In recent years, I have moved much more in the direction of plants that attract birds.

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The Wildlife Rehabilitator’s Wish List

10,000 Birds

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 That more rehab centers would accept non-natives, like pigeons house sparrows, and starlings,” wrote Charis in Oregon.

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Glue Trapped

10,000 Birds

But be it a mouse, bird, bat, gecko, kitten … it’s a very bad way to go, and no creature should have to suffer death by torture. “My My very first rescue was a House Sparrow caught in a glue trap,” says Donna Osburn, a wildlife rehabilitator in Kentucky. Freeing birds from glue traps is not easy. “I Rehabbers hate this.