10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2015

We have had days of northwest winds in New York and the birds have taken full advantage of the favorable conditions to hightail it south. Though sparrows tend to be the main focus of mid-to-late October birding here in New York City there are still plenty of other birds to see like the Eastern Phoebe up above.

New York City 154

New York City New York Sparrows Eggs 154

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2021

May is a time for birding. We have the slow weeks and months for reading, writing, and dreaming about the birds we’d rather be seeing. Happily, the sparrows finally arrived this weekend and have strutted around my feeders enough for me to fully admire their beauty. What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York 262

New York Sparrows Birds Breeding 262

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

But for some poorly (or not-at-all) understood reason, its spread across North America has shown a very northwesterly orientation, so while birders as far away from the epicenter of the North American introduction in Florida as British Columbia get to see Eurasian Collared-Doves regularly we New Yorkers and other northeasterners are deprived.

New York 167

New York New York City North America Bahamas 167

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2023

You might think that birds don’t change the world, birds are the world – but by his odd title, Ten Birds That Changed the World, author Stephen Moss means, he says, that birds have, in various ways, led to “paradigm shifts” in human history. Maybe Moss is right, and birds have changed history. Fine and dandy.

Bald Eagle 166

Bald Eagle Montenegro Campaign Turkey 166

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2014

Most recently it hosted a Cassin’s Kingbird , New York State’s second record. Heydi Lopes is one of those Brooklyn birders and she was working the turf on the last day of November when she deservedly found a Le Conte’s Sparrow , the second she had found there in the last several years. How awesome is that?

Sparrows 181

Sparrows New York City New York Birds 181

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2013

This morning – 26 October 2013 – at Jacob Riis Park in coastal Queens, New York, I was very pleased to see hordes of sparrows in every bit of brush, long grass, and anywhere else that you could fit a sparrow. Like I said earlier in the post, when I first arrived the Savannah Sparrow was all puffed up.

Sparrows 174

Sparrows 2013 New York Birds 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2021

But after a couple of exciting visits to mud puddles, which long-time readers of this blog will remember is one of my favorite kinds of birding , I couldn’t resist sharing a few shots of the birds I’ve seen coming in for a drink and a bath. Birds can come in for a meal and a drink! And so pretty! Expect more soon!

New York City 256

New York City New York Baltimore Eggs 256

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Our campsite was gorgeous North Lake State Park in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, where the air is crisp, the forests are largely intact, and the bears force you to be careful about leaving food out when you go to sleep. And, of course, as I do sometimes, I managed to sneak in a bit of birding. Mom has a bug!

New York 176

New York Cooking Chipmunks Owls 176

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2014

A couple of days ago Ken Fuestel, a stalwart downstate New York birder, found a Lark Sparrow at Robert Moses State Park. In fact, Lark Sparrows have been found there annually since at least 2010, according to eBird , and I am sure for many years before that. Bird every bird! I had no reason to be worried.

Sparrows 174

Sparrows New York 2010 Birds 174

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2012

That changed when I got on the computer and learned that a birder way up in northern New York, on the Tug Hill Plateau, had reported a heck of a bird coming to her feeder. Nancy Loomis had a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch , New York’s second* record, and I was not going to miss this bird again.

New York 185

New York New York City New Mexico Mexico 185

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

Really, the worst part of birding mid-September in upstate New York is the realization that, in a couple of weeks or so, the excitement of migration is over for us. Corey added two year birds to his list this weekend, a Dickcissel and Clay-colored Sparrow. What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York 181

New York Birds Sparrows Experience 181

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

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?

Sparrows 165

Sparrows North Dakota United States Downers 165

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

The end of September doesn’t necessarily mean the end of what you might enjoy about September birding but it definitely signals the beginning of what you love about October. Corey had a few really good birds this weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Hopefully, you’re looking forward to the month ahead!

2020 224

2020 Connecticut Virginia New York 224

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2016

Gray Kingbirds are rarely seen in New York State and when they are they usually are only seen by the person or people who find them or those in the immediate vicinity. That made the Gray Kingbird that was found way up in Livingston County on Monday, 2 May, such an intriguing bird. Talk about a birder with weird priorities!

New York 101

New York Bald Eagle McDonalds Fast Food 101

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

April, while not as exciting a migratory month as May is in the northeastern United States, is still a great time of year to see migrating birds. In the New York City area the number and variety of sparrows a birder can see in mid-April is astounding. They are often flighty and difficult to approach.

Sparrows 145

Sparrows New York City New York Fox 145

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2013

My parents made the drive down to New York City to visit Daisy, Desi, and me in Queens on Sunday and I had a great plan for the day. In addition to my family I was also joined on the boat by Isaac Grant, who regular readers of this blog will recall as the birder doing a New York City big year. Year bird !

New York City 167

New York City New York Whales Whaling 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

Just look at your favourite bird blog, 10,000 Birds : throughout this spring migration period, there were only around 4 posts on warblers – the North American ones. And there would have been essentially none if a Kirtland’s Warbler hadn’t shown up in New York City. Like the fine, fine sparrows.

Sparrows 100

Sparrows New York City New York 2011 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

In response to the decline last year saw the first ever World Sparrow Day and tomorrow, 20 March, is the second annual World Sparrow Day. Clare Can Be Beaten About the Author Corey Corey is a New Yorker who has lived most of his life upstate but has spent the last three years in Queens. Get yours today! Thanks for visiting!

Sparrows 210

Sparrows 2011 Deer New York 210

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

This past Friday I was out birding the coast of Long Island for most of the day with Seth Ausubel and Rich Kelly. We started at Jones Beach despite the reports of some good lingering birds at Robert Moses State Park, mostly because we wanted to find our own good birds. Would we find the bird?

Sparrows 174

Sparrows New York Birds 174

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2011

Melanerpes lewis is, to put it simply, a really cool bird. Second of all, Lewis’s Woodpeckers are birds of the west and they rarely stray to New York State. In fact, the bird is the fifth recorded in the history of the state,* and the first spotted in the Empire State since 2001. What a bird!

New York 204

New York Woodpeckers Jordan 2011 204

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

Of course, that is just my perspective and I have been known to think that birds that don’t show up until May are late if they aren’t here by mid-April. I tend to get angry when I have not seen the number of birds I think I should have and when I am angry I type fast and crazily. Besides, suffering brings birds, right?

New York City 166

New York City New York Walruses Birds 166

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2013

Since it’s really hard to type in a splint, here is a blast from the past: specifically from the beginning of this long, strange trip, my cross-country journey from New York to Montana: I have to confess, I had forgotten all about the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. I wasn’t thinking about the Eurasian Tree Sparrow at all, though.

Sparrows 168

Sparrows St. Louis Kansas City Kansas 168

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2017

For a start, it was the first bird that had caught the attention of my new binoculars (Busnells 8×42 L series, in case you need to know). There were plenty of House Sparrows in Bryant Park, but they didn’t warrant first focus. I have a peculiar inclination when it comes to bird photographs. It will creep you out.

New York 112

New York Sparrows Birds 112

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2019

With hope, your memories of birding in 2019 will evoke wonder, excitement, and satisfaction for years and decades to come. I recently despaired of ending this calendar year without seeing a single Wild Turkey when that species used to be so reliable in my part of New York. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2019 141

2019 Nevada Turkey New York 141

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2018

Nothing much tops birding in autumn. There are more birds in autumn than at any other time of year. Sparrows predominate but there are a host of other species to find and identify. Nice weather, lots of birds, and the potential for rarity. There’s something to be said for a bird that sticks out the tough weather.

New York City 141

New York City Birds New York Sparrows 141

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2020

The birding is just that good, or at least can be. I was quite pleased to pull my first New York state warblers for the year from the early bird menu. Corey enjoyed a wave of neotropical migrants over the weekend and had a hard time choosing his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 169

2020 New York Birds Sparrows 169

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2015

2014 was a great year for birding! Read on if you want to indulge me in reliving my version of it… In 2014 I birded in three countries (United States, Canada, Costa Rica), four states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida), and forty-two counties. (I’m Now we need to top that number next year!

2014 245

2014 Costa Rica New York New Jersey 245

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Kissena Corridor Park underwent habitat restoration over the last two years which seemed to consist of the New York City Parks Department ripping everything out except some native trees and plants, planting saplings, and regularly applying herbicides to areas where invasive plants tried to take over the park. … a.

Sparrows 152

Sparrows New York City New York Connecticut 152

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2017

Newburgh is a little over an hour north of New York City so I figured I could get a visit in to a few great locations for breeding birds that I hadn’t yet seen this year. But there were even cooler birds to see! Well, cooler in terms of the lack of frequency that they turn up for New York birders in New York.

Wildlife 126

Wildlife New York Sparrows New York City 126

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2020

New York City is the hottest of hot spots, and not in the fun, eBird meaning of the term but in the “holy moly our health system is going to collapse” meaning of the term. Over the years I’ve seen a variety of open-country birds there, including Bobolinks , Vesper Sparrow , and American Kestrel.

Bald Eagle 196

Bald Eagle New York City Birds New York 196

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

Richard Fried spent 2011 doing a New York State Big Year and managed to top the record of 350 species which was only set in 2008 by Scott Whittle. Richard totaled 352 species, an impressive number, by seeing almost all of the regularly occurring New York birds and the vast majority of the rarities that showed up in 2011.

New York 179

New York Puerto Rico 2011 Japan 179

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

But when you are a pasty white dude from New York relieved to be out of a gray and gloomy winter, you take what you can get and I managed to find some interesting birds in my at the resort. In addition to the birds there were also Mongoose (introduced, of course) that called the area around the mini golf course home.

Jamaica 180

Jamaica Mongoose Dominica Pelicans 180

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2012

Nassau County, New York, March 2009 After having fully explored the trail around the West Pond at Jamaica Bay , we four bird bloggers agreed to load up Patrick’s car and head over to Jones Beach to see what kind of birds we could find there and some other locations in Nassau County. And what a look at a life bird!

New York 160

New York Butcher Birds Geese 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Imagine for a moment that you are a bird. Hordes of House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons are more than willing to push you around rather then let you have that choice morsel you just found. Almost every year there are a few birds that stick around at Bryant Park long after they are gone from the rest of the New York City area.

New York City 225

New York City New York Birds Sparrows 225

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

In 2007 I was working in a university building that was just begging for bird feeders. This was where I set up my bird feeders, just one at first, then expanding as everyone expressed delight in seeing the Carolina Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Downy Woodpeckers. There were no dead birds for weeks. I hoped it was an anomaly.

New York City 261

New York City Birds Illinois Science 261

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 16, 2012

There is no better way to see a life bird than by finding one yourself in one of your favorite local patches. Yesterday I was scouting for the Queens County Christmas Bird Count at Edgemere Preserve, a capped landfill out on the Rockaway Peninsula, and was having a grand old time. Did I have a Le Conte’s Sparrow ?

Sparrows 144

Sparrows Dogs Rights New York 144

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Most birders, myself included, hope to find a rarity or two on every birding outing. Mostly, we find common birds. And there is nothing wrong with common birds. They are the birds that we see all the time, the background against which we hope to spot something good, the chaff from which we hope to separate the wheat.

New York 215

New York Birds Sparrows Canada 215