10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2012

Birding’s Holy Grails. For many birders, the Pel’s Fishing Owl roosts in a lofty position on just such a list. For many birders, the Pel’s Fishing Owl roosts in a lofty position on just such a list. One of the most highly desirable birds in the world, the Pel’s Fishing Owl is a true phantom.

Owls 260

Owls Fish Botswana Barn Owls 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

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.

Los Angeles 226

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 226

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2013

Over the past two weeks, an incursion of Snowy Owls ( Bubo scandiacus ) has spread rapidly across the Great Lakes region and down the Atlantic Coast, as far south as North Carolina. This new analysis again suggested that Snowy Owls (and the fascinating fish-owls ) are embedded within the eagle-owl complex. Banks et al.

Owls 174

Owls Indonesia 2002 North Carolina 174

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2012

There is an International Festival of Owls. They give out a “Champion of Owls” award. This year, that award was presented to Denver Holt , a Montana scientist and bird guide and thus, if I may be presumptuious, my homeboy. Boreal Owls come down from their mountain retreats to winter in the valleys.

Montana 160

Montana Owls Denver Barn Owls 160

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2019

That’s where Costa Rica is situated of course and is partly why so many birds live here. It’s par for the course in December, Costa Rica, and unfortunately, often coincides with our annual bird counts. But, keep birding because cold fronts also bring in other stuff. Spectacled Owl from another day.

Costa Rica 246

Costa Rica Birds Owls Bats 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2017

At 10,000 Birds, readers who haven’t been here before might correctly surmise that this platform talks about anything bird-related. As for myself, since I live in Costa Rica, I usually put the focus on birding and/or birds in this small yet very bio-rich country. Spectacled Owl triangle.

Costa Rica 169

Costa Rica Birds Owls Tennessee 169

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

This shouldn’t have to be stated, especially in a book on bird evolution by an evolutionary biologist with a Ph.D. How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals about Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity by Douglas J. Futuyma is a synthesis of theory and research about evolution and birds. that’s three birds).

Science 239

Science Albatross Research Birds 239

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2018

Lacking the benefit of heated shelters, birds must heed that warning or perish. The coming cold takes a big bite out of life and is why millions of birds flee south to where summer reigns eternal. Even so, warm, friendly weather can’t stop a birder from choosing Costa Rica’s best birds of Halloween. Spectacled Owl.

Costa Rica 185

Costa Rica Bats Birds Falcons 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2020

The existing villagers joined with the newcomers organizing a whip-round to raise money in the hope of buying it. The real upside is that it is right by my house and the Tawny Owls occasionally stray into my oak tree at night. The post Woodland for sale appeared first on 10,000 Birds. Feeder stations! Just try and stop me!

Litter 254

Litter Stray Industry Owls 254

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

One of these days, Jeopardy will feature a category called “Field Guides” and the first clue will be: “This landlocked South American country finally got its own bird field guide in 2016, but it wasn’t available in the United State until 2019.” Bolivia doesn’t come up much in discussions of birding travel.

Bolivia 194

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 194

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2022

It is not particularly big but has a reported 430 bird species including migrants, though during my short stay it seems I missed most of the key attractions among them. Pel’s Fishing Owl, where were you? It goes like this: While fishing, the bird tucks its head down and uses its wings to create a shady area.

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa Birds Research 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2022

The American Birding Association has declared that 2022 is the year of the Burrowing Owl, but if Rosemary Mosco has her way, it will also be the year of the Rock Pigeon. Mosco’s birds (and other creatures in her comics) carry an air of insouciance. Rosemary Mosco’s work is hopefully familiar to many of you.

New York City 240

New York City 2018 Birds Abandon 240

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. The post Birdwatching the Okavango Delta appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

Botswana 198

Botswana Africa Elephants Angola 198

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

How much do you know about owls? I’ve been fortunate to encounter many owls in my birding life, sometimes because I’m looking for them, sometimes happily by happenstance. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read. I don’t think so.

Owls 237

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 237

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2012

I know it’s dangerous to title a post “Birds From Behind” during “Bird Love Week” but I have to admit… it’s kind of the point. Just because a bird passes you by doesn’t mean you lose the shot. Some lovely things can happen when you take [photos of] birds from behind.

San Francisco 244

San Francisco Birds Falcons Ducks 244

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

It is that special time of year when I’m out and about and someone comes up a bit sheepish and says, “You know, you’re going to think I’m crazy but I saw this bird that was red like a cardinal but had a tiny little black head. Theory 2: for some individual birds, this is the way they molt.

Birds 257

Birds Owls Medical 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2016

So, I birded India, land of Indian Peafowl , Saag Paneer (my favorite Indian dish) and Tigers. Neither are birds, but both involved a lot of birding.). Once we donned our booties and took the brief tour of the tomb, we climbed up to a terrace overlooking the Yamuna River and started birding in earnest.

India 189

India Tigers Birds Owls 189

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. The 224-page book is organized by habitat and behavior, not taxonomy. Regular readers of 10,000 Birds may remember Jochen’s posts about keeping taxonomy out of field guides.

Ecuador 187

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Birds 187

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2020

The April arrival of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, Second Edition was a supremely happy moment in a very difficult, sad month. A companion regional guide, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America was published in 1941; its fifth edition will be coming out in early September.

North America 239

North America America Hawaii Birds 239

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Birding for the Curious: The Easiest Way for Anyone to Explore the Incredible World of Birds by Nate Swick brings birding back to its roots—a simple, joyous way to enjoy nature using our eyes, ears, hands (for sketching), and brain. There are now no excuses except a lack of curiosity. And, nobody wants to admit that.

Birds 263

Birds North Carolina North America Owls 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2014

We went because Desi, my four-year-old son, wanted to see a Snowy Owl after hearing about and seeing pictures of all of the owls his dad had been seeing this winter. He brought with him Snow, his stuffed Snowy Owl , so Snow could see his “real owl friends.” Snowy Owl being harassed by an American Crow.

Owls 231

Owls Research Science Collecting 231

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

And Flamingos and Hornbills and a Secretarybird and birds with names like Hamerkop and Thick-knee and Eremomela (which I know is a scientific term, but which, when pronounced correctly, reminds me of a Yiddish term of endearment my grandmother used). And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to South Africa.

South Africa 255

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 255

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

You may have read my recent piece on Birding the Okavango Delta in Botswana here on 10,000 Birds. If you have never thought of India as a birding destination, I’d urge you to give it a good look. Babita Tours has many years of experience organizing tailor-made wildlife tours for private groups in this wonderful country.

India 216

India Wildlife Tigers Eagles 216

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2019

10 countries, over 1300 bird species, and now I have limited my various twitches to just one county, Pima, which pretty much surrounds the greater Tucson Arizona. When it comes to pure birding, SE Arizona is truly an amazement. After nearly a 15 year absence, the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl is making a nice comeback in the Alta Valley.

Tucson 113

Tucson Arizona Birds Sparrows 113

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

We follow the tire tracks in an off-white, salty soil and then, without a word of warning, our guide/driver turns into the bushes, driving left and right… until one and then another Short-eared Owl flushes in front of us. A Common Kestrel at the nearest bush and a Black Drongo at the next. And how can one stay annoyed after that?

India 246

India Birds Eagles Boars 246

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2013

The good folks at the Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority extended an invite to 10,000 Birds to send one of us bloggers to the annual birding festival held in this town about an hour east of Reno. Birding Trips' Everyone else is otherwise engaged, or my hand went up first, or both.

Nevada 168

Nevada Las Vegas Jordan North America 168

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2018

The birding around Lago de Yojoa in Honduras is frankly phenomenal, as I learned during a June 2018 birding junket organized by the Instituto Hondureño de Turismo. Peraza , could not sit still knowing that so many tasty target birds could be found within easy driving distance. EL RANCHO HOTEL Y RESTAURANTE.

Honduras 161

Honduras Birds Farming America 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

Last year there was a spate of books specifically about bird “behavior” – though one might well say that every book about birds, from field guides on up, is about behavior in some way or another. The page or two of text for each bird has some good stuff, not all pertaining to migration. A “broad spectrum,” indeed.

Alaska 238

Alaska Breeding Kenya Africa 238

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2012

This little Eastern Screech-Owl arrived sometime thereafter, and, no doubt, has regretted it every day for the last six months. A woman walking her dog discovered the owl and alerted the farmer, who called a local wildlife hotline. At first Lisa Acton, the New York rehabilitator who took the owl in, thought he was dead.

Vet 263

Vet Owls New York Wildlife 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

British birders are very serious about birding and their birds. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S.

Ireland 160

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2018

Peer into the branches of the big trees and we might see the shapes of an Emerald Toucanet, tanagers, woodcreepers, and other birds doing their thing in the cloud forest life. Stop to listen in many a cloud forest on this side of the globe and we are also soothed and entertained by the songs of birds.

Costa Rica 157

Costa Rica San Jose Birds Eagles 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2017

If you are a birder and can’t help but put most or all of your results into eBird , then you are no doubt birding somewhere today, May 13th. In South America, some countries have organized their birding ranks to try and catch the coveted top spot for bird species identified on Global Big Day.

Costa Rica 124

Costa Rica Colombia Owls South America 124

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Hugh, who years ago helped me find my first Pauraque in the Rio Grande Valley , visited Peru as part of the 2014 World Birding Rally, where he stopped thinking of himself as an experienced birder. This is his first contribution to 10,000 Birds. You can see the world’s smallest passerine and the Western Hemisphere’s biggest flying bird.

Peru 255

Peru Birds South America Owls 255

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2016

You see, we don’t just go outside and randomly watch birds during a set day in December. But then we remember that special birding moment when we saw a wood-warbler freezing it out with the rest of us (and thus sacrificing itself for the count) when it should be chasing bugs in Belize. It’s a bio-energetic, organic farm.

Costa Rica 235

Costa Rica 2016 Eagles Belize 235

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2017

The tenth month of the year isn’t one that is commonly associated with birding in Costa Rica but no matter, it should be. Those with binoculars who visit now will still lays eyes on lots of birds. Focus on the bird action in the morning : To keep the birding real, make sure to get out there at dawn and bird all morning.

Costa Rica 158

Costa Rica 2017 Birds Woodpeckers 158

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.

Birds 234

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 234

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

There are 35 raptor species that have a presence in the United States and Canada, 56 (more or less) if you count by subspecies, and they are all covered in admirable, exhausting, unbelievable detail in B irds of Prey of the East: A Field Guide and Birds of Prey of the West: A Field Guide by Brian K. Structure & Organization.

North America 202

North America Birds Mississippi Bald Eagle 202