10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

Life Along the Delaware Bay: Cape May, Gateway to a Million Shorebirds , by Lawrence Niles, Joanna Burger, and Amanda Dey, is a book with a mission. The numbers, as detailed in this book, are alarming: the horseshoe crab harvest grew from less than 100,000 in 1992 to over 2.5 million in the late 1990’s. Should the gulls be controlled?

Delaware 179

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 179

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Even when writing my book with all ardent efforts to remain unbiased; the section on Sandpipers & Allies was by far the longest – surpassing mega-families like Thraupidae and Tyrannidae. Lesser Yellowlegs can easily be confused with the aforementioned species except when they are standing next to each other.

Fish 238

Fish Family Eggs Humane 238

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

So, when Redgannet asked me if I was interested in reviewing Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan, Third Edition , by Quentin Phillipps and Karen Phillipps, a book he had acquired at Birdfair, I hesitated. Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species?

Brunei 174

Brunei Birds Asia China 174

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Steve, another member of our birding group, also had a field guide by Kenefick, Restall, and Hayes, but his was bordered in GREEN, had a slightly different title, and, to my extreme chagrin, was much more recent, showing the recently split Trinidad Motmot instead of the Blue-crowned Motmot on my book’s cover. I was confused.

Trinidad 194

Trinidad Birds South America Research 194

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2022

” (quoted from Tim Low’s book “The Origin of Song”). Wikipedia seems not too impressed with the species, stating that “the brown honeyeater is a medium-small, plain grey-brown honeyeater” The Latin species name indistincta (indistinct, obscure) sounds similarly underwhelming.

Birds 147

Birds Australia Parrots Memphis 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2014

Nearly wiped out by human heedlessness, development, and pesticide use, under the protection of the Endangered Species Act this handsome fish eagle has made a stunning comeback, rebounding in numbers and recolonizing areas where many thought they were gone forever. As an experiment, I also ran this book by a non-birding friend.

Bald Eagle 226

Bald Eagle Eagles Endangered Species Washington 226

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

It’s the warbler that is often the last unchecked species on birders’ life lists and, whether you list or not, for most of us observing it is a once in a lifetime experience. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list. A nest wasn’t found until 1903, which set off a craze for Kirtland’s Warbler skins, nests, and eggs.

Michigan 227

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 227

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

Ackerman’s new book is about owls and owl research–the knowledge recently and currently being discovered through DNA analysis, new-tech tracking and monitoring, and old-fashioned fieldwork under the auspices of organizations like the Global Owl Project and the Owl Research Institute.

Owls 209

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 209

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

Side note: Indeed, if you follow the titles of newly published books, you will see that there is a constant flow of “Reverse harem” publications. According to the HBW, when breeding, male birds do most of the incubation and parenting while females often leave the nest up to one week before the eggs hatch. How efficient.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Journeys With Penguins: Tracking the World’s Most Extreme Penguin is a different type of penguin book. Kooyman (co-author with Jim Mastro) spent decades studying Emperor Penguins and can be considered the world’s foremost expert on the species. Author Gerald L. Kooyman wanted to know what they did the rest of the year.

Penguins 155

Penguins Seals Leopards Research 155

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

We can, of course, count wild, native, species. We can count vagrant species that made it to the area we are in under their own power. We can count introduced species that have met the criteria of the “Bird Police” for the area to which they are introduced. When we eat eggs we eat chicken eggs almost exclusively.

Chickens 197

Chickens Florida Feral Species 197

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

But it wasn’t until he studied falconry’s appeal to centuries-old cultures–the Persians, English, Dutch, French, Chinese, Russians, and people of the Middle East–that Cade realized the sport of kings was slowly dying and would disappear along with the age-old mystique of a raptor returning to the human who trained her.

Falcons 178

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 178

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

It is the 100th Anniversary of the extinction of the species known as the Passenger Pigeon and writers are paying attention. What is amazing is that each of these three books is very different in content and tone. We immediately get a sense of the pigeons’ abundance, beauty, and danger to human activity.

2014 160

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The section South Georgia Wildlife describes 65 species of birds, 20 species of sea mammals, nearly 60 species of insects, and more than 40 species of flowering and nonflowering plants. The book is entitled South Georgia, but it also covers nearby areas including the South Sandwich Islands, Shag and Clerke Rocks.)

Georgia 173

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 173

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

China 226

China Birds Pythons Eagles 226

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

Gisela Kaplan has written a book about the species, and how they seem unperturbed by humans: “It’s one of their most successful defense strategies. When these birds breed, this can lead to highly cringeworthy announcements, for example from Adelaide Zoo : “We have egg-citing news!”

Birds 226

Birds Australia Ducks Mountain Goats 226

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

The opening beautifully encapsulates the essence of the book. She doesn’t know the species till it emerges, almost dreamlike, from the heavy glare of the sun. Fox encounters 69 species, some singly, some in huge feeding or migrating flocks. We are all suckers for an albatross, at least in the United States.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

Basically, this species is so dimwitted, it doesn’t know how to survive. Because, Pink Pigeons are not capable of doing the tasks required to create and bring up children of the species. These endangered birds have trouble producing a fertilized egg and, even worse, they don’t even know how to build a nest so the egg survives?

Mauritius 101

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 101

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2016

Once upon a time, back in the heady, innocent days of 2014, I reviewed a book called The Mincing Mockingbird Guide to Troubled Birds. Of all the books I’ve ever had the honor of reviewing for this site, it was in some ways the most attuned to my own particular sensibility. The Mincing Mockingbird.

Lovebirds 105

Lovebirds 2014 Eggs Wildlife 105

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2023

I visited Tengchong in late 2020 and wrote about it – but I also went there earlier, in 2017, and this post shows some photos I took during that trip, along with the usual comments that seem to be much more about ridiculing my fellow humans (especially ornithologists and the like) than providing useful information on birds.

China 181

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 181

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

Animal rights is concerned with preventing the suffering or even use of animals by humans. Wildlife conservation is concerned with protecting wildlife at the level of species or perhaps population. Each year tens of thousands of these gulls go to the islands and each pair will lay three eggs. It’s only natural.

Animal Rights 262

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 262

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2015

The species was in the news because some scientists had finally managed (or bothered – it’s much the same thing) to locate the population high in the mountains of the Solomon Islands, and catch and photograph one. Box after box of egg. Unsurprisingly the ones that most stick in the mind were the lost species.

Collecting 219

Collecting Solomon Islands New Zealand Fiji 219

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2024

Interestingly, these juveniles look more similar to another species, the Pale-billed Parrotbill, than the adult babblers – and they sometimes are part of the same flock. If you want to see how this species builds its nest, see here.) These roads are much less of a hindrance for the Pin-striped Tit-babbler , a mid-story bird.

Burma 189

Burma Birds Vietnam Laos 189

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

Greeney was recommended to me as a book I HAD to review by no less than three birding friends. I hesitated because a 496-page book about two skulky neotropical bird groups is a little intimidating. It’s a fairly large book considering the limited subject matter. Antpittas and Gnateaters by Harry F.

Research 140

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 140

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

To be honest, both the robin and the flycatchers shown above remind me of the easter eggs I hunted for as a child – the same strong colors in front of a green background, same time of the year (feel free to insert your own Proust Madeleine reference here) … Bluethroats apparently are good at imitating other birds.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2020

A European Robin ( Erithacus rubescens ) from British Birds and their Eggs by John Maclair Boraston (1909). 1879-1886 edition illustrated by Randolph Caldecott, for whom the medal awarded annually for “most distinguished American picture book for children” is named. The cover of “Babes in the Wood” from a c.

Ireland 158

Ireland Branding Spain Compassion 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

So, it is strange that while books have been written about owls and hawks, and the semi-charismatic seabirds and shorebirds, there have been few books written about woodpeckers. This is a comprehensive, handsome reference book that is likely to become the standard for many years. Gorman is the perfect woodpecker author.

Woodpeckers 241

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 241

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2022

The ongoing destruction of Nanhui, where the species can frequently be seen on migration, certainly will not help. Judging from the facial expression of this White-shouldered Starling , I would rather not have an annoyed bird of this species as a roommate. The species has reversed sex roles, with the males doing the incubating.

China 176

China Birds Ukraine Killing 176

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2022

A study has shown that they make false alarm calls when seeing other species such as meerkats with attractive food. The Green-winged Pytilia was previously mostly called Melba Finch, which is also its Latin species name (melba), even though nobody seems to be quite clear about what the melba means or where it comes from.

South Africa 184

South Africa Africa Birds Cape Verde 184

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl , by Richard Crossley, Paul Baicich, and Jessie Barry is the fourth book in the Crossley ID Guide series, and I think it is the best one yet. These feathers are replaced quickly in a few species, not for a year in others; many have a combination of old and new.” But, more on that later. .

Ducks 117

Ducks North America Geese Hunters 117

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Given the complexity of the research, the result feels like a bit of a letdown – “northern populations start migration earlier than southern populations, especially in autumn” The species name of the Chestnut-eared Bunting is fucata , from the Latin “fucare”, to paint red. Better safe than sorry.

Birds 205

Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 205