10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2023

The book is a grab-bag of facts about the ten birds, mostly culled from other works. They were barely mentioned in The Voyage of the Beagle and not at all in On the Origin of Species. Hundreds of millions of sparrows were killed, almost to the point of extinction. There’s a fair amount of etymology, too.

Bald Eagle 154

Bald Eagle Montenegro Campaign Turkey 154

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

I have a fascinating little reference book called Whose Bird? It notes that there are around 1,000 people who have had birds named after them, but no fewer than three of them – Frank Linsly James, Eugenio Prince Ruspoli and Johan August Wahlberg – were killed by elephants, not a common form of death.

Falcons 221

Falcons Collecting 2003 Wounded 221

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Sometimes I just want to hug eBird, or more specifically, whoever writes the short species descriptions (even though I am not the typical hugging kind of person, trust me on this). There are about 50 different species of flowerpeckers globally. If these are taken off, the species looks just like Clark Kent. “Dull, me?

Los Angeles 184

Los Angeles Birds Woodpeckers Owls 184