10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

The vast majority of the 10,000+ living species of birds are passerines, and the vast majority of those have a similar system of breeding: Mom and dad bird make a nest and share parental responsibilities roughly equally, if not identically. …because cooperative breeding facilitates defense against brood parasites.

Breeders 196

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 196

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

In my imagination, the job of a male Australian Brush Turkey is pretty similar – removing or adding bits and pieces to his pile of rotting vegetation in order to get the right temperature to incubate the eggs buried underneath to hatch. It breeds in tree holes, presumably explaining the more commonly used name for it.

Australia 181

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

The breeding ecology of the Yellow-bellied Warbler was actually studied exactly here at Nonggang in 2019 by 3 Chinese researchers. Some Thai researchers looked at the breeding ecology of the Buff-breasted Babbler and published their findings in the somewhat unsuitable-sounding journal “Agriculture and Natural Resources”.

China 220

China Birds Pythons Eagles 220

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

It didn’t occur to me till I started reading The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird that there was also a possible threat to the eagle herself: poachers, who steal raptor eggs and chicks. McWilliam realizes he’s dealing someone special, a career falcon egg-thief.

Falcons 202

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 202

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Most Acorn Woodpeckers are cooperative breeders and live in family groups of up to a dozen or more individuals. Within a group, 1–7 male co-breeders compete for matings with 1–3 joint-nesting females who lay their eggs in the same nest cavity. This is their range map courtesy of Nature Serve.

Woodpeckers 183

Woodpeckers Breeders Groups North America 183

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2016

I used the family summer cottage as a base camp, placed in an old orchard where no branches are ever cut off, even when old or rotten – only supported from below. All of these are reasonably common breeding species, yet, while Great Crested Grebes and Mallards do nest at the dam, only Grey Herons are known to nest some 15 miles from here.

Turtles 111

Turtles Serbia Breeding Breeders 111