10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

The Kittlitz’s Murrelet at least is named after an actual naturalist, Heinrich von Kittlitz, who bummed around the Pacific on behalf of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Saint Petersburg. Besides his murrelet, Kittlitz collected the only known specimens of the Kosrae Starling , a lovely long-beaked black bird that deserved better.

North America 115

North America Science Collecting Fish 115

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

Written in a friendly, inclusive style quietly grounded in science, How to Know the Birds is an excellent addition to the growing list of birding essay books by talented birder/writers like Pete Dunne and Kenn Kaufman. ” The essays are arranged in thematic order grouped in six sections: “Spark Bird!”

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

Jennifer Ackerman points out in the introduction to What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds , that we don’t know much, but that very soon we may know a lot more. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read.

Owls 209

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 209

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

BirdLife International believes that this might be maximum population the species can reach, as it seems to completely saturate its range. Also from BirdLife International: In general it prefers areas where vegetation, boulders or other landscape features at ground level provide tunnels in which to shelter and to breed.

Science 203

Science Transported Shelters South Africa 203

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2016

Data were collected from the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the Pan-European Common Birds Monitoring Scheme. From the Abstract and summary: Changes in climate can cause populations of species to decline, to increase, or to remain steady. looked across species of common birds in Europe and the United States.

North America 115

North America Europe America United States 115

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2013

We’re always interested in what he’s up to and pleased that his research and our collective interest in cool birds can come together in such an opportune manner. Juncos breed in much of the U.S. This kind of detailed genetic and developmental work has traditionally relied on model species in the lab (aka chickens).

Panama 207

Panama Research Investigation Chickens 207

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Pough “with illustrations in color of every species” by Don Eckelberry, Doubleday, 1946. The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. The press material says it covers over 800 species, so you know I had to do a count.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the area they inhabit. ” (Woodward brothers, “Natal Birds”, 1899) The mighty Drakensberg Mountains run along the western boundary of KwaZulu-Natal province.

Mozambique 186

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 186

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

Collectively, they’re referred to as the Herring Gull complex. Among these white-headed/dark-winged gulls formerly lumped into the genus Larus , there were 18+ recognized species the last time I checked, sharing similarities that make telling them apart for the amateur birdwatcher very difficult. This wiki looks good too.]

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Deer Species 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. The Gray Crowned-Crane is a new addition to the list of the world’s Endangered species, creeping up a category from Vulnerable.

Endangered Species 188

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 188

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

What I didn’t know was how this relationship actually works: the mechanics of Red Knot migration, the reduced digestive systems necessary for their long flighta, the need to fatten up quickly so they can fly to the Arctic and breed, how they compete with other shorebirds and gulls and, it turns out, humans, for horseshoe crab eggs.

Delaware 179

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 179

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

JUNE 22, 2023

Being lazy, a bunch of researchers used camera traps to investigate the species rather than following the birds directly (which would have had some health benefits). They found that the species is diurnal (well, using cameras, would they even have seen nightly activities?), ” Full iteration!

Birds 130

Birds China Science Research 130

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2022

And the very best and the most up-to-date field guide is “Birds of Malaysia – Covering Peninsular Malaysia, Malaysian Borneo and Singapore”, the 2020 Lynx and BirdLife International Collection guide by Chong Leong Puan, Geoffrey Davison and Kim Chye Lim.

Malaysia 238

Malaysia Singapore Asia Birds 238

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2023

That’s 18 species in one book. This is more than a collection of species accounts. There are also two pages illustrating the “Holistic Approach,” silhouettes of each species (Western birds on the left, Eastern birds on the right), that allow for comparison of structure, size, and shape.

Los Angeles 209

Los Angeles North America America Species 209

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. There are variations on that theme, of course. They looked at fairy-wrens and cuckoos.

Breeders 199

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 199

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

There are few stories in ornithology I enjoy more than those of a Lazarus taxon, a species thought to be extinct being found alive and well in some hidden part of the world. For most of its history it has been known from only three specimens collected off the coast of New Zealand in the early 19th century. Where does it breed?

New Zealand 189

New Zealand India 2003 Collecting 189

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives. His field guides are known for images that simultaneously portray notable field marks and also the ‘personality’ of a bird species.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Originally considered monotypic, two species are now recognized. Drakensberg (or Orange-breasted) Rockjumper is a Drakensberg Mountain species whose range is shared with the tiny landlocked kingdom of Lesotho. Males of this species are more brightly colored in their non-breeding winter plumage. the Rockjumpers.

South Africa 221

South Africa Lesotho Africa Swaziland 221

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2011

Last night I saw my second plover species of the year, a Common Ringed Plover. At the same time as he was doing his study on Kumlein’s (Iceland) Gulls and Thayer’s Gulls Smith supposedly gathered data on both Common Ringed and Semipalmated Plover (which both nested in the area) and the hybridization of the two species.

Research 169

Research Europe Iceland Panama 169

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2023

For birders, the Wolongshan area is like a poorer cousin of Balangshan – due to the lower elevation, the bird species here are more common and thus less interesting. Some Chinese Babax waste part of their lives feeding chicks of Large Hawk Cuckoos, which parasitize the babax species.

Hamburgers 207

Hamburgers Birds Science China 207

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2021

Dragonflies and Damselflies of Costa Rica: A Field Guide covers 113 damselfly species and 170 dragonfly species, a total of 283 species. Wait–that adds up to 290 species, but the book only covers 283. .* Wait–that adds up to 290 species, but the book only covers 283. Paulson, William A. INTRODUCTION.

Costa Rica 260

Costa Rica North America Family America 260

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2022

The Latin species name of the Kalij Pheasant is leucomelanos , meaning “white” (leukos) and “black” (melanos, both Greek words). thesis on the “Social Behavior and Cooperative Breeding of Kalij Pheasants” in a place with much nicer sanitary facilities than where I saw the bird (in rural Fujian).

Rhode Island 147

Rhode Island Research South Dakota North Dakota 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2014

I am also writing it on the tails of an excellent review by Corey who, although he termed his post a collection of “impressions,” really did nail down the great content of The Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Edition , by David Allen Sibley, as well as the minor items that need to be improved. Or vice versa.

North America 237

North America Birds Species America 237

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

Penguins are also bellweathers of climate change; dwellers of remote areas you’ve (probably) never heard of; creatures who have developed unique, innovative ways of adapting to the harsh environments where they breed and rear chicks and the water environments in which they feed and swim. And that’s just the top section!

Penguins 197

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 197

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2018

So many species that change eye color or leg color as they age. This encyclopedic identification guide covered 43 species in 608 pages, and was illustrated with both Hans Larsson’s exceptional artwork and color photographs by multiple photographers. Describing gull plumage is a combination of science, graphic art, and visual metaphor.

2004 149

2004 North America America Europe 149