10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

The wok of an alarmed Black-crowned Night-Heron and the thin whistle of a Yellow-breasted Flycatcher made me stop and realize it was definitely lining up to be a rather birdy morning. The subtle white edging to the gape of this bird indicates it is near breeding time. Finally, a faraway movement caught my eye.

Trinidad 205

Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 205

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 7, 2012

Untamed Americas ” is a high-definition miniseries event narrated by Academy Award-nominated actor Josh Brolin. Then travel to the Rockies, for a ringside seat as male bighorn sheep go head-to-head in a bloody battle for breeding rights. Then go to the Atacama Desert where Humboldt penguins raise families in the driest place on earth.

America 100

America Sheep Penguins South America 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

If I was an ornithologist aiming for a grant, I would now definitely highlight the need for more research on this topic. … Nest dismantling by the Hair-crested Drongo may be an adaptive behavior to increase fitness by reducing risk of future predation and competition for nest sites in the following breeding season” ( source ).

Singapore 147

Singapore Mountain Goats Birds Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Field guides listed two subspecies – delicata (which would eventually become the highly migratory Wilson’s Snipe ) and paraguaiae (breeding resident South American Snipe ) – which were extremely difficult to discern from one another in the field. The first snipe I ever saw was on Tobago, a definite Wilson’s Snipe.

Trinidad 269

Trinidad Welfare North America Emotional 269

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

If you remember that the first edition of Sibley was published with “National Audubon Society” on the cover, raise your hand. They expand the definition of this book from identification guide to avian reference book. I didn’t.). This is a fairly large book: 907 pages; 7.38 These are all informative and current.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

A lovely looking and distinctive sounding bird (so they say, I sadly have not seen one…yet), the Kirtland’s Warbler can only be found during its breeding season in Jack Pine forests 5 to 20 years old in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

Michigan 230

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 230

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

I tried to get a better idea of what exactly the definition of cuckoo-dove is but am still not very clear about it – Wikipedia only offers the rather formal definition “any of several species of bird in the genera Macropygia , Reinwardtoena, and Turacoena of the pigeon family.”

Birds 147

Birds Geese Fish Industry 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

It does fit into a medium backpack (though keep in mind that it’s heavy, almost 3 pounds) and definitely onto the backseat of a car. This is a hefty book, 560 pages long and dimensions of 6.3 inches, which makes it just a little too large to be a field guide. The design focuses attention on the photographs.

Ireland 145

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 145

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. Like most maps, colors are used to indicate seasonal status (breeding resident, Austral migrant/visitor, Boreal migrant, etc.). If you are planning to bird Bolivia, definitely.

Bolivia 174

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The Marabu Stork definitely has a face that only a mother could love. Each of these ‘families’ consists of a single mating pair and 1-5 ‘helpers’ who assist in raising the young. The helper birds play an important role in the survival of the chicks as well as assisting in excavating a suitable cavity for the breeding pair.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

This book is essentially about those birds that breed on the continent south of the Sahara, a topic few birders are familiar with. Most definitely so. And apart from local people, primate researchers sometimes spot it, but it is a species seen by fewer than ten living birders.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Kenya 264

Animal Ethics

MARCH 8, 2009

This sort of question can also be raised without benefit of hypothetical examples from future genetic engineering. Suppose there was a breed of sheep that became very ill when the sheep’s fleece was removed; they did not function normally. On the above definitions the wool and the milk of such animals would not be animal products.

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Morals Suffering Vegan 40

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2023

Birders often play a vital role in monitoring bird populations, contributing data to scientific research, and participating in citizen science initiatives that help track bird distributions, migration patterns, and breeding behaviors. My impression is that rarities are not nemesis birds, as they are definitionally rare.

United States 147

United States North America Birds America 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

However, you can’t come to this small Central American country to see the following birds because they are gone: White-faced Whistling-duck : Yes, this cool looking duck used to build nests, breed, and dabble around the wetlands of Costa Rica and this is why you will see it illustrated in Stiles and Skutch.

Costa Rica 219

Costa Rica Species Panama Birds 219

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2018

In 1987, only 27 were left in the wild and drastic action was taken to save the species: all remaining birds were captured, the California Condor was declared extinct in the wild, and a captive breeding program was begun, initially carried out by the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. So, what is Kölsch, exactly?

California Condor 104

California Condor Oregon California Zoos 104

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

Let us for once judge a book by its cover, and take a thorough look at a Black-headed Gull in breeding plumage. Palm Warblers in Central Park Answers to A Diabolical Quick Quiz Cow Birds About the Author Jochen Jochen Roeder was born in Germany and raised to be a birder. And definitely take a look at gulls. They’re Back!

2011 162

2011 Birds Deer Europe 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2011

Another question this raises has to do with migration itself. Loons hardly ever fly when they are on their breeding grounds or their winter-water, but the migration is for many loons a non-trivial distance. Well, no, definitely not. Those two questions are not mutually exclusive. Why migrate? Take homing pigeons.

Research 193

Research Humane Compassion New York 193

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Hopefully, the winter time in Shanghai gives the Black-faced Buntings some time to relax from the challenges of the breeding season. In contrast, the females need to make sure not to get duped into raising actual cuckoos – the buntings are a targeted host species ( source ). No wonder no species are named after me.

Birds 209

Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 209

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

I have written about the interesting sex life of these jacanas a few times already (short version: female mates with male, lays a bunch of eggs for him to incubate and raise the chicks, leaves him, finds another male, repeat). The Little Grebe is of course a very common bird that can still surprise by its beauty in its breeding plumage.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147