10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Not a great place for a family vacation, though I think Duncan will disagree. Phillipps’ Field Guide (I’ll be using this shortened form of the title) covers 673 avian species, including 59 endemics, and 53 species that have not been documented yet for the area but which may show up in the next few years.

Brunei 179

Brunei Birds Asia China 179

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. The guide covers 1,433 species, the number of birds documented at the end of 2014, the cutoff point for the book. That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India!

Bolivia 181

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 181

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

1985) and Seabirds of the World: A Photographic Guide (1987) that covers all species of birds that spend most of their lives foraging, feeding, and flying over and on oceans, and, when not at sea, breeding in remote, inaccessible places. Coverage of all families is not comprehensive. Does it follow fishing boats?

Albatross 167

Albatross North America Birds Groups 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2018

Think about it–how do you document the behavior of birds that spend years flying (or swimming) and feeding and, apparently, sleeping above or within the deep sea? We didn’t know much about migration routes, foraging away from the breeding colony, and feeding during migration, in the water and in the air.

Albatross 114

Albatross Penguins Research Breeding 114

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

The authors’ detailed delineation of problems with the accuracy of NYC breeding bird surveys or with the limits of historical writings may test a reader’s patience. Because, as this book demonstrates so well, it is sometimes important to look back in order to move forward. It’s a very mixed chapter.

New York City 156

New York City New York Birds Breeding 156

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2013

The book is produced by WILDGuides, a nonprofit publishing organization that joined forces with Princeton University Press last year to create the Princeton WILDGuides imprint. Sections on Behaviour, Breeding Habitat, and Population and Conservation offer brief but specific information. I’m going to look at Britain’s Dragonflies first.

Ireland 180

Ireland France Breeding Eggs 180

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. You can find the Pygmy Marmoset’s family feeding tree by looking for its markings on the trunk, similar to those made by sapsuckers. Princeton University Press, 2017.

Ecuador 180

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Birds 180

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

After writing this last sentence, I looked up the species in the HBW and found the sentence “Song poorly documented” in the appropriate section, while with regard to calls, the description is that “call is a two-note raspy nasal ‘ryeeh-reh’”. Strangely, I like the messy look of the juvenile bird much better.

Singapore 147

Singapore Birds Mountain Goats Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Well-represented exotic families include starlings, ducks and doves and there are also many more individual species that now thrive here. Some uncountable species, like Mitred Parakeets , are in fact way more numerous than some of the countable species and they are clearly breeding in well-established populations.

Miami 141

Miami Parrots Research Birds 141

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

The guide covers 747 breeding residents or regular migrants, 29 introduced species, and 160 vagrants, a total of 936 species. Within each group, birds in the same family are grouped together and birds in the same genus “usually occur consecutively.” So, there are two basic sections–marine and freshwater birds (pp.

Australia 109

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 109

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

Three helpful sections precede the Introduction: Photo and silhouette comparisons of gulls that breed in North America (see illustration above), Basic Anatomical Terms illustrated with four diagrams, and a very selective Glossary. And, then there is a Hybrid Gulls chapter, covering five well-documented hybrids.

North America 208

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 208

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2013

The story of the cahow, a “Lazurus species” that was thought to be extinct for over 300 years and then discovered to be breeding on a tiny remote island in Bermuda, is part of modern birding legend. All the while, he is observing, documenting, practically living with the cahows when they return to Bermuda.

Birds 172

Birds Rats Breeding 2012 172

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. The book does not include House Sparrow, an Old World sparrow that belongs to a completely different bird family. Range and Geographic Variation.

North America 157

North America Sparrows America United States 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2015

Florida is by Bill Pranty, central Florida resident, author of A Birder’s Guide to Florida , now in its fifth edition, plus numerous articles documenting the distribution of birds in Florida, current chair of the ABA Checklist committee, and an active member of the Florida Ornithological Society. Interestingly, there is little overlap.

Colorado 247

Colorado Florida Birds New Jersey 247

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2013

I knew I would not be seeing the bird in its rosy-breasted breeding plumage, but somehow seeing the bird in all its forms helped crystallize its appearance in my head. or birds that look very different in their breeding and non-breeding plumages (Shorebirds! Crossley Books/Princeton University Press, 2013. I studied it.

Ireland 173

Ireland 2013 Breeders Ducks 173