10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2022

Most of the usual birds seem present, a frog or two call from a small wetland, and a few other expected animals are there too. In Costa Rica, the sole tropical breeding albatross is a rare visitor to pelagic waters of the Pacific. Sadly, horribly, we live in an era of mass extinction. Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata).

Costa Rica 248

Costa Rica Parrots Albatross Birds 248

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. The first three sections are brief, presenting a summary of the bird’s current NYC status (migrant, resident, breeder, vagrant, etc.), It’s a very mixed chapter.

New York City 146

New York City New York Birds Breeding 146

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2015

The mystery bird looked something like a male Blackpoll Warbler in alternate (breeding) plumage, but it was yellow and black instead of black and white. Brothers Anthony and Paul Hertzel, who documented the Minnesota bird, wondered if their bird could have been the offspring of a Blackpoll x Wilson’s Warbler pair.

Minnesota 179

Minnesota New York City New York Baltimore 179

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2021

On the breeding grounds of the north, a small bird flies into the night, takes a bearing for the south, gains altitude and flies onward. If presented with the opportunity, there’s other things that would eat a bird too. If Wood Thrush hasn’t been documented as Cane Toad prey, it can now be added to the list.

Costa Rica 251

Costa Rica Investigation Shelters Illinois 251

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2021

There was even that outside, enticing chance of documenting something new for Costa Rica. A few Brown Noddies were also present, an occasional Pomarine Jaeger lumbered past the edge of the flock, and we got onto a distant yet definite adult Masked Booby ! Sooty Terns soared over the feeding frenzy, both adults and juveniles.

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica Dolphins Sea Turtles Turtles 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2017

Its eyes have remained black and it has started to get some breeding plumage. Many of the Greater Sand Plovers are now showing good breeding plumage and in a few weeks they will be heading off to the northern hemisphere to breed and you are able to see the brown head colouring on some of the birds below.

2017 100

2017 Breeding Birds Australia 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

This is a very different book from what I expected, less of a handbook and more of a comprehensive identification text on 24 groups of birds, presented in words and photographs. Additional information is presented in boxes and with photographs. Light blue boxes give brief facts on breeding age, strategy and lifespan.

Birds 189

Birds Groups 2015 North America 189

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

You don’t really know a bird until you’ve studied it on its breeding grounds. Getting intimate with a species over the course of the breeding cycle is one of the more rewarding aspects of birding, and field research too. I present here an annotated collection of photos documenting the entry of new parrotlets into this world.

Eggs 267

Eggs Venezuela Porcupines 2008 267

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

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. Borneo, the authors say, is under-birded. I think we need to do something about that.

Brunei 172

Brunei Birds Asia China 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

The tendency for migrants to be rarities doesn’t exclude birds that breed in the country, Harpy and Crested Eagles perching at the top of the rare resident target list. At least looking for them can result in encounters with Galapagos Shearwater , storm-petrels, and other pelagic species.

Costa Rica 161

Costa Rica Birds Panama Sparrows 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

Appendices list all vagrant species; “hypothetical species”—20 species reported by reliable observers but not well documented; and “more species to watch for in NCA”—20 species that should be showing up based on historical records, birds of neighboring countries and migratory patterns. There are no checklists, and I found this puzzling.

El Salvador 229

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 229

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. The Kirtland’s Warbler is divided into three sections: The Past, The Present, The Future.

Michigan 221

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 221

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

APRIL 17, 2012

Most importantly, let us remember that the effects of the spill are still being felt and the BP Oil Spill timeline continues until the present and into the future. We documented the relocation of several turtle nests. Officials reported 48 marine mammals, mostly dolphins, and 87 dead sea turtles during the first two months alone.

2010 226

2010 Louisiana 2012 2011 226

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

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. The population has been present for at least 15 years. I suspect that way more research and documentation is conducted on indigenous bird species.

Miami 130

Miami Parrots Research Birds 130

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Each species/subspecies is presented by age and type of pose, though not strictly so for each species. Unlike most field guides, the maps are large and specific, indicating permanent, winter, and summer ranges by color swatch; summer, winter, and all seasons dispersal routes by colored lines, and irregular breeding sites by shape and color.

North America 185

North America Birds Mississippi Bald Eagle 185

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

He clearly loves feeders and presents colorful photographs of seemingly every type sold in the U.S., The section is dominated by large portraits of the 180 birds that have been documented by Project FeederWatch as visiting feeders across North America (most of which do not come to my feeders, so reading it made me a little sad and jealous).

Birds 166

Birds New York City Squirrels New York 166

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2012

The New Jersey Bird Records Committee (NJBRC) documents 465 species of natural origin. Birds of New Jersey , written by Joan Walsh, Vince Elia, Rich Kane, and Thomas Halliwell, published by New Jersey Audubon Society, was a landmark volume; 704-pages long, it presented results of the 1993-1997 New Jersey Breeding Bird Atlas.

New Jersey 187

New Jersey Birds 2009 Bald Eagle 187

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. Each Field Identification section ends with a description and transliterations of vocalizations, often drawing on historical accounts.

North America 142

North America Sparrows America United States 142

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

What the Owl Knows is organized into nine chapters: introduction, adaptation (including vision and flight), research and researchers, vocalization, courtship and breeding, roosting and migration, cognition, and two chapters on owls and humans–captive owls (not zoos, educational owls) and owls in our cultural history.

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

I didn’t know much about Birds of Paradise either before 2013, when I accompanied a non-birding friend to a presentation at a local college, not really expecting much. I love reading the descriptions of these birds’ breeding behavior. It’s the bird family that most people don’t know is a bird family.

Guinea 260

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 260

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

Practically every sentence is documented with these studies. ’ Gorman has read and distilled probably every research study ever written about Wrynecks or related to them; my quick count of the citations in the 16-page References section came to 295. Yet, The Wryneck does not read like a literature review.

Woodpeckers 224

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 224

Animal Person

MAY 26, 2010

And in retrospect, all that did was present me as someone who appeared to have a need to be different or special, and a need for everyone to know what I believed in, whether or not they even cared. If I choose to make a fool of myself over anything I'm no longer going to do that on my blog. Lesson #17 Treat your blog like a business.

Vegan 100

Vegan Suffering Free Range Animal 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

Dunne and Karlson are presenting an alternative system of gull identification, one that they believe is simpler than the traditional emphasis on cycles and plumages. And, then there is a Hybrid Gulls chapter, covering five well-documented hybrids. These vary according to species. Close-up of Laughing Gull Range Map.

North America 193

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 193

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. The reasons are twofold–the rapidly changing taxonomic playing field and the obstacles these changes present to users. Some offer nest information, egg information, breeding timeline, in flight views, etc.

Australia 105

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 105

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2018

It gives species accounts for 761 birds (I counted, but I could have missed a couple) out of the 763-770 species documented in the country (eBird lists 763 and Gallardo says there were 770 at the time of publication). The work of each artist is unique; you can tell which artist did which plate without looking at the signature. Conclusion.

Honduras 103

Honduras Birds 2015 Family 103

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2017

The 7th edition of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America covers 1,023 species that reside, migrate, or have been documented as accidentals or exotics in North America. The description includes distinguishing features and documentation dates or specimen records.

North America 178

North America America 2017 Birds 178

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2013

It covers 63 odonate species: 44 breeding species (19 damselfly, 25 dragonfly), and, in a second part of the Species Accounts, 19 vagrant, potential vagrant and former breeding species (5 damselfly, 14 dragonfly). Sections on Behaviour, Breeding Habitat, and Population and Conservation offer brief but specific information.

Ireland 168

Ireland France Breeding Eggs 168

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

This range of illustration continues throughout the 24 plates, reflecting, I assume, what has been documented and not documented for each species and the degree of difference between sexes and amongst subspecies. This is particularly true when it comes to sorting out subspecies.

Research 136

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 136

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2017

and it breeds in the scrublands of Texas, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico. The proposed rule is here and virtually all relevant documents, including all of the supporting scientific literature, can be found here. Moreover, management to control parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbird has improved vireo breeding success.

Endangered Species 123

Endangered Species Species Texas Oklahoma 123

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. Digital technology allows us to present high-quality photographic images together, in one plate, presenting valuable information on birds’ appearance, habitat, and behavior.

Ireland 170

Ireland 2013 Breeders Ducks 170

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

The following section encapsulates a chapter of biological facts into one dense paragraph–breeding location, breeding time of year, nesting notes, timing of fledging, migratory routes to and from breeding areas, staging locations, foraging locations, and more. Perrow, © Maps: Lynx Edicions. Perrow, © Maps: Lynx Edicions.

Albatross 278

Albatross Penguins Groups Family 278

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

” And, if you don’t believe them, just take a look at some of the photographic comparisons of species they present: Or, of albatross plumages: Or, read about the taxonomic confusions and scientific lapses in research on petrels, Albatrosses, storm-petrels, and diving-petrels. Which ones? Does it follow fishing boats?

Albatross 149

Albatross North America Birds Groups 149

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

Chapters on taxonomy, distribution, anatomy and morphology, habitat, behavior, breeding, plumage and moult, food and foraging, flight, calls, drumming, and conservation follow. Each Species Account is numbered, and introduced with a gray title box presenting common name, scientific name, and dimensions (in centimeters).

Woodpeckers 234

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2023

The Great Egret was in breeding plumage and courtship posture–bright lime green lores, head bending down and then snapping up, long, impossibly delicate plumes waving over its body as if possessed by independent spirits. He has done an enormous amount of research, carefully documented the text, and produced a bibliography 13 pages long.

Connecticut 147

Connecticut Washington Legislation Hunting 147