10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

The tiercels (young Peregrines) must deal with Golden Eagles, Ravens, adult Peregrines, and foxes; they must also learn to navigate the skies and make their own kills, luckily these skills appear to be innately learned. Coyotes took carrion from young Condors and then killed the weakest ones. It’s not easy.

California Condor 169

California Condor Falcons California Birds 169

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2019

And I didn’t pay enough attention because one very dark eagle flew by at the same time, an adult Greater Spotted Eagle. These globally threatened raptors breed from Ukraine eastward through Siberia and only a few come to overwinter here. Two hundred yards further, we found another Greater Spotted Eagle!

Geese 139

Geese Serbia Birds Estonia 139

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2013

And so, injunctions were granted and lifted, granted and lifted, over the course of more than a decade; during one busy period in 1982, the official stance on killing the goats changed five times in two months. And so, a breed association formed to preserve these goats. (No No such association was formed on behalf of the ear mites.)

Goats 159

Goats Bald Eagle Fox Feral 159

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2015

One Common Raven is disappearing towards its nest among the branches of the poplar plantation, only to reappear a few minutes later to give a good chase – aerial acrobatics included – to its first neighbour, the White-tailed Eagle which breeds in the vicinity. My first live otters ever (the only previous one was a road-kill)!

Otters 173

Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 173

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

In the non-breeding season, male Baya Weavers sometimes enter the basket-making trade, often with considerable success. Meanwhile, the females seem to have a much more relaxing life, at least in this early stage of the breeding season. You can see why here. It very effectively forms a small foraging group in this manner.

Birds 202

Birds Sri Lanka Taiwan Cats 202

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2022

I should have known that birding High Island meant I would be 20 minutes away from a place where hundreds of thousands of shorebirds and waterbirds rest, feed, breed, and generally have a good time. I love American Avocets and I rarely see them in such marvelous breeding plumage, so I was in heaven. Clapper Rail. Back to the Flats.

Houston 201

Houston Texas Sanctuary Sparrows 201

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2018

It is a fascinating world of swampy forests of willow and poplar, inhabited by Black Storks , White-tailed Eagles , Eastern Olivaceous and Icterine Warblers (above), among more than 200 other species. Backwaters are a hard place to explore. Yet, I never heard the splash of a beaver tail when it dives.

Beavers 116

Beavers Serbia Eagles Hungary 116

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Add more than 350 pairs of White Pelicans to that picture, numerous herons and up to 700 pairs of Pygmy Cormorants breeding in the same reedbeds (cover photo)… It must be bursting with activity in spring, but I was there in mid-September. Have you heard of it? Can you pinpoint it on a map?

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2013

The reward for the troubles comes in the shape of a Lesser Spotted Eagle circling in a thermal at the opposite side of the meadow, two Stag Beetles ( Lucanus cervus ) engaged in a wrestling match on a low branch, Roe Deer swiftly running across the road… But what are we doing in that meadow? But, there is not a trace of a Saker nest.

Falcons 216

Falcons Serbia 2007 Europe 216

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Marabous have also learnt another trick, and that is to follow vultures and scavenge off the remains of Lion and other large predator kills. They have even been known to kill children who have been incautious enough to approach too closely. During breeding season, their white plumage turns a delicate pink color, a lovely sight indeed.

Africa 233

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 233

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

As the national bird of Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the African Fish Eagle is usually very busy whenever it stays in these countries, giving speeches, opening shopping centers, etc. Others are being killed for use in traditional medicine. Letaba is a largish rest camp in the North central part of the park.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

to the ongoing conservation of breeding Lesser Flamingos at Kimberley’s Kamfers Dam to the Albatross Task Force, which works with fishermen to find solutions to seabird bycatch (birds caught in fishermen’s nets). The leopards place their kill in a tree, protecting it from poaching by other predators.

South Africa 251

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 251

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

The Cherokee nation called them “Peace Eagles” owing to the fact that they never killed a living thing – and also that they tended to show up in numbers after battled when peace treaties were being signed, though admittedly that may have been for a slightly more macabre reason.

California Condor 175

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 175

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

Now free flying in California, Arizona, Utah, and Baja, condors are slowly making a comeback thanks to those, like the Center, who’ve committed to captive breeding and releasing these amazing birds. Their hallmark: They don’t kill. Condors, like all New World vultures, can disturb the human psyche.

California Condor 202

California Condor California Idaho North America 202

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

And managing means killing them, breeding them, and otherwise fiddling with their populations. When I was asked if I wanted to read Jeff Corwin's 100 HEARTBEATS (Rodale 2009) I was ambivalent. I know he's a conservationist, therefore I know he will advocate for "managing" the "resources" that are sentient nonhumans.

Polar Bears 100

Polar Bears California Condor Bald Eagle Lions 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2013

Being technically outside the summer tourism season, one can enjoy the somewhat less expensive travel and hotel costs, less crowded venues, great weather and nearly endless daylight—and of course many birds migrating and beginning the breeding/nesting season! There you will find more breeding terns, gulls and dozens of Graylag Geese.

Iceland 182

Iceland Puffins Europe Birds 182

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

Their common names reflect their size, appearance, residence, and sometimes their sound, ranging from the simple to the eponymous: Little Owl, Powerful Owl, Pharaoh Eagle-Owl, Cloud-Forest Pygmy-Owl, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Morepork, Christmas Island Boobook, Blakiston’s Fish-Owl. They are also hunted.

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2016

In her book, “ On a Wing and a Prayer, “ Sarah Woods describes the bird that captured her interest when she first visited Panama: “At more than one metre tall and able to kill a monkey with a single swipe of its powerful, knife-like talons, [H]arpy [E]agles are incredibly hard to find.” A Harpy Eagle.

Panama 100

Panama Grizzly Bear Porcupines Eagles 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. 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

MAY 30, 2013

This is where an Eastern Imperial Eagle comes for breakfast! In the early 20th century, Imperial Eagles used to live not only in the northern lowlands of Serbia, but also in the southern highland plateaus. Curiously, some eagles were also observed by the Ada Ciganlija Island, within Belgrade – in the breeding season!

Serbia 196

Serbia Eagles Hungary Cooking 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

In 1856 Wahlberg was killed by an Elephant near Lake Ngami in Botswana without ever publishing an account of his travels, but fellow Swede Carl Sundevall catalogued his collection at the Stockholm Museum and described the birds Wahlberg collected. Sundevall named Wahlberg’s Eagle and Wahlberg’s Honeyguide in his memory.

Mozambique 182

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 182

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2022

Due to some misallocation of bird species, I saw the Bateleur Eagle near Malelane, not near Bateleur Camp, where a more professional marketing team would have located the bird. These hornbills have the well-tried breeding strategy of enclosing the female in a tree hole. His music is rather bad, after all.

Swaziland 147

Swaziland Landlord Birds Sweden 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

Yes, Germans were a particularly supersticious breed in the days of old, and would not dare to use the word devil even when cursing. The eagle-owls of the genus Bubo are all called “Uhu“. As a rule of thumb, with quite a number of exceptions, if the species sports feathery ears and is not an eagle-owls, it’s an “Eule“.

Germany 172

Germany Birds Hunters Owls 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Kills in Canada, Alaska and Mexico are not included in the count. Texas and North Dakota together account for 88% of the total yearly kill of sandhill cranes. They reach breeding maturity at four to seven years of age, produce only one chick per nesting season, and only one in three offspring survive to fledging age.

2011 239

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 239

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

The species was seemingly killed off by feather hunters, but then, after years, reappeared at the site of one of the deserted breeding colonies, Torishima Island in Japan. She’s described conservation successes in detail–the Bald Eagle, the Short-tailed Albatross, now protected in Japan.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

A good way up one of the tallest pines is an Eagle’s nest. Every year there manage to be two eagles up there in that nest. Ducks are easier prey for the Eagle. You can tell when the Eagle is aloft because the Loons alarm call. Every now and then you see an Eagle and a Loon interact a bit. So, no Eagles maybe.

Humane 201

Humane Eagles Investigation Research 201

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

I wonder what Americans would think if, in a Wikipedia entry, a Bald Eagle would be illustrated using a photo taken at an Albanian zoo. There was a breeding pair at Binjiang Forest Park this June. As Cincinnati is sort of the place where one of my favorite bands, The National, comes from, I am not going to grumble too much about it.

Birds 179

Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 179