article thumbnail

Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America: A Review by a Sparrow Fan

10,000 Birds

I like sparrows. I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. The book does not include House Sparrow, an Old World sparrow that belongs to a completely different bird family. Scope of Book. Mexico border.

article thumbnail

Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests: A Field Guide Review

10,000 Birds

This may have been partly a leftover from the Victorian fascination with egg collecting (the infamous passion known as oology), but probably more from people’s burgeoning interest in the nests and eggs found in their gardens and fields, gateway artifacts to a newer hobby called birdwatching. Baicich and Colin J.

Eggs 239
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania: A Review by an Atlas Novice

10,000 Birds

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. Corey did just this in this 2011 posting about Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus in New York State. They utilized GIS (geographic information systems) technology to pinpoint breeding bird location to a level far beyond the usual block-based geographic model.

article thumbnail

Birding Shanghai in November 2022

10,000 Birds

Hopefully, the winter time in Shanghai gives the Black-faced Buntings some time to relax from the challenges of the breeding season. Fortunately for the buntings, they seem to detect most cuckoo eggs smuggled in (75% in one study). Maybe there is some justice in this world after all. Better safe than sorry.

Birds 216
article thumbnail

Birding Lake Kerkini, Greece: Three Lazy Days

10,000 Birds

Due to heavy rains many clutches of Great Crested Grebes had failed, but we observed both nests with eggs (and left the area immediately) and adults with chicks, some of them piggy-backing their mothers.

Greece 236
article thumbnail

Birding Shanghai in June 2023

10,000 Birds

Fortunately, there are a few more such breeding species than most Shanghainese are aware of. While the HBW states that it breeds at 300 – 2450 meters, in Shanghai – where such elevations are not available outside of the upper floors of a few highrises – it makes to with an altitude of about 0 meters as well.

Birds 130
article thumbnail

The Dunnock. Free love and duplicity

10,000 Birds

Of olde, it was known as the Hedge Sparrow to separate it from the House and Tree Sparrows. Confusion with the sparrows is understandable, given the plumage and their tendency to feed from the ground. Familiarity makes them easy to separate from the sparrows, even at a distance. Now it is classified with the Accentors.

Sparrows 165