10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2018

Second, the Kirtland’s Warbler was the last “eastern warbler” I needed to see not just in the United States but in New York State. Third, Kirtland’s Warbler has only recently made the New York State checklist with two sightings in 2014. ( One of which is documented here.

New York 108

New York New York City Michigan United States 108

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2017

Seriously, cardinals are both gorgeous and interesting , but their familiarity across most of North America breeds indifference if not contempt. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was an easy one to choose.

New York City 129

New York City 2017 North America New York 129

Animal Person

MARCH 18, 2009

The New York Times presents us, this morning, with "Equine Alternative" regarding the recent discovery that horses decided to allow themselves be domesticated by humans for our mutual benefit, earlier than we had thought (3500 BC, and we preciously thought it was more like 2500 BC). And that fact gives rise to a thought-experiment.

Experience 100

Experience Experiments Horses Transported 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2017

Of course, snow and cold still dominate upstate New York, but beautiful, belligerent Blue Jays don’t much care; some have lingered throughout the dark months, but fresh reinforcements have arrived to stake out territory. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2017 100

2017 New York Birds Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2016

June in the Northern Hemisphere brings birds on their breeding grounds, some still frisky and others settled down taking care of their chicks. I experienced some of my best birding in a long time as I explored some new trails at my mother-in-law’s rural Pennsylvania home. What a weekend! How about you?

2016 100

2016 Pennsylvania Jamaica New York 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

This would have allowed you to summarize your experience in sentences such as “A total of 98 boluses regurgitated by 52 chicks aged 1 day to 11 days after hatching form the sample and are shown to contain 323 food items.” It concludes that human activity influences the breeding activity of the lapwing. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2015

Just like we did last year my family spent this past weekend camping at North Lake State Park, up in New York’s gorgeous Catskill Mountains. And, not surprisingly, the breeding birds present were largely the same species as last year which was not a problem at all! That’s my boy!

Birds 162

Birds New York Family Sparrows 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2011

The first time I saw a Western Tanager , it was in New York. Moreover, at the time I had no inkling that I’d be moving to Montana in two and a half years – in fact, it would be nearly a year before I decided to go to grad school and entertained the notion of leaving New York at all.

New York 165

New York Montana Breeding Fish 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2013

His best bird, however, was a bit of a surprise – a Winter Wren in Queens on Friday, a very late bird for New York City. He heard another on breeding territory in Sullivan County on Sunday and wondered if the bird he saw Friday had made its way north. If only we could recognize birds as individuals! How about you?

New York City 152

New York City 2013 New York Birds 152

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2013

Now it is a book from a swank New York publishing house, with a fantastic jacket design and a significant marketing push (I ran across a quote from it in Outside magazine yesterday, and of course it is being reviewed on the premeire birding blog on the entire Internet.)

Turtles 165

Turtles Indiana New York Ethics 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2012

Flugum in Birding from a Tractor Seat Though almost every time that I have heard a Hermit Thrush sing was high in the Catskill Mountains or Adirondack Mountains I did once hear a Hermit Thrush doing a very soft version of its song in late winter in Forest Park in Queens, New York. … a.

New York 172

New York United States Breeding Emotional 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Steve Howell has spent decades of experience in the field studying the birds of Belize, Costa Rica, and especially Mexico. They also occasionally show breeding colonies or isolated populations, possible occurrences, and directions of range expansion. I don’t think scientific artwork holds less value when used more than once.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2012

Eurasian Wrynecks are found breeding across the temperate zones of Europe and Asia. Many thanks to Swarovski Optik for inviting me along and letting me experience both some awesome new optics and the natural wonders of the wonderful country of Hungary. ••• a. They migrate to warmer climes in Africa and south Asia to winter.

Hungary 172

Hungary Asia Woodpeckers Africa 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

There is no better place to find grasspipers in New York State than the sod farms on eastern Long Island in autumn. The only thing that could have made the experience with Tryngites subruficollis better would have been some sunlight. What great little birds!

Farming 158

Farming Argentina South America United States 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

This cruel, cruel fate we endure in western New York torments man and beast alike. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Cats Are Still Public Enemy Number One, For Birds The New York Times and Tweety have it absolutely correct. And my first Killdeer of year!

2011 153

2011 New York Deer Birds 153

Animal Ethics

JUNE 17, 2007

People who adopt from animal shelters will tell you that it’s not only a rewarding experience, but also that shelters are filled with a smorgasbord of the most amazing, delightful, intelligent dogs you’ll ever find on the planet. You can find purebreds, mixed breeds and designer dogs.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Tulsa Purebred 40

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2011

Second of all, Lewis’s Woodpeckers are birds of the west and they rarely stray to New York State. Fortunately, Tom spotted it flying in and landing in a tree over the house and we all enjoyed scope views of a great bird, a lifer for most of us and Isaac’s 400th bird in New York State!

New York 185

New York Woodpeckers Jordan 2011 185

Animal Person

AUGUST 1, 2009

Something interesting happened when I read New York Times columnist Bob Herbert's article about the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., I look forward to the day the paragraph I wrote can be published in the New York Times, and not result in accusations of terrorism, fanaticism, extremism or inciting people to violence.

Obama 100

Obama New York Times New York illegal 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

New York City apartments don’t allow feeders to be hung from fire escapes (though I know certain birders that skirt that rule), and it wasn’t until I had already been birding for four-and-a-half years that I obtained a small yard in central New Jersey in which I could place a feeder or two or three. I came late to bird feeding.

Birds 166

Birds New York City Squirrels New York 166

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

This is an endemic breeding bird in North America and much is now being done by various federal and non-profit groups to ensure and foster its conservation. Piping plovers are always a treat to see, whether at their coastal or inland breeding grounds or whether at their southern wintering grounds. Wicked, right? Hat-tip to Stella.

Florida 183

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Being winter, this bird is in non-breeding plumage with more brown upper parts and lacking the white face it acquires in its aternate (breeding) plumage. A First Christmas Bird Count Experience » To learn more about 10,000 Birds, Mike, Corey, or the many marvelous Beat Writers, please click here. Beautiful bird.

Wildlife 155

Wildlife 2011 Sacramento Jordan 155

Animal Person

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Today's New York Times gives us Adam Shriver's Op-Ed " Not Grass-Fed, But at Least Pain-Free ," which presents its dilemma at the end: If we cannot avoid factory farms altogether, the least we can do is eliminate the unpleasantness of pain in the animals that must live and die on them. It would be far better than doing nothing at all.

Factory Farm 100

Factory Farm Factory Farming Animal Factory 100

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. But, it’s a new story to me, one that reads like a fairy tale. These are magical experiences.

Birds 164

Birds Rats Breeding 2012 164

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

I got to see a beautiful female and owlet on a trip to a secret nest location near Howard Prairie Lake (human-made nest structures have enhanced local breeding for these huge owls whose nest success is boosted to 83% on artificial platforms vs. 66% at natural sites). The experience, the place, and the bird combine to make this my BBOTY.

2014 183

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. Ringer Gannets and Boobies (Sulidae) Black-and-white gannets breed on the cold, rocky coasts of the northern and southern oceans. Cats Are Still Public Enemy Number One, For Birds The New York Times and Tweety have it absolutely correct.

2011 151

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 151

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

we learn) that are home to coveted boreal species, breeding wood-warblers, and two species of Grouse. There are some excellent web guides, like the New York City Audubon “ Birding in NYC” guide , but these are not books. Sadly, the number of local and regional birding guides has trickled down to almost nothing.

Los Angeles 186

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 186

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2012

Nassau County, New York, March 2009 After having fully explored the trail around the West Pond at Jamaica Bay , we four bird bloggers agreed to load up Patrick’s car and head over to Jones Beach to see what kind of birds we could find there and some other locations in Nassau County. And what a look at a life bird!

New York 160

New York Butcher Birds Geese 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

The Refuge has also become a place where people can experience and learn about wildlife and the places they call home, whether through self-guided discovery or by participating in one of our many educational programs. Seney National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.”

Fish 142

Fish Wildlife Hunting Game 142

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

There were birders from a wide cross-section of the United States: Colorado, Ohio, Idaho, Iowa, Wyoming, Washington State, Pennsylvania, New York State, New Jersey, California, Texas, Florida. The small group was a good counterpart to the large, convivial ABA Safari group of 98 birders.

South Africa 251

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 251

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. Jennifer Ackerman points out in the introduction to What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds , that we don’t know much, but that very soon we may know a lot more. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

The book is organized into ten chapters, framed by a Prologue and Epilogue focused on Weidensaul’s banding experience in Denali National Park. His participant observations connect to his own research experiences, providing history and perspective. Weidensaul traveled to each location to witness the research in process.

Cyprus 244

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 244

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2020

The seasonal life of one bird species is complex; life cycle events like aging, breeding, molt, and migration are intricately tied to habitat, food availability, genetic ‘instincts,’ hours of daylight, and weather. But a lot will be new, particularly the many studies that prove these are real changes supported by hard data.

Research 165

Research Birds Hoarding Sweden 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Red-breasted Nuthatch at Jones Beach State Park, New York Ron Pittaway’s famous winter finch forecast includes some some non-finch irruptives, including Red-breasted Nuthatch. Remember that friend of mine that saw 17 breeding pairs of Snowy Owls in a single valley? Thank a pine cone. Or a spruce cone.

United States 261

United States Owls Atlanta New York 261

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2014

Corey greatly enjoyed his weekend in the beautiful Catskill Mountains of upstate New York with family and friends. In addition to the camping and camaraderie he took some time to catch up to the local breeding birds of which there were quite a few. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

2014 166

2014 Colombia New York Birds 166

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2012

Though birds sing because it is a biological imperative I find it hard to believe that they don’t get some basic enjoyment out of the experience as well. All of the birds are breed in Queens and I look forward to seeing them until they leave again in the fall. I would add a third – for the sheer joy of it! I know I do!

New York City 172

New York City Birds New York Experience 172

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2023

.” They conclude that many non-vocalizing Empidonax flycatchers can be identified in the field, but only “when several field characters are used in combination–and after one has gained experience in looking at these characters on singing/calling and captive birds (i.e., known-identity).”**

Los Angeles 201

Los Angeles North America America Species 201

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2017

I started the year in Florida, traveled to India with the ABA in February, combined family and birding in an August trip to California, and in-between saw very good birds in New York and New Jersey. There is no experience comparable to birding a dump, and, I have to say, I have never experienced a dump like this one.

2016 108

2016 India Ducks Birds 108