10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

What I didn’t know was how this relationship actually works: the mechanics of Red Knot migration, the reduced digestive systems necessary for their long flighta, the need to fatten up quickly so they can fly to the Arctic and breed, how they compete with other shorebirds and gulls and, it turns out, humans, for horseshoe crab eggs.

Delaware 177

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 177

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 203

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 203

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2021

The fields near the Tiaozini mudflats look very much like a lunar landscape, but this does not seem to keep a number of species from breeding there, sometimes directly on dirt roads. But now back to birds … Little Ringed Plovers also seem to like to breed directly on the road. Blandness sells.

Birds 207

Birds Uganda Breeding Rats 207

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Presently I find the sit-and-wait approach much more gratifying. Many of these (like Plumbeous Kites and Swallow Tanagers ) are here to breed, and they do so alongside a host of resident species. There is an unquantifiable joy one experiences when genuinely surprised. Yup, that’s it. Let me explain. Hook-billed Kite.

Birds 231

Birds Falcons Raised Species 231

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Field guides listed two subspecies – delicata (which would eventually become the highly migratory Wilson’s Snipe ) and paraguaiae (breeding resident South American Snipe ) – which were extremely difficult to discern from one another in the field. Some specimens in the hand also presented difficulties.

Trinidad 262

Trinidad Welfare North America Emotional 262

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

This was a pleasant surprise if only because I’m so used to the more technical views presented in his field guides. Also, I wish I could use the tiny birds for my own presentations. His art is beloved (if you have owned a Sibley calendar at least once in your life, raise your hand) and his bird expertise is widely respected.

2020 263

2020 Birds Groups North America 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2012

We all get a kick from seeing a fine example of a male bird, adorned in his breeding finery, singing his own praises from on high, but spare a thought for the reserved and retiring birds for whom such self-promotion and self-adulation would be inconceivable. Can you help please? What’s that smell?

New York 184

New York Game Birds Raised 184

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

MAY 16, 2011

Mallards , of course, bring new meaning to the term dabbling duck , what with all those wild mallard hybrids and domestic cross-breeds running around. In my experience, Cinnamon Teal x Common or Green-winged Teal hybrids are the rarest; I have seen pictures of only 2 such birds and a 3rd bird (the one mentioned above) in life.

Ducks 223

Ducks North America Denmark America 223

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

Penguins are also bellweathers of climate change; dwellers of remote areas you’ve (probably) never heard of; creatures who have developed unique, innovative ways of adapting to the harsh environments where they breed and rear chicks and the water environments in which they feed and swim.

Penguins 193

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 193

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

Those large international agencies use reputable local ground agents, and in my experience this creates a safety cocoon around the travellers. And the answer to the question I am raising here is, yes, I would travel to Sri Lanka in the next period.

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Eagles 147