10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2022

For once, eBird gives a good description of the Asian Glossy Starling, calling it a “Fierce-looking, large songbird” As are humans, this species is fairly urbanized – it “sometimes enters urban areas to roost, e.g. in Singapore” (HBW). Lucky ducks. “Odd, me?”

Singapore 212

Singapore Birds Zebras Feral 212

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2023

This is how it looks like: Or at sunset: A species I did not come for from Shanghai is the Black-crowned Night Heron. Not sure why they spend time in Shanghai in winter when they could come here though, but then again, I usually do not understand most of the behavior of humans either. Yes, we have them in Shanghai as well.

Birds 209

Birds Eagles Elephants Rhinoceros 209

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

According to the HBW, there are 41 species of African Barbets and 34 species of Asian Barbets. There are also 14 species of New World Barbets and 2 species of Toucan-Barbets (all in South America). Might have something to do with the fact that they were hunted here until quite recently).

South Africa 198

South Africa Africa India China 198

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2015

We call it a “mouse gradation year” I was not able to find a catchy English term for “gradation year” – it’s what happens when a certain species showing population cycles reaches a peak year. In German, if you are a rodent and you are smaller than – say – a human hand, you’re a mouse.

Fox 164

Fox Rodents Gophers Germany 164

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

These large parrots are popular in the pet trade, and that’s a likely source of the population of this species on Trinidad. As I neared the shore, I spooked a hunting Striated Heron who in turn spooked a Neotropic Cormorant hunting the shallow water. But I quickly realized this was no slow morning. Crested Oropendola.

Trinidad 197

Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 197

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2016

With wild populations in the Middle East estimated in the mere hundreds, any and every threat can have devastating results to the species’ long-term survival. Add to hunting, poisoning, and habitat loss and disturbance yet another man-made danger: war. It’s a sad state of affairs, but drastic times may call for such drastic measures.

Syria 100

Syria Turkey Hunting Humane 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2014

It is also known for the 500 exotic species of animals and plants that now call the Sunshine State home. Exotic species are animals that did not historically occur in Florida. Most were introduced, meaning they were brought to Florida by humans. One such species is the familiar mallard (Anas platyrhynchos).

Florida 201

Florida Ducks New Zealand Feral 201

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2014

My Dark-eyed Juncos are trilling in preparation to retreat to quieter breeding grounds, the Black-Capped Chickadees sing their two notes, and the Song Sparrows absolutely will not shut up. Snow Geese overgrazing their breeding grounds, displacing other Arctic-breeding species and setting themselves up for a fall.

Geese 177

Geese Montana Breeding Pelicans 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

It has recently been reclassified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List; this category is reserved for only the most threatened species in the world. If this bird did become extinct, it would be the first pheasant species to have been lost in the 400 years since proper records began.

Vietnam 154

Vietnam 2000 Germany Asia 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

The book is divided into three parts: “Introduction,” “Avifaunal Overview,” and “Species Accounts.” Not all habitat change is due to humans; there is Chestnut Blight destroying American Chestnuts in the early 1900s, and the more recent Dutch Elm disease. Most birders will go straight to the “Species Accounts.”

New York City 147

New York City New York Birds Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

The survival of songbirds depends in part upon eliminating illegal hunting. That means passing over the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, where you’re liable to get shot, trapped, or otherwise hunted. Fearing that a natural disaster, introduced species, or disease could wipe this fragile population out, the U.S.

Cambodia 143

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 143

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

But it wasn’t until he studied falconry’s appeal to centuries-old cultures–the Persians, English, Dutch, French, Chinese, Russians, and people of the Middle East–that Cade realized the sport of kings was slowly dying and would disappear along with the age-old mystique of a raptor returning to the human who trained her.

Falcons 173

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 173

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2015

Many of the great debates over human behavior, those related to things such as race or gender, are muddled and messy because plasticity is ignored. Plasticity in humans is probably modulated primarily through experience and enculturation. Presumably the humans keep away the predators.

Birds 117

Birds Research Humane Pets 117

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. This is another wetland species that nests in sometimes huge colonies atop trees bordering rivers and lakes.

Africa 235

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Mute Swans are large, white, and decorative, and as such their natural range has been significantly altered by humans who generally enjoy having them around. Within its European range, it was heavily hunted until the late 19th century, and the Mute Swan was subsequently a very rare bird to encounter in the wild.

Feral 168

Feral Europe Asia North America 168

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2013

There are some seven birds among the 100 most endangered species on the planet on the list of fauna and flora listed as the rarest by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Zoological Society of London – and this morning, I am after one of those! He asks if the wind generators can influence the bird numbers?

India 237

India Gazelles Endangered Species Pakistan 237

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

However, ongoing research at Sia Essential Species Repository (see below) reveals this is not always the case, and that there are actually five phases between albino and leucistic. If all her other toes eventually function perfectly, she could still hunt without that one non-essential talon. Will she be releasable?

Wildlife Rehabilitation 191

Wildlife Rehabilitation Wildlife Birds Delaware 191

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2012

On the first day, before the sun was even properly up, I already had one of my target species under my belt: the storied and spectacular White Stork. Not only is Spain a stronghold for these birds, but they are hard to miss — huge, bright white, social, and not in the least shy of humans and human dwelling-places.

Spain 169

Spain Europe Industry Rodents 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2011

By weird things I don’t mean human weird things, like for example wasting their time in wild places looking for unusual feathered animals and ticking them off a list, but things that fall outside of their usual repertoire of normal behaviour. It is easy to forget sometimes that birds can do weird things.

Albatross 177

Albatross Hawaii Seals Parrots 177

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2014

I was chatting with Gordon about this and we discussed how drones could be a safer way to get photos of birds or document birds for breeding surveys, but he was quick to point out, “You and I already have an idea of what a safe distance would be to test that out with an active bald eagle nest. Here’s a guy harassing Osprey.

Bald Eagle 191

Bald Eagle Mississippi Eagles Ducks 191

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

If this was America, we might not be concerned because starlings are an invasive species, at least in North America. But in Iraq, and more exactly, Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan, they are supposed to be there (and are regularly hunted and eaten) and the fighting is not supposed to be there. BBC has the story as a video.

Science 151

Science Iraq Research Birds 151

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? Kinabalu (at 13,455 feet the highest peak in southeast Asia), and human development that has resulted in freshwater rice fields, secondary forest, and oil palm plantations, this means that Borneo offers an incredibly high degree of biodiversity. Now, I’m not so sure.

Brunei 173

Brunei Birds Asia China 173

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

The USA’s only truly indigenous parrot was wiped out by a combination of factors, although direct persecution through hunting seems to have been the major contributor. Nearly 70 species of parrots have been recorded flying free at some stage or another in Miami, including Hyacinth Macaws. I suspect that it is just this.

Miami 131

Miami Parrots Research Birds 131

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. Penguins are flightless, but some species locomote over long distances on antarctic ice to travel between breeding grounds and the sea.

Penguins 189

Penguins Seals Peru Science 189

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

No one in the room–neither dog nor human–can tell which cup hides the biscuit. Understanding a pointed finger may seem easy, but consider this: while humans and canines can do it naturally, no other known species in the animal kingdom can. “Humans are unique. Hare could run a very profitable shell game.

Wolves 100

Wolves Fox Dogs Puppies 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. The Gray Crowned-Crane is a new addition to the list of the world’s Endangered species, creeping up a category from Vulnerable.

Endangered Species 185

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation. The species are taxonomically divided into two families: Tytonidae, Barn-Owls, and Strigidae, Owls, encompassed in one order, Strigiformes.

Owls 203

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. They may have also had hunting dogs with them as well. Which would be weird.

Turkey 199

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 199

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. New World Vultures.

California Condor 177

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

. … The ordinance would allow Minneapolis residents to establish cat “colonies” where abandoned and wild cats can be fed but also vaccinated, neutered and identified in an effort to humanely cut their population and control disease. The ordinance requires caretakers to “educate” people in their neighborhoods.

Feral Cats 203

Feral Cats Feral Cats Minneapolis 203

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). Larry’s BBOTY – Great Gray Owl.

2014 184

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 184

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2023

In total, there are eight species of hornbills in Borneo – the best place to see them seems to be the Kinabatagan River area (also known as Sukau). Another item they feed on is hunting edible bird nest swiftlets, which are quite common in edible swiftlet houses in Sabah, Malaysia ( source ).

Rhinoceros 125

Rhinoceros Singapore Transported Hunting 125

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2016

Out of just under 200 bird species I observed this year in SE Europe, there are 6 threatened species. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens.

Serbia 199

Serbia Greece Montenegro Bulgaria 199

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Sandhill Crane Hunt in Kentucky?! Sandhill Crane Hunt in Kentucky?! Tomorrow, MARCH 15, 2011, is the deadline for public comment on a proposal to hunt sandhill cranes in Kentucky. Kentucky Dept.

2011 241

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 241

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

Great Frigatebirds engage in “unihemispheric sleep” on hunting trips of six to ten days, never landing, sleeping less than an hour in a 24-hour cycle, often keeping one-half of their brain awake while the other slept. This is big, global-level stuff with amazing findings but worrisome data. It is often hard to be positive.

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 246

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

The story of the White-winged Guan , in some ways resembles the re-discovery of some species thought to be extinct. The decades of storage in a museum came after it was regarded as an extinct species. There were reasons to think that the White-winged Guan had been extirpated by over-hunting. The Guan was declared extinct.

Collecting 267

Collecting Peru Neglecting Hunting 267

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

For mankind to snatch away a species’ very existence is wrong on so many levels that I can’t begin to explain them. However, despite our best efforts to wipe them off the face of the earth, some of the more vulnerable species have managed to hang on. this species breeds. this species breeds.

Albatross 199

Albatross Endangered Species Geese Alaska 199