10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2014

It’s always tragic when a species goes extinct. But that tragedy is compounded when the species at risk is a country’s national bird. The sighting suggests that for all its struggles with habitat loss and hunting, the species is still managing to reproduce. Image of newly discovered juvenile Manumea by Moe Ulli).

Samoa 168

Samoa Bald Eagle Campaign Hunting 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2014

The Results of the 2014 Tricolored Blackbird Statewide Survey confirm that this species is in rapid decline. ” Blackbirds, among other species, are also killed every year for consuming sunflower seeds mostly in Minnesota and the Dakotas. See Birdchick’s post here. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

Blackbirds 185

Blackbirds California 2014 2013 185

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2016

In July 2013, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources held a meeting in Bremerhaven in Germany, to decide whether to turn the Ross Sea into a marine protected area. There are 11 species of birds that breed in the Ross Sea region. Photos (3) © Oceanwide Expeditions. And the Mammals.

Russia 165

Russia Penguins Whales Whaling 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

North America 142

North America Sparrows America United States 142

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

There is a lot of information out there about feeding birds—web pages, pamphlets from bird feed retail stores and Audubon centers. There is also a major section on 180 bird species that is 123 pages long, about 1/3 of the book. There is an audience for this type of information.

Birds 166

Birds New York City Squirrels New York 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2011

As you’ll remember, Kentucky’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources unanimously passed its sandhill crane hunting proposal. Why put additional pressure on a recovering species? One was “Superdad,” one of the few successful breeding whooping cranes in the entire eastern population. The proposal now goes to the U.S.

Kentucky 260

Kentucky Hunters Hunting Protest 260

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2013

The Florida sub-species of Burrowing Owl is now classified as a threatened species in Florida and it is one of the rarest sub-species of Burrowing Owls. Loss of habitat due to development, disturbance at burrows and negative interactions with humans are some of the threats facing this charismatic species.

Owls 228

Owls Florida Raised Coyotes 228

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, it’s more than that, because each essay also includes “a big idea, a method or technique or resource, about bird study in our age” (p. Each essay is entitled with the “big idea,” subtitled with the name of the bird species (common name and scientific name), and numbered. And, each essay tells a story.

Birds 114

Birds North America Breeding America 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2014

The socioecology of Monk Parakeets: Insights into parrot social complexity by Elizabeth Hobson, Michael Avery, and Timothy Wright, is a new paper in Auk , with this abstract: In many species, individuals benefit from social associations, but they must balance these benefits with the costs of competition for resources.

Parrots 198

Parrots Research Dogs Groups 198

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America covers 827 species, including resident, migratory, and common vagrant birds. The end result is that the whole “biographic” area (NCA plus southern Mexico and northern Nicaragua) is home to 41 endemic bird species.

El Salvador 229

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 229

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

All species are from the ABA area, and all groups must meet at least one of these criteria: (1) the group “represented a good opportunity to build core birding skills,” (2) the authors thought it was a group that needed “a refreshed treatment,” (3) the authors were intrigued by the group and wanted to present it using their unique format.

Birds 189

Birds Groups 2015 North America 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. The guide covers 1,433 species, the number of birds documented at the end of 2014, the cutoff point for the book.

Bolivia 168

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. This still leaves the user flipping through sections, looking for the species in question, though I don’t think there are many species with this habitat overlap.

Ecuador 164

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Birds 164

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

In addition to their homing tendency, breeding swallows are attracted to old nests. Completed nests during this breeding season cannot be touched without a permit from the U.S. You can download the information on controlling Cliff Swallows in PDF format from the University of California here. Fish and Wildlife Service.

San Diego 165

San Diego illegal California South America 165

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! Because I am relatively new to birding, this resource proved to be invaluable.

Iceland 182

Iceland Puffins Europe Birds 182

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2015

Offshore Sea Life ID Guide: West Coast is designed to be a quick, handy resource for use on whale watching and one-day pelagic trips. But, I did take many photos, and used the book, in spurts during the trip and more closely afterward, to identify three seabird species, two expected (Sooty and Black-vented Shearwaters) and one a surprise.

Dolphins 162

Dolphins Whales Whaling Porpoises 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Though Ron is based in Ontario his reports are eagerly anticipated by birders across the northeastern United States and eastern Canada because it takes into account a vast array of data to figure out which irruptive species might show up where. See individual species forecasts for details.

2012 204

2012 2013 Canada United States 204

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2015

Gordon, president of the ABA, an Introduction, Species Accounts, Acknowledgements, Image Credits, a Checklist of the Birds of the state, and a Species Index. Species Accounts in both titles are arranged loosely in ABA Checklist order, with some flipping around of order within each family.

Colorado 228

Colorado Florida Birds New Jersey 228

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. In 1951, there were 18 breeding pairs of cahows discovered on three tiny islands.

Birds 164

Birds Rats Breeding 2012 164

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2018

It’s not often that we have the opportunity to glimpse the home life of albatrosses, nor of any seabird species. We didn’t know much about migration routes, foraging away from the breeding colony, and feeding during migration, in the water and in the air. Technology to the rescue! What about incubation shifts?

Albatross 114

Albatross Penguins Research Breeding 114

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? Phillipps’ Field Guide (I’ll be using this shortened form of the title) covers 673 avian species, including 59 endemics, and 53 species that have not been documented yet for the area but which may show up in the next few years. Now, I’m not so sure.

Brunei 172

Brunei Birds Asia China 172

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2023

Birders often venture into various habitats, such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, or coastal areas, to encounter different bird species. The primary objective of birding is to identify bird species based on their physical characteristics, behavior, and vocalizations.

United States 147

United States North America Birds America 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

China 217

China Birds Pythons Eagles 217

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

” Writing about owls means writing about roughly 250 species (I counted 245 on the 2022 Clements spreadsheet, but I might have missed a few, and we all know that each classification system is different). The chapters on courtship and breeding and roosting and migration are the longest, which isn’t surprising.

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

Greeney, also part of the Helm Identification series, it focuses on two avian families, combining the information necessary for identification with the latest research on taxonomy and behavior, particularly breeding behavior, and the latest conservation news and status. Like Antpittas and Gnateaters by Harold F. Introduction.

Guinea 260

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 260

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). If you want to see photos of all 8 of them, there is a nice one-page leaflet online which is also the source of some of the information below. A good reason to come back soon then, I guess.

Rhinoceros 124

Rhinoceros Singapore Transported Hunting 124

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Covering 1,261 species with data and taxonomy current up to August 2017, the field guide is an exciting achievement. And, then there are the more familiar birds–Wood-warblers, sandpipers, hawks–some species migrants, some species with a wide range. Can you guess which of the species cited above are endemic?

America 211

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 211

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

Even if you have read about these research projects, Weidensaul’s accounts offer fresh angles and updated information. The 20-plus list of resources is organized by chapter, so there may be some repeats in the citations I counted, but I doubt there are many.) Pause again to think about having this superpower.).

Cyprus 244

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 244

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2022

There are quite a few raptor species around Skukuza. If you want to get some irrelevant information on hornbills, please read my previous post on them. Most likely, the devil, not god created this species. While some bustards are the largest bird species capable of flight, the Black-bellied Bustard is only mid-sized.

Birds 147

Birds Africa Eagles Barn Owls 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2013

And, in that area there is something every bird lover will be interested in: I’ve recently heard that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources may be implementing a new policy dictated by the realities of climate change. “The birds” as a whole will be “fine” but many individual species will not.

Maryland 215

Maryland Birds Penguins Wildlife 215

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2014

If the whole thing passed you by then Mother Jones did a good piece on why zoos sometimes have to kill individuals for the good of the species. The drug that turned the White-rumped Vulture from the “most abundant large bird of prey in the world” in 1985 to a species that is critically endangered.

Lions 150

Lions Giraffes Zoos Killing 150

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Several years ago, I read about the enormous colonies of breeding birds in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and I did some research to satisfy my curiosity. ( Google Scholar is an excellent resource and free full-text PDFs can be located for many papers, particularly when research is taxpayer-funded. It is all business.

Transported 113

Transported 2011 Research 2012 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Hunting sandhill cranes in Kentucky is a bad idea from a public relations standpoint, considering the growing cadre of birders and nature enthusiasts for whom cranes are a touchstone species. Initiating a hunting season on a large, charismatic species like a crane is no way to resuscitate hunting.

2011 239

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 239

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2016

They are in large flocks when they roost of several thousand birds, but often they will roost among their own species. These two species are renowned for preferring to lie flat on the wet sand once the tide drops rather than stand around waiting for the tide to drop. They have a website for reporting shorebirds throughout the Flyway.

Taiwan 100

Taiwan 2012 2015 2014 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2017

The guide covers 520 species of birds regularly found in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, including, interestingly, a number of exotic species. There is also a traditional index to bird species, by common and scientific name. Species Accounts are arranged taxonomically, grouped by family.

North America 161

North America America Birds New York 161

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2018

What do you do when you are a bird guide in a Central American country incredibly rich in birds and other natural resources but which has no birding field guide? Species Accounts. The Species Accounts are arranged in a rough AOS taxonomic order. You write your own. And, what do you do when you can’t find a publisher?

Honduras 103

Honduras Birds 2015 Family 103

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

Basically, this species is so dimwitted, it doesn’t know how to survive. Because, Pink Pigeons are not capable of doing the tasks required to create and bring up children of the species. Don’t these birds care about propagating their species? On the WCS web page, Ms. What happened to Thelma and Louise?

Mauritius 101

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 101