10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2023

During the breeding season, some Cattle Egrets look like teenage girls who have just discovered the existence of make-up, and consequently massively overdo it. While having somebody else raise your chicks like an attractive strategy to me, it is not without dangers. It is probably all downhill from here. What’s next?

Birds 130

Birds Raised Cattle Mammals 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

A lovely looking and distinctive sounding bird (so they say, I sadly have not seen one…yet), the Kirtland’s Warbler can only be found during its breeding season in Jack Pine forests 5 to 20 years old in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Leopold and his friend Richard Loeb are two of the most infamous murderers in U.S.

Michigan 227

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 227

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

It looked like a family of parrots were trying to kill each other” The Black-backed Puffback has what eBird describes as “a fiery red eye” eBird also explains the name: “When excited, males can raise fluffy white feathers on the rump to resemble a puffball.”

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

The species that manage to colonize these islands evolve in competition with relatively few other species, developing survival strategies based on interdependence, co-evolution, and mutualism rather than adapting to deal with a broad range of predators and competitors. Nests were in hollows in palm trees.

Cuba 244

Cuba Parrots Collecting Columbus 244

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

As with Chinese male humans, having your own building is still vital to raising young. There was a breeding pair at Binjiang Forest Park this June. So, the birds start collecting mud and small sticks. Nest building: a good activity for a rainy day. You should try it too. Not going for the obvious either. Sometimes it works.

Birds 184

Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 184

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

I have written about the interesting sex life of these jacanas a few times already (short version: female mates with male, lays a bunch of eggs for him to incubate and raise the chicks, leaves him, finds another male, repeat). The Little Grebe is of course a very common bird that can still surprise by its beauty in its breeding plumage.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147