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NYC mystery warbler: Odd Blackpoll, hybrid, or Carbonated Warbler?

10,000 Birds

I’d seen nine warbler species, Baltimore Orioles , a brilliant Scarlet Tanager , and what seemed like dozens of catbirds when an odd warbler caught my eye. The mystery bird looked something like a male Blackpoll Warbler in alternate (breeding) plumage, but it was yellow and black instead of black and white.

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WPAs: America’s Duck Factories

10,000 Birds

The potholes and associated grasslands create North America’s most productive habitat for breeding waterfowl, making it an area of global significance for Mallards , Northern Pintails , Blue-winged Teals , Gadwalls , Northern Shovelers , and others. Established in 1962, Fergus Falls WMD is located in western central Minnesota.

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Tricolored Blackbird in Trouble in California

10,000 Birds

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. Click on photos for full sized images. See Birdchick’s post here.

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The Popular Barn Swallow

10,000 Birds

Nest at Blue Mounds State Park, Minnesota. Another cool fact was learning that the Barn Swallows has started to breed in South America since the 80s. This is quite a remarkable fact if one thinks that this is the only (and first to do this) migratory bird to change its breeding and migratory habits. Photo Alfredo Begazo.

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Great Gray Owl: Seeing the Ghost

10,000 Birds

Though hardly common, Great Gray sightings are a yearly occurrence in Western Montana, and it is one of the twelve species of owl known to breed in the state. As a result, its territory in the Rocky Mountains extends far south of the bulk of its range. Photos courtesy of Asta So. *I Birding Great Gray Owl owls'

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How many birds are killed by windmills and other green energy projects?

10,000 Birds

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service , there are about 10 billion breeding birds in the US. The maximum population size may be closer to 20 billion in the fall, and 10 billion at the start of the Spring breeding season. If, however you pick the 10,000 number, they will be randomly distributed among the lest common 10 species.

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Come@Me: Snowy Owls are Superior in Every Way to Great Gray Owls

10,000 Birds

There are many species that captivate those looking at them: Burrowing Owls , Barn Owls , a variety of fishing-owls, Stygian Owl , Elf Owl , the list goes on and on. Snowy Owl irruptions are relatively predictable and often huge, with birds arriving as far south of their normal breeding range as Florida and the Bahamas.

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