10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The section South Georgia Wildlife describes 65 species of birds, 20 species of sea mammals, nearly 60 species of insects, and more than 40 species of flowering and nonflowering plants. They breed in dense colonies, incubate their single egg on the feet, and take more than a year to fledge a chick.

Georgia 173

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 173

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2011

I missed some very common species. Some were glaring misses since I started the year with a goal of 600 species (while working). Bicknell’s Thrush is a bird that is important to me because I grew up in New York’s Catskill Mountains, one of the places that it breeds. Today, in 2011, there are 956 or is it 957 species?

New York City 157

New York City New York New Hampshire Research Center 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

For my new book, due out in 2012 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, I’ve been researching sandhill crane hunting. The sandhill crane has the lowest recruitment rate (average number of young birds joining a population each season) of any bird now hunted in North America. to a high of 11%.

2011 241

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 241