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Birds in Winter: A Book Review, Written in Winter

10,000 Birds

The book offers numerous facts about many species, findings of hundreds of research projects, notes on trends and exceptions from the norm, but little that captures the poetry of winter bird behavior or ignites a passion for change. Page 53, Illustration by Margaret La Farge, used by permission of Princeton University Press, [link].

Research 176
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Birds of Central America: A Field Guide Review

10,000 Birds

The guide covers the all–1194 species in the Species Accounts, including 959 native breeding species, 219 Nearctic migrants, 8 breeding visiting species, and 5 introduced species. Of the native breeding species, 112 are endemic or “very nearly endemic.” (Can Can you guess which of the species cited above are endemic?

America 214
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How much bird is there, anyway?

10,000 Birds

Here’s some data from the famous research project of Manu, Peru, giving biomass in kilograms per hectare. There are probably other major trends that depend, for example, on latitude and timing. But if you look at a bit of prairie in South Dakota during the dead of winter, you may see very few birds and a lot of bison.

Mammals 179