10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

Even if we couldn’t find time to raise the bins at a favorite patch, it only takes momentary glances into the sky and hearing chip notes from the trees to remind us that birds are on the move. Migration is happening. Every birder knows it. The old neighborhood standbys are quiet or maybe gone.

Costa Rica 142

Costa Rica South America Tennessee 2019 142

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? It makes me think what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? Why am I here?

Sri Lanka 256

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 256

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2014

August arrived and I was releasing birds knowing they’d need time to adapt prior to making that long flight across the Gulf of Mexico, headed to South America. Their population is in serious decline, so their breeding colonies are monitored by biologists. Finally, it was just Sophie left.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 213

Wildlife Rehabilitation Ohio Tulsa West Virginia 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

If you remember that the first edition of Sibley was published with “National Audubon Society” on the cover, raise your hand. And now we have the third iteration in Audubon’s guide book history: National Audubon Society Birds of North America. I didn’t.). This is a fairly large book: 907 pages; 7.38

North America 278

North America America Birds California Condor 278

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. Like most maps, colors are used to indicate seasonal status (breeding resident, Austral migrant/visitor, Boreal migrant, etc.). Distribution maps are also different from other field guides.

Bolivia 167

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 167

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Perhaps the most complicated and bizarre mating system is that of the Rheas of South America. They live in flocks in the open country shrubland of Southern South America. Females end up mating with several males laying eggs in as many nests as partners they can have during a breeding season. Photo: Antoine Hubert.

Eggs 152

Eggs South America Raised America 152

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

This book is essentially about those birds that breed on the continent south of the Sahara, a topic few birders are familiar with. A few years ago, in the American Birding Association FB group I posted a question: Where would you go if funds weren’t a problem?

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2011

Its first flight will take it from its burrow, usually on the west coast of the United Kingdom, to the coast of South America, an extraordinary journey for an unaccompanied minor. The world’s largest Manx Shearwater colony is on Skomer, an island off the south-west coast of Wales, UK.

United Kingdom 159

United Kingdom Brazil Eggs Abandon 159

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2011

For native people, living in South America meant living with hummingbirds, and for Europeans, discovering South American meant discovering hummingbirds (and, tragically, exploiting South America meant exploiting hummingbirds, destroying hundreds of thousands for stuffed specimens and in futile attempts to keep them alive in captivity.)

South America 156

South America New York Alaska America 156

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

We are familiar with the story, birds flying north in the boreal summer, taking advantage of the warmth, long days, and abundant insect life, to raise their young. This population’s breeding range is covers much of the Eastern Arctic, from northern Labrador up to Ellesmere, in as far west as the Kivaliq region (Rankin Inlet, Arviat).

Africa 191

Africa Somalia North America Nigeria 191

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2022

And I found this one because he was singing his heart out quite persistently, which certainly suggests a bird that wants to settle down and raise a family. So yes, this appears to be a breeding population.]. And since I don’t go to the lake very often in late spring, I rarely get to see these Avocets in their breeding plumage.

Mexico 208

Mexico 2018 Ducks Breeding 208