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Horrible Hybrids

10,000 Birds

Lesser Scaup has only a slight black tip to the beak, while this bird had a clear black band. Further research revealed the Bird Hybrids blog ( [link] ) has several revealing photographs of this (and many other) hybrids. My hunch was Tufted Duck x Pochard. Svensson notes that Tufted drake x Pochard duck is “now a well-known hybrid”.

Geese 178
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American Birding Association Field Guide to Birds of Ontario: A Field Guide Review

10,000 Birds

Every species account (well, most every account) includes information on habitat and talk briefly about range and distribution (there are no range maps in this guide); it is usually noted if the species breeds in Ontario, and often noted if it is migratory or residential year-round. © 2023 by Chris Earley and Scott & Nix, Inc.,

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Flock to Marion

10,000 Birds

These two islands are about halfway between the tip of South Africa and Antarctica in the Subantarctic Indian Ocean, have had relatively few human visitors, and are primarily inhabited with some of the rarest seabirds in the world and a smaller number of mammals. Salvin’s Prion. The marine protected area status was designated in 2013.

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What to Do at High Island When the Winds are South

10,000 Birds

Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary was an amazing and unexpected treat, but that’s because I failed to do my research. I should have known that birding High Island meant I would be 20 minutes away from a place where hundreds of thousands of shorebirds and waterbirds rest, feed, breed, and generally have a good time. Clapper Rail.

Houston 200
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Birding Sepilok, Borneo (Part 2)

10,000 Birds

Though in terms of aesthetics, their nests are not much to look at – a paper (in Thai, but with an English summary) describes the nest as “a bulky, untidy ball hanging from the tip of a branch of stick with an average height of 1.39 You can see why here.

Birds 201
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The “Rufa” Red Knot is now protected under the Endangered Species Act

10,000 Birds

One of the two sub-species of Red Knot occurring in North America, the Rufa subspecies breeds in the Canadian Artic Region and migrates along the east or Atlantic coast of the United States. The other sub-species, Calidris canutus roselaari , migrates along the Pacific Coast and breeds in Alaska and the Wrangel Island in Russia.

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Searching for the Elusive and Less-Colorful: The Sinaloa Martin

10,000 Birds

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. The non-breeding distribution is virtually unknown, although they are suspected to winter in northern South America (Howell and Web 1995). Very little is known about this enigmatic species.