10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Visiting from California, he had visited local gardens and trails with me, spent time by the pool, and took a few mini-canoe trips. Each time, a small notebook tagged along with me, and I would note the bird species I spotted, then put it away. Gwynn sat behind me in the canoe as we paddled lazily around a shallow lake.

Florida 261

Florida Birds Mississippi Laws 261

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2019

In addition to spotting exciting new species in Florida, including the rare Snail Kite, travel across the country brought me into contact with birds in Oregon, California, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, and more. With my new job, I feel privileged to work towards protecting vulnerable species each and very day.

Bald Eagle 147

Bald Eagle Alabama Kansas Florida 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

The vast majority of you reading this accept it is happening, and for the time being it is caused by humans. I doubt we have to worry about Herring Gulls , Ruby-throated Hummingbirds or California Towhees going extinct, though their abundance and distribution will surely shift in time. Climate Change. It’s that simple.

North America 216

North America Birds San Francisco Suffering 216

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2018

A 1978 paper in SORA indicates that Blue Jays had gone from “few extralimital records” prior to 1972 to rare but regular across the mountain West and into California, Washington and Oregon, with 220 extralimital records in the wither of 76-77 alone. 1978, for reference, was the year of my birth.

New York Times 140

New York Times Montana Oregon Deer 140

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2016

Sandhill Cranes , ancient and currently abundant – the most abundant species of crane in the world – are nevertheless almost miraculous to me every time I see them. The five subspecies – Greater, Lesser, Mississippi, Florida, Cuban – show the genetic marks of what the species has had to do to survive.

California Condor 158

California Condor Mississippi Florida Montana 158

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2021

In an effort to better understand the “human dimension” of its conservation efforts, several surveys were conducted, including the National Birdwatching Survey (NBS). Nationally, most birdwatching occurred in California (9%), followed by New York (6%), Texas (5%), Pennsylvania (5%), Florida (5%), and Ohio (4%).

Minnesota 264

Minnesota Research Pennsylvania Ohio 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2012

Birders in Northern California have been treated to rare sightings of several species, sending avid twitchers from all over the west in our direction. Personally, I’m waiting for the irruption of Snowy Owls to reach northern California! They also can be easily attracted to nest boxes (plans available here ).

Owls 179

Owls California Jordan Sparrows 179

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2018

Major extinction events that are geologically instantaneous have been followed by periods of time with reduction of species or unstable habitats that last for hundreds of thousands or millions of years. There are about 10,000 species of them, after all, which is a lot for a vertebrate. But, that is also a naive view.

2018 101

2018 Science Humane Species 101

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

There’s something very matter-of-fact about seeking out non-native target species. If we have to endure yet another invasion from some or another Old World species, at least this one is pleasant to look at. And why not make a trip, even if it’s undeniably less exciting than a California Thrasher or a Heerman’s Gull.

San Diego 178

San Diego California Unwanted Texas 178

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

A week ago today, the federal government proposed a “threatened” listing for the Greater Sage Grouse in Nevada and California , as part of a larger study considering whether the species as a whole should be listed. Conservation Endangered Species Act Greater Sage Grouse sage-grouse'

Nevada 160

Nevada Endangered Species Montana Humane 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The report identifies 33 species that do not meet the Watch List criteria but are declining rapidly in many areas. These birds have lost more than half their global population, and the 33 species combined have lost hundreds of millions of breeding individuals in just the past 40 years.

North America 188

North America 2014 California Birds 188

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

I don’t consider my little garden to be a terribly birdy patch, although years of observation have resulted in my seeing 59 species there (64, if you count the White-throated Swifts , Black and Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks and Common Ravens that may fly high overhead). Días de precipitación = Days of precipitation.

Nashville 168

Nashville 2015 Mexico Turkey 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. Self-cleaning pens, never-empty feed buckets,” wrote Angel in South Carolina and Zoe in California. “A wrote Veronica in California. “I It’s August, and first on the menu is: Fried Rehabber. That’s easy!”

Wildlife 246

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2014

Many gringos make their way to Baja California Sur every year, although the majority are probably heading to Cabo San Lucas to party and test the human limit of tequila endurance. Destinations Baja California Sur I Am Birder Mexico' What better way to start the year than with a visit to Mexico? You will be content.

California 220

California San Jose Birds Mexico 220

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2016

They get a bad rap due to their dependence on carrion to survive, but I look at it a different way: these species do not have to kill in order to thrive! Most humans cannot say that. Columbia has chosen one of the world’s most massive flying species as its national bird: the Andean Condor.

California Condor 100

California Condor Livestock Endangered Species Killing 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. There’s more than one song per warbler? There is so much here!

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Human access is very limited to the lake, with very few hiking trails around the lake, mostly to the south area, which provides good viewing points to much of the lake. Certainly what I would consider to be an under birded area, eBird.com lists 232 species on 397 total check lists. Boats are allowed, but no gas motors can be used.

Mexico 132

Mexico Tucson Arizona Ducks 132

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

Lakeview Oregon is located in central Oregon, just north of the California border, and is the highest altitude city in the state. During the weekend that I was there, it was announced that there were over 1300 fires burning just within the state of Oregon, not to mention California, Washington, Montana and British Columbia, Canada.

Oregon 100

Oregon Birds Montana California 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

such as California Condors and Passenger Pigeons. His parents moved where opportunity beckoned, taking him from San Angelo, Texas, to Columbus, New Mexico, then to Dallas, and finally on to California. Author Sherrida Woodley thinks deeply about dearly departed birds. She’s already written about Rachel Carson: Secret Birder.

Falcons 179

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 179

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

For whatever reason, however, yesterday on my way to work my mind wasn’t with our upcoming spring, but with September’s in California. The gulls that spent months attacking any human on the place are content to loaf around and ignore you. California Sea Lions porpoised through the clear water. And there where whales.

Whales 157

Whales Whaling Sharks Bats 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. The California Condor has a story well-known by anyone with an interest in birds.

California Condor 181

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 181

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2011

The bold gray-and-white birds know what humans are good for and that is as a source of food! Gray Jays are resident in the boreal forest from Alaska south as far as northern California, and across Canada to Labrador, which might account for another of their monikers, Canada Jay.

Washington 172

Washington Wisconsin Minnesota Michigan 172

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2012

When staying with Daisy’s family in Yorba Linda, California, I often wake up early in the morning and take the short walk up to the southern end of Carbon Canyon Regional Park to do some birding. Despite, or maybe because of the active human intervention, quite a few species can be seen in a couple hours in the morning. (I

Coyotes 101

Coyotes California Mammals Sparrows 101

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2017

We encountered a vicious storm, that convinced us the take a break, find some shelter, and head into Eureka, California. Both species frequent the marina that I live in, and are quite common throughout the entire tidal areas of the La Paz area. Now, both Yellow-crowne d and Black-crowned Night Herons are part of my daily observations.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Shelters Canada California 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2020

After some hours of recording in northern California, and then, painstaking analysis and listening, he determined the number to be 37, at which point he, palpably exultant, announces to the reader: “a decades-long quest fulfilled.”. To humans, birdsong is akin to Joycean language, isn’t it? It’s not a field guide, as such.

Virginia 243

Virginia Boston North America 2020 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2017

You see, up to this point, let’s say 1972, perhaps 1973, I had never really been exposed to a “Threatened, or Endangered” species of any kind. Much like every beautiful sandy beach, the human encroachment is substantial. Not for lack of trying, mind you.

Oregon 102

Oregon Defenders Of Wildlife Endangered Species Mexico 102

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

There are the endemics, which are odd in their own way, and then there introduced species, which are so varied in their type and origin that you get the feeling you’ve arrived at the aftermath of a small zoo that escaped. What is surprising is quite how many species did end up here, and how economically unimportant they were.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 161

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2013

The species is being re-introduced in Colombia and Ecuador where the condors are either locally extinct or persist in very low numbers. The cause of this decline is not necessarily poisoning by humans, but this is just a contributing factor. Populations of Andean condors have experienced a steady decline in the last three decades.

Livestock 175

Livestock Chile Colombia Ecuador 175

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Boobies ( Sula leucogaster ), Islas Coronado, Baja California © David J. Other birds with webbed feet, including ducks and geese, have only three webbed toes; the hallux (which in birds is usually the “hind toe&# and in humans, the “big toe&# ) is free. And, the birds are awesome.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2019

This Loggerhead Shrike ( Lanius ludovicianus ) was a life bird for me at the Salton Sea in California in 2018. But history doesn’t seem to have recorded which species of bird first dared to land on an electrical wire. Have been driven sideways at intervals handy for human legs. As Daniel L. Yet they are ours. We made them.

United States 117

United States Game North America New York City 117

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Long ago I preached the idea that rapid climate change was more important (in a negaive way) than large climate change, and suggested that the Holocene was different from earlier time periods (and thus, for instance, humans invented agriculture and large areas of forest developed, etc.) because the Holocene had little rapid climate change.

Penguins 199

Penguins Birds Cooking Fish 199

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

If this was America, we might not be concerned because starlings are an invasive species, at least in North America. Last year, beginning about Halloween, thousands of juvenile auklets started washing ashore dead from California’s Farallon Islands to Haida Gwaii (also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) off central British Columbia.

Science 151

Science Iraq Research Birds 151

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2014

It also brings to mind the uncontested link between animal abuse and violent behavior toward fellow humans. What I want to know is: a hundred feet away, how can these people tell the difference between a crow and a raven, which is a protected species?” You shoot a bullet up, sooner or later it has to come down.

Killing 272

Killing Slaughter Slaughtered Animal Abuse 272

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2011

While we continue to decimate our short and tall grass prairies many species reach their inevitable peril. Here in Colorado many species are affected, but perhaps none more than our beautiful Mountain Plovers and Ferruginous Hawks. The Pawnee National Grasslands continues to be a stronghold for our two species in question.

Prairie Dogs 163

Prairie Dogs Colorado North Dakota Soreing 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2013

Yellow-billed Magpie populations took a big hit when the West Nile Virus reached California’s Central Valley in 2004. For example, in California, populations of birds like Aleutian Cackling Goose have dramatically increased…but where did our Fulvous Whistling-Ducks go? Consequently, we now live in an age of splitting.

San Diego 170

San Diego California Condor California Bald Eagle 170

Animal Ethics

AUGUST 24, 2012

Since this will require increased human intervention in human practices that threaten rare or endangered species (e.g., Since this will require increased human intervention in human practices that threaten rare or endangered species (e.g., Too little is not enough. (

Los Angeles 40

Los Angeles 2004 Animal Endangered Species 40

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2013

She has lived in Maine, California, France, New York, and currently makes her home in Virginia Beach Always bringing her camera along, Erika is building her life-list by trying to check off at least one new species each week in her field guide. What fascinated me, however, was another species I had never seen before, the Least Tern.

Florida 164

Florida DC Washington Birds 164