10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

In China, wherever there is one real tourist attraction (like the Great Wall), the local strategy seems to be to add some fake attractions – replicas of palaces or tombs, amusement parks, shopping centers – in order to maximize the income from tourists.

China 254

China Birds Pythons Eagles 254

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Of course, it is hard to resist looking at a paper titled “Host personality predicts cuckoo egg rejection in Daurian redstarts” Basically, the personality of a female redstart (bold or shy) predicts the responses to parasitic eggs – bold hosts are more likely to reject parasitic eggs.

Birds 223

Birds China Eggs Owls 223

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2021

One Oriental Pratincole of them was courageously raising its wings when I unknowingly drove towards its eggs – I reversed, but I am not so sure about the next person using that road … Being yelled at by the chick of an Oriental Pratincole. The birding life.

Birds 245

Birds Uganda Breeding Rats 245

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

In contrast, the females need to make sure not to get duped into raising actual cuckoos – the buntings are a targeted host species ( source ). Fortunately for the buntings, they seem to detect most cuckoo eggs smuggled in (75% in one study). Better safe than sorry. So much for this post’s pseudo-philosophical thought.

Birds 238

Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 238

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

Shanghai parks are rather crowded and noisy places, but the goshawks – who unlike me have lived in China all their lives – apparently do not mind. Apparently, after a male first mates with a female, he throws out the first one or two eggs she lays in their nest. But it is all for science, I hear them say.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147