10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Pough “with illustrations in color of every species” by Don Eckelberry, Doubleday, 1946. The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. The press material says it covers over 800 species, so you know I had to do a count.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2016

After collecting nearly 70K bird photos, he felt that it was time to share them, so he now has his bird blog in order to do just that! La Paz, the capital city of Baja California Sur, the southern half of the Mexican Baja, has been a real joy, with both the desired weather, and a much expanded variety of bird species. Mom on nest.

San Diego 175

San Diego Seattle Eggs California 175

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2013

Peripatetic ornithologist Nick Sly has long been a friend of the blog here and has contributed such classics as Green-rumped Parrotlets from Egg to Adult and Forpus passerinus and the Ornithologists of Masaguaral. This kind of detailed genetic and developmental work has traditionally relied on model species in the lab (aka chickens).

Panama 214

Panama Research Investigation Chickens 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

Ridgway himself had 23 species, 10 subspecies, and two genera of birds named for him, including Ridgway’s Hawk.) The team explored Nevada and Utah, with Ridgway collecting thousands of bird specimen, plus nests and eggs for the Smithsonian. That’s a photo of Ridgway’s office on the right, fifth floor of the South Tower.

Collecting 150

Collecting Illinois United States Science 150

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2015

The species was in the news because some scientists had finally managed (or bothered – it’s much the same thing) to locate the population high in the mountains of the Solomon Islands, and catch and photograph one. I’m not going to rehash the arguments for scientific collecting here. Box after box of egg.

Collecting 225

Collecting Solomon Islands New Zealand Fiji 225

10,000 Birds

MAY 29, 2011

Right now it is almost all male birds, staking out territories, filling the tundra with song. Breeding is well underway and everywhere you look the Glaucous Gulls are, ahem, engaged or collecting grasses and sedges for nests. Most of the breeding birds returning here will arrive within the next 10 days to two weeks. And battles.

Bald Eagle 126

Bald Eagle Iceland Owls North America 126

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Do not buy these books, unless you are collecting old bird books. First published in 1973 in association with the Asa Wright Center, the book focuses on species descriptions, with illustrations grouped together in plates positioned in the center of the book. The AOU has not accepted that split. And, they are beautiful.

Trinidad 199

Trinidad Birds South America Research 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. The Gray Crowned-Crane is a new addition to the list of the world’s Endangered species, creeping up a category from Vulnerable.

Endangered Species 194

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 194

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

It didn’t occur to me till I started reading The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird that there was also a possible threat to the eagle herself: poachers, who steal raptor eggs and chicks. McWilliam realizes he’s dealing someone special, a career falcon egg-thief.

Falcons 216

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 216

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

The most common species we see are the Stoke’s Sea Snake Astrotia stokesii , Dubois’ Sea Snake Aipysurus duboisii and the Olive Sea Snake Aipysurus laevis. Speaking of pregnant snakes, do sea snakes lay their eggs ashore like sea turtles or do they keep them internally until the young are ready to hatch/ be born, like some sharks?

Australia 151

Australia 2011 Sharks Deer 151

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2022

In most years, that wouldn’t be all that special — the lake is normally where I can see the most species in a single day, so I usually go there first. These photos exaggerate the size difference between the two species, which is actually so minimal as to be almost useless for ID purposes.). Was it practicing?

Falcons 188

Falcons Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2024

When not climbing, he collected species, and thus a number of birds are named after him. While the Bornean Forktail looks quite similar to the White-crowned Forktail, it apparently is a separate species, making it another Borneo endemic. Of course, only chemists have a rough idea what that might mean.

Birds 230

Birds Indonesia Breeding Charlotte 230

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

It’s a unique bird, even its scientific name is wonderful, so it’s not surprising that Gerard Gorman, Woodpecker Expert Supreme, has written a book all about the species. I was surprised to learn that there are two Wryneck species in the Jynx genus: Eurasian Wryneck, Jynx torquilla, and Red-throated Wryneck, Jynx ruficollis.

Woodpeckers 240

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 240

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

There are important details within that dictum that we will ignore here, but this has to do with knowing when a characteristic doesn’t really tell you about the relative position of species on a “tree of life” vs when the characteristic works for that purpose. Therefore, humans are fish with feet, right? Think about it.

Monkeys 140

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 140

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2012

Although designed as a field guide, it is a hefty book, 376 pages long, covering 336 species. Many species are dimorphic, with females looking different from males. Many species also differ with age. And, there are some odonate species that include andromorphs, females which look like the males. Yes, 675 photographs.

United States 237

United States Costa Rica Massachusetts North America 237

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

The guide covers 747 breeding residents or regular migrants, 29 introduced species, and 160 vagrants, a total of 936 species. Honeyeaters are “active, noisy and pugnacious” and there are a lot of them–76 species–in Australia. The colored font is also used to indicate measurements, voice, and notes.

Australia 108

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 108

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

For instance, I can lay my hands on data for primates and rodents (because I’ve collected those data for research) but I don’t have comparable data for bovids (just selected data) and zero data for birds (in spreadsheets on my computer). The largest bird, forming the short bar on the right of the bird histogram, is a swan.

Mammals 177

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

The lack of people does not mean we have any less extinct or threatened bird species than other countries. Even the first explorers to Australia documented there was a risk of extinction of birds and animals into the future and subsequently decided to collect as many specimens as possible!

Species 175

Species Australia Birds Parrots 175

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2015

In Broome it is very easy to get 100 species on January 1st, which looks great for a while, but then you realise that before long other Beat Writers have jumped on aeroplanes and wandered further from home than we have. An Eastern Osprey nests in the lighthouse tower at Gantheaume Point, so always check that area for the species.

2015 186

2015 2014 Ducks Ponies 186

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2013

I couldn’t wait to give names to all my new species. I tried using the Internet, but found it frustrating for all the usual reasons; websites either didn’t include all species or were difficult to use for identification. Each species account is 2-pages long, one page of text and one page of photographs.

Ireland 176

Ireland France Breeding Eggs 176

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2021

The holidays started early this year, with the first night of Hannukah coming right at the end of Thanksgiving weekend! We review what the publishers, distillers, or manufacturers send us, or what catches our collective eye, or what we have time for. And similarly with 99 other birds — raptors, songbirds, ducks, and otherwise.

Birds 244

Birds Colombia Collecting Bald Eagle 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2018

This species has suffered rapid population reductions across most of its range owing to the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its habitat and land-use changes in eastern Europe, says IUCN’s Red List. In the last year, a broken bustard eggshell was found, but since no displaying was observed, those could have been unfertilized eggs.

Hungary 151

Hungary Serbia Austria Eggs 151

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

The IOC world birdlist recognizes 90 species that bear the name “weaver” or “malimbe” Not all of these are true weavers as we will discuss below. There are currently 64 recognized species in this genus, a remarkable number indeed, and this includes the 5 Asian and 2 Malagasy species.

Tanzania 226

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 226

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2023

The Ashy Tailorbird is a good example of the different perspectives of describing a bird – while the English name focuses on the body of the bird, the Latin species name ruficeps refers to the rufous head. The split makes the bird one of the six species endemic to Sabah, Borneo ( source ), four of which I saw during my week at Sepilok.

Woodpeckers 215

Woodpeckers Birds Eggs India 215

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2022

A study has shown that they make false alarm calls when seeing other species such as meerkats with attractive food. The Green-winged Pytilia was previously mostly called Melba Finch, which is also its Latin species name (melba), even though nobody seems to be quite clear about what the melba means or where it comes from.

South Africa 190

South Africa Africa Birds Cape Verde 190

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2022

Echidna-egg laying mammal-500th post. Great Bowerbirds collecting blue items. More than three hundred bird species have been recorded in Broome and there is plenty of variety. Over time we have noticed changes in the bird species that visit and different times of year offer different species. Foster to Fish Creek.

Australia 147

Australia Singapore Birds Battery 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl covers every residential, migrating, vagrant, exotic, and introduced swan, goose, dabbling and diving duck in North America (Canada and the United States): 62 Species Accounts on four swan species and one vagrant subspecies; 15 goose species; 46 duck species; plus accounts for hybrid geese, ducks and exotics.

Ducks 121

Ducks North America Geese Hunters 121