10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

The speaker turned out to be Tim Laman, and the topic was the incredible research he and Ed Scholes had spent years doing on birds of paradise in New Guinea. The introductory material is organized and written clearly, giving both background on the bird families and an explanation of how species-level is organized in the next two sections.

Guinea 264

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. And the term is ‘non-reversed size dimorphism.’).

North America 229

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 229

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

There is much to enjoy and appreciate here and I only wish I could have tested out some of these species accounts in pelagic waters before writing about them (sadly, the 10,000 Birds pelagic to Antarctica was canceled this year). SCOPE & SPECIES ORGANIZATION. It covers 434 species across 9 orders and 18 families of birds.

Albatross 279

Albatross Penguins Family Groups 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2014

In this book, rare birds are species “for which, on average, only 5 or fewer individuals have been found annually in North America since around 1950.” Species that were once seen rarely and have now become more common, like Clay-colored Thrush, are not included. Rare Birds of North America covers 265 species within these parameters.

North America 258

North America America Birds United States 258

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Similarly, descriptions of species repeated across volumes do not lose their accuracy with each publication. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 223

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 223

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2017

The 7th edition of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America covers 1,023 species that reside, migrate, or have been documented as accidentals or exotics in North America. Species Accounts: With 1,023 species, National Geographic 7 continues to cover the most species of any North American field guide.

North America 186

North America America 2017 Birds 186

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

There are over 11,000 species of moths in North America. I have a hard enough time with the 1,103 bird species on the ABA Checklist. Organization and Content. The Southeastern guide doesn’t; I imagine this was to save space in a book with 300 additional species. Let that sink in.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

North America 154

North America Sparrows America United States 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

All species are from the ABA area, and all groups must meet at least one of these criteria: (1) the group “represented a good opportunity to build core birding skills,” (2) the authors thought it was a group that needed “a refreshed treatment,” (3) the authors were intrigued by the group and wanted to present it using their unique format.

Birds 190

Birds Groups 2015 North America 190

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

There are 35 raptor species that have a presence in the United States and Canada, 56 (more or less) if you count by subspecies, and they are all covered in admirable, exhausting, unbelievable detail in B irds of Prey of the East: A Field Guide and Birds of Prey of the West: A Field Guide by Brian K. Species Accounts.

North America 196

North America Birds Mississippi Bald Eagle 196

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

For birders, it’s the extremely large book, shelved in a place where it can’t crush the field guides, used to research the history of a bird in their area. You can see the Species Account for Henslow’s Sparrow above, in the banner photo. The second page is the map page. Let’s hear it for the return of the forest!

Pennsylvania 236

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

UNLESS that is you get yourself down to the internationally-renowned Tambopata Research Centre in southern Peru where literally hundreds of macaws (and other parrots) congregate around a 50 meter high clay bank. That’s right – birds eating clay. Chestnut-fronted Macaws Ara severa.

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 South America 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Its organization and content is unorthodox in several ways, which I think is exciting; new approaches to field guides give birders opportunities to rethink how we identify birds and a good excuse to buy yet another field guide. The large font and brown color used for this initial line help set each Species account apart visually.

Australia 108

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 108