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 278

North America America Birds California Condor 278

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

The northwestern spread of this non-native species made it to my yard a few years ago. The lightest shade of lavender coincides with a 0 – 2% frequency of sightings, the next darker shade 2 – 10%, the next 10 – 25%, the next 25 – 40% and the darkest (almost black) shade is a 40 – 100% occurrence of the species.

Breeders 176

Breeders 2002 North America Bahamas 176

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 204

Dissection Birds Research Europe 204

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2015

The Brown Pelican and the Peruvian Pelican are closely related and once were considered the same species. Analyses of stomach content of dead pelicans during a die-off found that their digestive tracts were either empty or contained fish the pelicans don’t normally eat. In 1970, Brown Pelicans were federally listed as endangered.

Pelicans 157

Pelicans North America Peru Fish 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2011

Whatever content can be used is absorbed from within the digestive tract into the blood in the form of molecules. Whatever food content cannot be used is thrown out through defecation. Or picture yourself as a bird fetus within an egg. Drinking and peeing through the egg shell? Not a sustainable concept of development.

Mammals 232

Mammals Birds Eggs Fish 232

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

The views are often distant and the flash of red in the sunshine is often the first observation you have and you have to be content with observing from a distance. Once you travel further north from Broome there are numerous opportunities to observe this species and any fresh water body is worth checking.

Australia 161

Australia 2011 Eggs Species 161

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2014

It’s bad enough to be an invasive species — the term shows a major fall in public esteem from the days when acclimatization was the rage. But as a descriptor, ‘invasive species’ doesn’t have a patch on ‘noxious weed’ Call something a noxious weed and there’s no doubt where you stand on it.

Montana 163

Montana Goats Sheep Species 163

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2015

Another species of Python, the African Python ( Python sebae ) has established a small population in the 2,877-acre Bird Drive Area (BDA) in South Florida. Photo Credit: Invasive and Exotic Species of North America (www.invasive.org). The invasive Burmese Python ( Python molurus ) is well established in the Florida Everglade.

Pythons 177

Pythons Florida Mammals Reptiles 177

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 139

North America Sparrows America United States 139

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? Phillipps’ Field Guide (I’ll be using this shortened form of the title) covers 673 avian species, including 59 endemics, and 53 species that have not been documented yet for the area but which may show up in the next few years. Now, I’m not so sure.

Brunei 171

Brunei Birds Asia China 171

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

The Foreword, by writer and Pennsylvania birder Scott Weidensaul, nicely summarizes the book’s contents and brings a little local history into the historic framework, with the story of Pennsylvania’s very first bird census by Alexander Wilson in 1811. You can see the Species Account for Henslow’s Sparrow above, in the banner photo.

Pennsylvania 217

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 217

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

Also, feral Cats on islands seem to be a serious problem, causing the extirpation of some indigenous species. A hungry feral Cat in Minnesota goes and finds new prey in an area it previously had not explored, leaving the last few of one or another bird species alone for a while. They are invasive species. Plus, Coyotes eat Cats.

Feral Cats 251

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 251

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

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 guide covers 477 species, an expansion of 35 from the second edition, which was published in 1991. The AOU has not accepted that split.

Trinidad 186

Trinidad Birds South America Research 186

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

” Writing about owls means writing about roughly 250 species (I counted 245 on the 2022 Clements spreadsheet, but I might have missed a few, and we all know that each classification system is different). These are behaviors that are most likely to vary across species and topics that make for compelling stories.

Owls 195

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 195

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

At the very least appreciated for their hard-shell adaptation, the way they quietly survive in ponds, rivers, oceans, islands, forests, even, for a few species, deserts, and, if you are of a certain age, their cultural depiction as ninja warriors. Or that tortoises and terrapins are considered part of the turtle family.

Turtles 185

Turtles Tortoises Family Terrapins 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

Excuse the sudden and random departure from the typical self-aggrandizing and narcissistic ornithophilic content. What’s even more frustrating is when animal rights people learn of plans to cull nonnative species. That will return next month. – The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive Animal rights. For example, when the U.S.

Animal Rights Movement 200

Animal Rights Movement Animal Rights Rights Wildlife 200

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

Each species account includes common and scientific name, size and weight (all metric), and information boxes on Key Identification Features (including how to differentiate the species from similar creatures), Habitat in Kruger, Habits (nocturnal or crepuscular or diurnal, social or loner, feeding behavior) and Diet.

Rhinos 229

Rhinos Mammals Animal White Rhinos 229

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

It is the 100th Anniversary of the extinction of the species known as the Passenger Pigeon and writers are paying attention. What is amazing is that each of these three books is very different in content and tone. Amazingly, with all the historical eyewitness accounts of the species, there are things we do not know for sure.

2014 159

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 159

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2021

This may have been partly a leftover from the Victorian fascination with egg collecting (the infamous passion known as oology), but probably more from people’s burgeoning interest in the nests and eggs found in their gardens and fields, gateway artifacts to a newer hobby called birdwatching. The Harrison guides are out of print.

Eggs 215

Eggs Birds United States Sparrows 215

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 105

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 105

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2018

Yes, some gruesome graphic content follows, but don’t blame me, you have been warned. The disappearance of vultures has allowed other species such as rat and [stray] dog populations to grow. One large banyan fig as well as all bushes around were completely covered with flies and their eggs – every inch. Some smelly sewage ponds?

India 123

India Stray Dog Cows Rats 123

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2023

For birders, the Wolongshan area is like a poorer cousin of Balangshan – due to the lower elevation, the bird species here are more common and thus less interesting. Some Chinese Babax waste part of their lives feeding chicks of Large Hawk Cuckoos, which parasitize the babax species.

Hamburgers 193

Hamburgers Birds Science China 193

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 166

Ireland France Breeding Eggs 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

And, I looked at my eBird list and realized I’ve seen nine species of Antpitta and one of Gnateater. Antpittas and Gnateaters covers 64 species in six genera and two families. (I The Species Accounts feature highly detailed text by Harold Greeley, distribution maps, and over 250 photographs by a number of photographers.

Research 134

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 134

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2024

The species name athertoni is derived from Lt. Unfortunately, there is not much literature on the species except for the inevitable analysis of the mitochondrial genome. As usual in China, there are some anonymous Leaf Warbler species – but who cares, apart from Bella of Alpinebirding ?

Squirrels 135

Squirrels Birds China Bears 135

Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 29, 2006

According to Dr. Spock: Most families have become more conscious about the fat content of meats, and many are choosing the lower-fat cuts. Never mind that the bulk of the fat in Starbucks's beverages comes from the milk -- yes, milk ! -- of another species. Meatless meals also help your child to keep stronger bones.

Animal 40

Animal Meat Cows District of Columbia 40

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 113

Ducks North America Geese Hunters 113