10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2019

Travel to Tiquicia for birding is high on the list of most birders because it’s not too far from Canada or the USA, there is good tourism infrastructure, and most of all, it’s pretty easy to see hundreds of eye-catching bird species. Since this is the closest spot to the bird action, this is of course where we all want to be.

Costa Rica 195

Costa Rica Cooking Birds Chickens 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

This would have allowed you to summarize your experience in sentences such as “A total of 98 boluses regurgitated by 52 chicks aged 1 day to 11 days after hatching form the sample and are shown to contain 323 food items.” Of course, on Chongming, the Chinese Pond Heron is very common. Chinese Pond Herons also grow on trees.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2017

I myself picked up a tick while looking for warblers on Long Island during spring migration and had to do a course of antibiotics that played merry havoc with my digestive system, if you know what I mean. Steal and eat their eggs? They want an authentic nature experience, but a relatable authentic nature experience.

Bald Eagle 100

Bald Eagle Belize Iowa Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

The lengthy Introduction gives both a personal history and a global history of birds and art, including brief profiles of John James Audubon and the far lesser known Genevieve Estelle Jones, who conceived of a book eventually called Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio in the late 19th century. Cleaning brushes, for example.

Birds 143

Birds Eggs Laws Woodpeckers 143

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2011

The most dominant tern species on Tern Island is the Sooty Tern. Around 100,000 of these terns breed on almost every available space on the island, and walking through groups of them is a deafening and quite painful experience. This species nests on the edges of the larger colonies and was much quieter. Click to enbiggen.

Hawaii 172

Hawaii Breeding Wildlife Eggs 172

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 142

North America Sparrows America United States 142

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

Of course, I jest a bit in the above paragraph because as a sometime New Jersey birder I have birded the Delaware Bay and seen sights such as the memorable image below, in which thousands of Red Knots, Dunlins, and Short-billed Dowitchers fly up as if connected telepathically. The visual beauty and textual facts are a strong combination.

Delaware 176

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

That summer of 1938, when he was ten years old, Cade read of two brothers, Frank and John Craighead, who wrote of their experiences with falcons in National Geographic. Endangered Species List, giving it free reign to wander and populate North America in ever increasing numbers, including a nest on the ledge of the U.S.

Falcons 171

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

There were ten students in total that had signed up for the spring break “Seabirds” course in Dry Tortugas National Park, and after long drives down from North Carolina we had all made it right on time. My first instinct when something bites me, of course, is to yelp and yank my hand away with all possible speed.

Birds 174

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 174

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

The core of the book are the Species Accounts, 190 accounts by 52 authors, some names that readers will easily recognize, others birders and ornithologists well-known in Pennsylvania. You can see the Species Account for Henslow’s Sparrow above, in the banner photo. The second page is the map page. Brauning and Andrew M.

Pennsylvania 220

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 220

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

It’s the warbler that is often the last unchecked species on birders’ life lists and, whether you list or not, for most of us observing it is a once in a lifetime experience. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list. A nest wasn’t found until 1903, which set off a craze for Kirtland’s Warbler skins, nests, and eggs.

Michigan 221

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 221

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

This would be a night drive, cold, dark, uncomfortable seats, loud engine in the giant 26-seater truck, scanning the brush and the roadside with three or four strong spotlights wrangled by volunteers among the nature-loving tourists, and of course, the headlights of the truck. And, of course, something interesting came along.

Feral Cats 252

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 252

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Experiments in the field (the famed Asa Wright Nature Center veranda) involving Bananaquits and bananas came up with numbers ranging from 7 to 16, but a tanager always came along to interfere with Bananaquits’ noisy appreciation of their namesake fruit. (2) Which hummingbird was more beautiful—Tufted Coquette or Ruby-topaz Hummingbird? (3)

Trinidad 189

Trinidad Birds South America Research 189

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2013

The story of the cahow, a “Lazurus species” that was thought to be extinct for over 300 years and then discovered to be breeding on a tiny remote island in Bermuda, is part of modern birding legend. A particularly good type of fertilizer, for example, drastically increased the population of crabs, spoiling Bermuda’s golf courses.

Birds 164

Birds Rats Breeding 2012 164

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2023

This area offers Mexico’s greatest concentration of endemics, as well as very few species an American birder might have already seen up north. So I took him to Paso Ancho, of course. And for the first time, I saw a Bronzed Cowbird (which lays its eggs in other birds’ nests) checking out one of these nests.

Mexico 144

Mexico Oregon Squirrels Science 144

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2021

The fields near the Tiaozini mudflats look very much like a lunar landscape, but this does not seem to keep a number of species from breeding there, sometimes directly on dirt roads. The fourth species apparently breeding on these fields is Grey-headed Lapwing. The birding life. A somewhat older chick. Also available as a set of two.

Birds 205

Birds Uganda Breeding Rats 205

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 224

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 224

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

For this reason, the species is evaluated as Vulnerable.” The Rufous-tailed Robin used to be called Swinhoe’s Robin but apparently, somebody decided that there were already too many bird species (6, according to the HBW) named after him. The Eurasian Hobby was another notable raptor of the month. They were missed.

Birds 191

Birds China Eggs Owls 191

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 189

Turtles Tortoises Family Terrapins 189

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

The title of the one just mentioned starts with “Intimacy across species boundaries” … The Spot-necked Babbler is “shy and social”, according to eBird, which sounds a bit like a contradiction to me. ”, in which the Red-whiskered Bulbul is named as one of the two most heavily targeted bird species.

China 147

China Vietnam Birds Monkeys 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2023

For example, a researcher and presumed ornithologist set out with two hypotheses related to the Ashy Drongo (and another drongo species) and wrote a paper about it. For them, God probably was the one instructing the drongos to mob one species but not the other. Why show photos of species as boring as this Ashy-throated Warbler ?

China 176

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 176

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

Basically, this species is so dimwitted, it doesn’t know how to survive. Because, Pink Pigeons are not capable of doing the tasks required to create and bring up children of the species. These endangered birds have trouble producing a fertilized egg and, even worse, they don’t even know how to build a nest so the egg survives?

Mauritius 101

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 101

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

That one with the cereal looked cool but of course it did because it was just a multi-colored drawing with a happy face. Like crows and jays, they are social, vocal, intelligent, and omnivorous (including eating eggs and nestlings). These are the six species that occur in Costa Rica: Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos swainsonii).

Costa Rica 167

Costa Rica Panama Eating Eggs South America 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2012

The Barred Warbler , otherwise known as Sylvia nisoria , is one of those species that is aptly named if you only ever see an adult male. When the adult male bird has more than one mate, the femaleincubates the eggs and tends to the chicks alone. You know what is interesting about Barred Warblers?

Hungary 167

Hungary Eggs Abandon Abandoning 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

But, of course, regular 10,000 Birds readers know this from beat writer, Australian birder Clare Morton , whose writings about the birds of Broome and other Australian areas have taught many of us about the joys of Australian birding. Each family group begins with a small box summarizing the characteristics of the family in Australia.

Australia 105

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 105

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

She doesn’t know the species till it emerges, almost dreamlike, from the heavy glare of the sun. This is the story of Fox’s experiences on board the Achiever, the research vessel of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Fox encounters 69 species, some singly, some in huge feeding or migrating flocks.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

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. And of course, birders (at least me) do not care too much for Giant Pandas, which are the main attraction of this area, despite their pathetic habits.

Hamburgers 198

Hamburgers Birds Science China 198

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2023

So, all this makes birding this place an occasionally less than pleasant experience. The family has about 37 species, but that includes several fulvettas – only 21 of the species have “parrotbill” in their names (and frankly, the bills of fulvettas do not look like those of parrots at all).

Pandas 194

Pandas Birds Eggs China 194

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

Which, of course, is entirely wrong. How do I know of their Gothic moods when they have hidden them so well in an egg-white shell of conformity? And I haven’t even started to write about ageing them … What are your experiences, and what is the colour of the claws on your local gull species? Thanks, Wikipedia

2011 158

2011 Birds Deer Europe 158

Animal Person

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Yet he spends time describing the miserable deaths of day-old male chicks and understands what happens in dairy production, and I assume he doesn't partake of anyone's eggs or milk. He always refers to himself and his wife and his child as "vegetarian." But why does he say "vegetarian?" The plate might have to be five feet across" (50).

Factory Farm 100

Factory Farm Factory Farming Animal Vegan 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2023

In Kangding, there is a rather opulent bird hide – two stories, solid construction, spacious, lots of glass, a separate paved parking lot, though mysteriously (and as far as I can tell from my experience of living in China for almost 20 years, not indicative of fundamentally different physical needs of Chinese people) missing a bathroom.

Birds 147

Birds Mammals St. Louis Monkeys 147

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. Identifying the birds was easy thanks to the Collins Bird Guide.

Ireland 168

Ireland France Breeding Eggs 168

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2012

And, in a tree off to the right in that direction, I noticed a mass of stuff that resembled a Bald Eagle’s nest as much as any mass of stuff ever could, but of course, it was not a bald eagle nest. This make sense in a certain way; a species of carnivores that over-concentrated in space would go extinct.

Eagles 173

Eagles Bald Eagle Coyotes Mississippi 173

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. This may sound mundane, but my Best Bird of the Year is a species we all know quite well in one form or another.

2012 143

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 143

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2019

But in many cases, Frederick found that the claims of these vaunted but unthinking sources stood in contrast with his own experiences as both a falconer and keen observer of birds. Of course, this fanciful story had been devised to explain the absence of nests in Europe by this Arctic breeder, but Frederick dismissed it as nonsense.

2015 113

2015 Italy Falcons Europe 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Of course all field guides have changed tremendously over the years and some were really NOT pocket guides! Many other non-migratory wood-warbler species are living their lives across the neotropics, doing their best to survive and pass on their genes. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

South Africa 158

South Africa United States Austin Alligators 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

The title is a bit deceptive, for while photographs are a huge part of the book, it is grounded in the 239 species accounts written by woodpecker guru Gerard Gorman. This background material is a good, succinct framework within which to read the Species Accounts, particularly for birders new to woodpecker study.

Woodpeckers 234

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 234