10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2017

As birders, we tend to spend more time in wetlands than most of our peers, neighbors, and family members. Unless those non-birding folks happen to be duck hunters or love to go fishing, they tend to stay away from the marshes, the riparian zones, the bottom lands. Of course not, it’s rainforest! See the birds?

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Birds Ducks Pelicans 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Originally a hunting term, the Big Five were the most dangerous and prized targets of the great white hunters on safari. Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant.

Buffalo 201

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 201

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2015

I get that you’re really angry, I mean, he was a popular lion and yes, his cute widdle cubs will probably die to, but I can’t help feeling you’ve kind of missed the point a bit, and well, ending all hunting in Africa will not solve much and maybe make things worse and… No, no, I’m not a hunter. To a point.

Lions 206

Lions Hunting Sierra Leone Buffalo 206

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Having never been to Brazil I can’t possibly speak as an expert in terms of what birds are covered or how well species that I have never seen are depicted. The species accounts are written by Robert Ridgely, one of the premiere neotropical ornithologists, and a veteran at writing excellent field guides. Talk about a win-win!

Brazil 200

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Birds 200

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the area they inhabit. ” (Woodward brothers, “Natal Birds”, 1899) The mighty Drakensberg Mountains run along the western boundary of KwaZulu-Natal province.

Mozambique 186

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 186

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2011

Of course, by the time I get to them just about every other big lister in the state has seen them two or three times. That’s a skill as much as recognizing vagrant peeps or putting a name to non-vocalizing Empids, and one under-rated by some would-be vagrant hunters. And don’t forget to keep your birding eyes open.

North Carolina 154

North Carolina Sparrows 2008 Hunters 154

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

One study found that birds living in Botswana had elevated levels of lead in their bloodstreams during hunting season, presumably coming from lead bullets used on animals killed by hunters. According to the Eponym Dictionary of Birds (Helm, 2014), “James Sligo Jameson (1856–1888) was an Irish hunter, explorer, and naturalist.

Elephants 147

Elephants Birds Congo Africa 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. Hummingbird species, on the other hand, number in the hundreds. So, when British natural history writer Jon Dunn (not to be confused with U.S.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

Of course not! Of course, that was the easiest of the three because though the bird in the image is captive, a bird that was injured and can’t be returned to the wild, Bald Eagles do occur regularly and naturally in Queens.

Bald Eagle 113

Bald Eagle Zoos 2011 Parrots 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2021

The males can compete with Painted Buntings for their neon colors, and the females, like those of that related species, have their own subtle beauty. (It’s It is always a species they have dreamed of seeing for years.). Of course, plenty of non-endemics also turned up to have their picture taken.

Woodpeckers 218

Woodpeckers Hunters Falcons Breeding 218

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2014

Contest killing – where individuals or teams gun down as many of a single species as they can within a specific time period, with prizes going to the winner(s) – is legal all over the country. The hunters who do not eat their crows) “are providing a smorgasbord for other wildlife!”

Killing 258

Killing Hunting Hunters Possums 258

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

So, one might surmise, it’s OK if they get shot by hunters thinking they’re sandhill cranes? What could motivate gunmen (I cannot call them hunters) in two states to deliberately kill North America’s tallest and most critically endangered bird? It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death.

2011 242

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 242

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

There were two species there, even, of a type I had never heard of. Pardalotes are actually their own family, and a family entirely endemic to Australia. Insofar as they relate to other bird families, they are perhaps closest to the thornbills, another family that is mostly Australian but reaches as far as Thailand and Fiji.

Australia 171

Australia Fiji Hunters Family 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2011

As part of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil giveaway we asked readers of 10,000 Birds to name the bird in Brazil that they would like to see more than any other species. What follows are the responses that readers offered, a veritable aviary of sought after species. It is a really neat bird that I have not seen before.

Brazil 203

Brazil 2011 Birds Wildlife 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Another great birding adventure book is The Jewel Hunter by Chris Gooddie (Princeton Univ. Brit birder Goodie didn’t do an ordinary big year; he decided he would see every Pitta species in the world (32 at the time) in one year. I think of The Jewel Hunter often when I travel to foreign countries, wishing I could do it like Goodie did.

Papua New Guinea 181

Papua New Guinea 2014 Penguins Birds 181

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2015

Each year Hog Island offers programs, taught by a stellar staff of naturalists and artists, to groups of all kinds (teenagers, adults, families). I was there for Arts and Birding , a five-day adult course in photography, videography, sketching, painting, writing, or any combination thereof … plus lots of birding.

Puffins 253

Puffins Birds Groups West Virginia 253

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2011

Even if you don’t live in the summer range of a particular species, you may have opportunities to observe it while it passes through, especailly if you live in an active flyway, like I happen to. Itcher birds, migratory members of the tern family. The birds do the flying for you. Specifically, Itcher Tern. Image source.

Research 191

Research Humane Compassion New York 191

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2023

Not a cover species The Black Kite is not actually black, but of course, misleading bird names are not exactly rare. No surprise then that the species is listed as Vulnerable. But then, sanity (or maybe respect for you, the reader) prevailed. Fortunately, they are quite common in Shanghai.

Birds 130

Birds Iraq China Ireland 130

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 15, 2009

One might first ask, “Why does higher intelligence mean that one species is more valuable than other species?” Second, there are other species besides human beings that have high intelligence, e.g., chimpanzees and dolphins. What should our moral attitude be toward eating members of these species?

Morals 40

Morals Vegetarian Meat Killing 40

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

Considering the bird survived a season in an area saturated with hunters and birds of prey, this facemelting rarity deserves our respect. 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 147

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Lacking, as I do, a birding reputation that would make people part with cash for my time I’ll have to go for the rarity hunters and put together an itinerary of highlights that can’t be missed. This outstanding member of the wattlebird family is unique among songbirds in having different shaped beaks for each of the sexes.

New Zealand 200

New Zealand Ducks Australia Mountain Goats 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

” Contemporary environmentalism arrived too late to prevent the passenger pigeon’s demise due to market hunters, but the two phenomena share a historical connection. Even with today’s environmental laws, we are losing species at an alarming rate, and with Ryan Zinke as Interior Secretary it’s no wonder. But I digress.

Hunting 110

Hunting Hunters Gorillas Wolves 110