10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

There are variations on that theme, of course. In the former, a female lays her fertilized egg in the nest of another species, in the hopes that her offspring will be raised by the unwitting hosts. In the latter, three or more adult individuals contribute to the raising of offspring. Science (New York, N.Y.), Heinsohn, R.,

Breeders 199

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 199

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

Hunting sandhill cranes in the Eastern flyway will put those 100 whooping cranes at even greater risk of being brought down by gunfire, hunter education courses and handy color brochures notwithstanding. Quick: what’s this? Photo used by permission of Arthur M. Peslak, Nature Images by Art Did you hesitate in calling that a sandhill crane?

2011 242

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 242

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2011

Between staying warm/cool, finding food, avoiding predators, migrating thousands of miles every year, finding mates, raising chicks and doing all this at the mercy of the elements, it makes sense that they have more brainpower than just simple instinct to run on. I believe in science. Science, for many years, has done no better.

Emotional 204

Emotional Science Birds Mammals 204

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. It is mostly a question of economics – raising just one is troublesome enough given the resources required to feed and educate the chick. But then, sanity (or maybe respect for you, the reader) prevailed.

Birds 130

Birds Iraq China Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2011

Itcher birds, migratory members of the tern family. Another question this raises has to do with migration itself. A fascinating exception to this, of course, are penguins. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1046 (1), 282-293 DOI: 10.1196/annals.1343.026 Specifically, Itcher Tern. Image source. Why migrate?

Research 191

Research Humane Compassion New York 191

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2015

This of course raises questions of what happens when all of the inland nesting grounds of all the loons becomes covered with glacial ice during ice ages, then later, the ice melts and the lakes return. I love participating in citizen science! Hummingbirds are awesome! And it wasn’t even a country-first!

2015 184

2015 Costa Rica Birds Sparrows 184

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2022

And I found this one because he was singing his heart out quite persistently, which certainly suggests a bird that wants to settle down and raise a family. There were many other pleasures on the way to my big moment, of course. These images may not be a big deal to many of our readers. But they kind of are, down here.

Mexico 218

Mexico 2018 Ducks Breeding 218

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

I have written about the interesting sex life of these jacanas a few times already (short version: female mates with male, lays a bunch of eggs for him to incubate and raise the chicks, leaves him, finds another male, repeat). The Little Grebe is of course a very common bird that can still surprise by its beauty in its breeding plumage.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147