10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit. In the meantime, if you are like me and you enjoy watching Cliff Swallows , here is a video I shot of a colony nesting under a bridge over Cow Creek in Shasta County.

San Diego 165

San Diego illegal California South America 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2012

Seuss’s Horton Hatches An Egg precedes Eastman’s book by twenty years. But since Horton is an elephant, and since the creature that hatches from the egg is an elephant-bird, I’m going to wait till 10,000 Birds does a Hybrid Bird Week before discussing this representative of the Seussiverse. In Are You My Mother? Random House, 1960.

Birds 230

Birds Owls Switzerland Lions 230

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

The most common species we see are the Stoke’s Sea Snake Astrotia stokesii , Dubois’ Sea Snake Aipysurus duboisii and the Olive Sea Snake Aipysurus laevis. Speaking of pregnant snakes, do sea snakes lay their eggs ashore like sea turtles or do they keep them internally until the young are ready to hatch/ be born, like some sharks?

Australia 154

Australia 2011 Sharks Deer 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

This happened to me recently on a birding trip, with somewhat egg-on-the-face results. We were driving up to northwestern Michigan from our homes in Ohio (me) and West ByGod Virginia (Geoff) in search of a bird species that would be a lifer for both of us: the Bohemian Waxwing. I was on a birding quest trip with my friend Geoff Heeter.

2011 234

2011 Birds Michigan Ohio 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

With a hardiness that belies their delicate looks (but helps explain their phenomenal success), these pioneering pigeons are already sitting on eggs at at least one location in Montana. Especially of all the species that had been introduced to the US. So right now I’m feeling pretty good about Eurasian Collared-doves.

Montana 141

Montana 2011 New York Bahamas 141

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

It seems that these people, who purport to claim to care so much about animals, are completely ignorant of the existence of any animal life beyond horses, cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys. What’s even more frustrating is when animal rights people learn of plans to cull nonnative species. For example, when the U.S.

Animal Rights Movement 224

Animal Rights Movement Animal Rights Rights Wildlife 224

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

The local Bald Eagles are getting busy, I suspect there is an egg in the nest. The birds were too far away to identify, and I know more than one species does this, but if I had to guess they were starlings. If half the Warblers go extinct, that would be a lot of species but you’d still pretty much have Warbler DNA.

Birds 188

Birds Bald Eagle Zoos Philippines 188

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2018

Cows are considered sacred by majority of Hindus so cow meat is generally not consumed. This results in the cow’s corpse being left to be fed on by vultures. A dead cow that was treated with Diclofenac turned out to be poisonous to vultures. No one knew why they were dying.

India 146

India Stray Dog Cows Rats 146

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

The vast majority of the 10,000+ living species of birds are passerines, and the vast majority of those have a similar system of breeding: Mom and dad bird make a nest and share parental responsibilities roughly equally, if not identically. There are variations on that theme, of course. Even the non-passerines often follow this pattern.

Breeders 216

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 216

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

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? It is the claws that give them away, their black nail polish.

2011 171

2011 Birds Deer Europe 171

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2023

Although work distracts him regularly from the observation of birds, he has managed to see a great many species regardless. While waiting I got offered four dozen eggs (mostly broken), a cow (I’m sure of that), two marriage proposals (less sure) and I learned why every Ugandan can afford a Rolex (it’s a chapati roll with eggs).

Uganda 239

Uganda Netherlands Monkeys Portugal 239

Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 29, 2006

In recent years, the prevalence of disease-causing bacteria in meat, poultry, and eggs has risen sharply, which is why health authorities insist that these products be carefully handled and thoroughly cooked, if they are used at all. There is no need for infants to be raised on cow's milk formulas. But what about prior to two years?

Animal 40

Animal Meat Cows District of Columbia 40

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

In southern Africa, there are two species. As I watched, it slowly moved into a patch of dried vegetation and I noticed that it was settling over a single egg. Two or three eggs may be laid and either bird may incubate. I too am fascinated by the name of this species. How do we know this? I am around to learn more.

2011 174

2011 Deer Africa Peru 174

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2011

Orlando is so rich in roadside and overhead birds that I kept a list of species seen from the car which ran to 30+ on the first morning and included a Bald Eagle nonchalantly sitting on a street lamp by a Target store. Boat-tailed Grackles count eggs and chicks as part of their diet and they were well represented here today.

2011 118

2011 Alligators Florida Deer 118