10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

I tried to get a better idea of what exactly the definition of cuckoo-dove is but am still not very clear about it – Wikipedia only offers the rather formal definition “any of several species of bird in the genera Macropygia , Reinwardtoena, and Turacoena of the pigeon family.” But I may well be wrong.

Birds 147

Birds Geese Fish Industry 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2020

If it’s any consolation for my extra nerdy friends, a sequel to this post is definitely possible. Especially if they are competing for attention with multiple species of large mammals at a watering hole. Speaking of sparrows, we managed to see several species, many of which were within Nairobi city limits.

Sparrows 202

Sparrows Mammals Game Parrots 202

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2022

As this African Green Pigeon shows, the color should offer good camouflage for species living on trees. In case you do not know that brimstone is sulfur, the Brimstone Canary brings the point home by having the Latin species name sulphurata. Due to a misunderstanding, this species is currently banned in Russia ( Swift Tern ).

South Africa 214

South Africa Africa Saint Lucia Birds 214

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2023

Lake Kerkini National Park in the north of Greece is the very best birding area in the Balkan Peninsula and definitely among the top ten hotspots of Europe. Some 320 species have been recorded here, and in springtime it is possible to observe more than 150 bird species in a week. The lake lies at a mere 35 m / 115 ft a.s.l.

Greece 239

Greece Pelicans Birds Stray Dog 239

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

The end of September doesn’t necessarily mean the end of what you might enjoy about September birding but it definitely signals the beginning of what you love about October. I was shocked to still find a number of shorebird species up at Braddock Bay, perhaps because of how much productive mud the dropping lake levels have exposed.

2020 224

2020 Connecticut Virginia New York 224

10,000 Birds

JULY 14, 2021

But it does offer plenty of the endemics and other species that make our area distinctive, and many of them were waiting for me on this latest visit. For the taxonomy fans out there, the American Ornithological Society just announce that this species should be moved to the Chlorophonia genus. My guess is that they are still mating.

Mexico 238

Mexico Sparrows United States Virginia 238

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2021

Decades later, Richard Pough’s Audubon Bird Guide, Eastern Land Birds (I happily own the 1948 edition) included nest and egg descriptions for each species as well. And photographs of feathers in the species accounts, which surprised me. Text retrieved from the Hathitrust Digital Library. The first is accomplished well.

Eggs 244

Eggs Birds United States Sparrows 244

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2020

When our local government called for Michoacán’s residents to stay at home, I said goodbye to some 250 regional species, and shut myself in at home with the other 30 that regularly visit my neighborhood. And on this particular trip, I could see all these species on a single kind of tree. And what species!

Squirrels 176

Squirrels Sparrows Mexico South America 176

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Still, the outing did not produce any new species for the year, or enough good photos for a post here. Instead, I have chosen to write about an idea I’ve had percolating for a while: to tell you what the most common species are down here. I’ll take the most common native species in taxonomic order.

Woodpeckers 341

Woodpeckers Mexico Species Cattle 341

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2024

I have seen few species with the word “House” in their English names ( House Sparrow , Wren , and Finch ), as well as a couple of “Barn” birds ( Barn Swallows and Owls ). The Gartered Trogon : In Michoacán, our two trogon species are both red, white and green (like the Mexican flag). But it was close.

Morocco 184

Morocco Birds Turkey Mexico 184

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Also, our winter visitor species are starting to arrive. They are always extremely handsome birds; one of my favorite local species, and surprisingly easy to see around Morelia. Mexican birder friends assure me that is definitely not the case in other parts of their range.). and Canada.

Colombia 238

Colombia ALA Canada Mexico 238

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2023

I mean that in a good way: By automatically showing one’s new year list each January 1st, and comparing it to one’s last several year lists, they always make me want to hit the ground running with as many species in my first week as I can manage. For example, of the 9 duck species we saw, 7 are winter-only.

Blackbirds 147

Blackbirds 2020 Ducks Mexico 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2015

Bring an umbrella because you will probably need one, but bring the binoculars too because you will definitely need those. Each year, I hope to identify at least 600 species. That 600th species was a Streaked Xenops , an especially uncommon bird in Costa Rica usually seen at Tapanti National Park. Streaked Xenops.

Costa Rica 154

Costa Rica 2015 Species West Virginia 154

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

My first experiments involved rooting cuttings of several of Michoacán’s dozens of Salvia species. But starting a mini-forest around the edges of our church’s one-acre lot would require more than cuttings, and local reforestation nurseries only offer a few conifer species. Rusty Sparrow. Yellow-winged Cacique.

Mexico 243

Mexico Collecting ALA Sparrows 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2020

And while I definitely consider myself more of a writer than a wildlife photographer, for once I have enough good photos to let my pictures do most of the talking. Black-chested Sparrow is one of Paso Ancho’s flagship species. It wasn’t my fault; the Sparrow came to me. A Golden Vireo showed up.

Sparrows 169

Sparrows Cooking Squirrels Owls 169

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

Chief among these are three trees, known here as Huizaches (Sweet Acacia, Vachellia farnesiana), Granjenos (Spiny Hackberry, Celtis ehernbergiana), and Nopales (Prickly Pear, various species). But the area would not be home for more than 120 species, if it were not for those thorny trees. Humans like me enjoy eating them, too!

Shelters 230

Shelters Mexico Sparrows Species 230

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Perhaps the fact that we really enjoy talking to each other had a slight negative impact on the number of species seen (“only” 52). Migratory Lark Sparrows were everywhere. Still, a male Archilochus hummer (of either species) is a rare treat here. But there were plenty of small pleasures to keep us entertained.

Laws 216

Laws Mexico Bears Turkey 216

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

If conditions are right, the Palm Beach Agricultural Area can be teaming with various shorebird species such as Spotted, Solitary, Upland, Buff-breasted, Least, Semipalmated, Western, and Pectoral Sandpiper, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Black-necked Stilt. They especially like live oaks.

Florida 261

Florida Miami Birds Falcons 261

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

From: Sparrow. To: Sparrow. Outstanding work, Sparrow! Sparrow has successfully completed Operation Duck Drop. I knew we should have used a bigger species! From: Sparrow. This might not have been the best species to use. To: Sparrow. This failure is definitely going in your file!

Ducks 158

Ducks 2018 New York City Sparrows 158

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. This Bronzed Cowbird definitely is not. But I knew that quite a few charismatic species had failed to turn up. I hoped for a more complete survey of the site’s species.

Mexico 155

Mexico Oregon Squirrels Science 155

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2020

But if you really want to rack up the numbers on each and every outing, you should definitely come here in the winter. Nevertheless, by 3 pm I had totaled 69 species — with another 3 that I identified later in my photos! Or this Blue – gray Gnatcatcher, a species that seems to be everywhere here in winter.

Game 160

Game Lions Africa Family 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2022

It was not a revelatory outing, but the species and photos were surprisingly good. It was definitely a highlight for the day. Here are some of the remaining highlights: Chipping Sparrows are far from rare down here, but this day, they seemed to be everywhere. Exactly what did you think I was going to say about those?

Mexico 147

Mexico California Woodpeckers Sparrows 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2018

Well, maybe I was confused at the appearance of this unexpected bird, but it was definitely noisy. He didn’t find anything particularly spectacular but he did see quite a few species. Corey spent all weekend searching across Queens for birds to add to his year list.

New York City 100

New York City 2018 New York Birds 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2023

Gulls and sparrows are tough but manageable; Empids may require DNA analysis (as it actually did in the case of the non-vocalizing Western Flycatcher seen in Central Park, NYC in November 2015). That’s 18 species in one book. This is more than a collection of species accounts.

Los Angeles 225

Los Angeles North America America Species 225

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Eastern Towhee “che-winking,” Northern Cardinals with their sharp chip note, a White-throated Sparrow singing twice, American Robins “tut-tut-tutting,” and on the morning went. Osprey are nice but after awhile you wish one would be a different species. Birds started to awaken one by one. Wait until next year!

Woodpeckers 241

Woodpeckers Battery Birds Species 241

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2015

For those who don’t know, Christmas Bird Count compilation dinners usually involve the compiler for the count, in this case me, going through each species on the checklist. Each group yells out the number of each species seen. The Lark Sparrow was found by our sweeper team of Cesar Castillo, Carrie Laben, and David Ringer.

Bald Eagle 103

Bald Eagle Birds Sparrows Pelicans 103

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2023

This leaves Shanghai in June with basically just the year-round species and the summer breeders, maybe with a few added ultra-lazy individuals of migratory species. Fortunately, there are a few more such breeding species than most Shanghainese are aware of. Such as the Black-winged Cuckooshrike.

Birds 130

Birds Eggs Breeders Breeding 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2019

With forest on two sides and the expansive Eglin Air Force Base reservation just beyond, avian species have a host of hiding and eating opportunities. I stitched away as I watched the Red-bellied Woodpecker scatter the smaller Chipping Sparrows and Carolina Chickadees as it glided down for a few seed morsels. In my backyard?

Agenda 146

Agenda Birds Louisiana North America 146

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Saturday of this weekend saw a Le Conte’s Sparrow reported from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. Somehow, I have never seen a Le Conte’s Sparrow , which leaves a gaping hole on my life list among many other fine Ammodramus sparrows. The Le Conte’s Sparrow was not refound. Mystery bird?

Sparrows 181

Sparrows Africa Rights Family 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

where and when the species is likely to be seen on the east coast, flight style, size and structure as compared to similar species. Of the 426 species on the official state checklist, this guide covers 252. Attention is also paid to when and where each species is likely to be seen in the state.

Pennsylvania 176

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 176

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2015

If it’s representative, I can definitely see why he’s such a popular author. The other, more irritating issue was a tendency for the narration to get a bit thick with the breezy anthropomorphism – ‘bad’ brood parasites, ‘henpecked’ male White-throated Sparrows , and the like.

Birds 194

Birds Morals Hunting Sparrows 194

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Given the complexity of the research, the result feels like a bit of a letdown – “northern populations start migration earlier than southern populations, especially in autumn” The species name of the Chestnut-eared Bunting is fucata , from the Latin “fucare”, to paint red.

Birds 221

Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 221

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

The proper definition of an oasis, is “A fertile spot in a desert where water is found” Living here in the desert we don’t take for granted that “Water is life”, so where you find a consistent source, you will find all kinds of fun things to enjoy. Plants, animals, as well as birds.

Coyotes 133

Coyotes Rodents Reptiles Fox 133

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2020

I think it’s a good assumption that Peter Pyle updated and wrote species descriptions, particularly for the Hawaiian birds. These are the species that immediately come to my mind, and I probably missed some. Paul Lehman and Larry Rosche updated the map, with Lehman doing the data work and Rosche on graphics.

North America 237

North America America 2020 Hawaii 237

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

Southern Florida offers many unique wintering birds, but perhaps none more so then the sparrows that call different parts of Florida their winter homes. The flight shot of the male Eurasian, taken by Tom Dunkerton, shows the unique plumage that is completely diagnostic to that species. Think Grasshopper Sparrow !

Florida 171

Florida South Dakota Sparrows Wildlife 171

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2018

The Aliens Among Us: How Invasive Species Are Transforming the Planet – and Ourselves (Leslie Anthony, Yale). • Shakespeare was, supposedly , the reason starlings, house sparrows, and other non-native birds were introduced to North America. Ten thousand years ago, Thomas notes, house sparrows were unknown in Britain.

Humane 105

Humane Species North America Sparrows 105

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2015

Then we looked for some common species. Flammulated, speaking of adorable, means “with flame-shaped markings” but to me sounds like it might describe the mental state of Muppets – a combination of flummoxed and animated, or perhaps of flailing and animated, but anyway, definitely that thing that Kermit the Frog does.

Blackbirds 162

Blackbirds Owls Sparrows Ducks 162