10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

And here I am now, avoiding the two barking dogs trying to bite my tires while I am driving through pre-dawn darkness towards the delta of the river Styx, or Acheron , as it is known today at the Ionian Sea coast of Greece. A guy on a motorbike is approaching me… perhaps a leader of the hunt to warn me off the area for safety reasons?

Greece 162

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 162

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. I’m sorry.

Lions 208

Lions Hunting Sierra Leone Buffalo 208

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

A shot or two coming from the opposite bank, but they do not sound like geese shooting – more like boar hunting. A goose hunt sounds like a WWII battle. Scanning the water for rarer species… S. We counted more than 35 of them, relaxed and fearless, clearly not hunted. Easy – it is forbidden to hunt at night.

Geese 176

Geese Hunting Boars Birds 176

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Many countries have private reserves and concessions, run for tourism or hunting, that provide outstanding wildlife watching opportunities. Brown-hooded Kingfishers hunt far from water. As well as birds, the reserve holds endangered species like African Wild Dogs. Crested Barbets come in close.

Zimbabwe 100

Zimbabwe Botswana South Africa Endangered Species 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

Dirt hawking is a form of falconry that involves hunting rabbits and other small game with Harris Hawks (other hawk species also qualify). One of the primary reasons that these hawks make such excellent falconry birds is because they are one of only two raptor species (the other is the Galapagos Hawk ) that hunt cooperatively.

League Against Cruel Sports 270

League Against Cruel Sports Rabbits Falcons Hunting 270

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2019

And yet, on the bridge the birds are relatively protected from the dogs, beach-goers, and predators that frequent their traditional habitats along dunes. Though the terns actively feed throughout the day, the skimmers wait until dawn and evening to hunt for prey in small flocks, flying low and fast across the water.

Protection 113

Protection Florida Eggs Hunting 113

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2015

Early starts are the rule when monitoring endagered species in Mkuze Game Reserve, in South Africa, but there’s a particular urgency to this morning’s start. And the morning before the Mkuze pack of Painted Wolves, or African Wild Dogs, had been very close to one of the park’s few Lions, as far as tracking collars had told.

Wolves 189

Wolves Lions Dogs Vet 189

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

The Aruban Burrowing Owl hunts primarily from the ground, hopping and running after lizards, insects, and small mammals. These owls use the tunnels of other species as their nesting burrows, and so can be found associated with ground squirrels, tortoises, and prairie dogs.

Prairie Dogs 101

Prairie Dogs Tortoises Owls South America 101

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2016

Here and there, spits of pale sand became playgrounds for families and dogs, or hunting areas for Great Blue Herons. Besides, I didn’t need a still image to identify my familiar Florida species. My husband remained more interested in the species below the surface. A view of East Bay.

Bald Eagle 154

Bald Eagle Florida Alligators Fish 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

The Common Pochard is listed as Vulnerable – not because it is particularly rare, but because of the rapid decline in its numbers (a decline of 50% within 10 years means a species is listed as Vulnerable – and a 50% loss in 10 years sounds quite dramatic and frightening indeed). And it does not even live in reeds.

Raccoons 215

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 215

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

Colorful bills and heads seem quite popular among Letaba’s bird species – see the African Jacana (blue and black) … … the Striated Heron (yellow and blue) … … and the Yellow-billed Stork (yellow and red). The Latin species name vermiculatus (worm-like) refers to the markings on the upperparts.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

There are the endemics, which are odd in their own way, and then there introduced species, which are so varied in their type and origin that you get the feeling you’ve arrived at the aftermath of a small zoo that escaped. What is surprising is quite how many species did end up here, and how economically unimportant they were.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 161

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2017

Newly re-opened after budget cuts, the park sported one staff member in the office who generously gave us a map, one woman and her dog, and one family in the set of RV camping spots at the edge of the lake. Still, I felt the familiar excitement of birding a new place. Though it was a weekend, we had the trail completely to ourselves.

Alabama 113

Alabama Birds Deer Turkey 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2020

A silhouetted Golden Eagle in flight appears on all current bottlings by Ardmore, and over the years, the same species has occasionally appeared on various products by Scottish distilleries like Glenfarclas and Mortlach. A Golden Eagle (1916), another painting by Archibald Thornburn.

Eagles 160

Eagles Lions Hunting Lamb 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2011

They have awesome bills that slice through the water in search of fish, they bark like small dogs, they have a cool color scheme. When skimmers are hunting even the most jaded birder has to watch them and the vast majority of the time a smile will be on that birder’s face. Africa has the African Skimmer R.

Niger 176

Niger New York Asia Fish 176

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2014

Though hardly common, Great Gray sightings are a yearly occurrence in Western Montana, and it is one of the twelve species of owl known to breed in the state. We arrived at Maclay Flat just in time to see three men unloading the sort of heavy-duty optics and camera equipment that signals serious birders on the hunt.

Owls 227

Owls Minnesota Montana 2014 227

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

The Secrets Inside Your Dog’s Mind. Brian Hare, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, holds out a dog biscuit. See Pictures of Dogs Learning New Tricks. No one in the room–neither dog nor human–can tell which cup hides the biscuit. See a video on how dogs think like us.

Wolves 100

Wolves Fox Dogs Puppies 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2014

We lose a handful of species, mostly waders flying across the whole Pacific but also a cuckoo flying just half of it. I don’t ski, or hunt, and I sadly haven’t been to the tropical Pacific for a while. I’ve mentioned before that the seasons aren’t very interesting in a birding sense. A Shore Pover!

New Zealand 140

New Zealand Australia Albatross Pigs 140

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2015

A personal encounter with a wild species changes one’s perspective. Lead remains in both fishing and hunting products, with strong lobbies that insist lead poisoning is not real, even as our facilities fill regularly with birds afflicted with it. Will the population of the species be affected?

Wildlife Rehabilitation 189

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Rescue Wildlife 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2012

The old runway in particular is excellent shorebird habitat, and the open wet woodlands growing up from, for lack of a better word, fields, elsewhere on the property shelter nesting Warbling Vireos , Orchard and Baltimore Orioles , Yellow Warblers , Common Yellowthroats , Tree Swallows , Song Sparrows , and other species.

New York City 153

New York City New York Birds Homelessness 153

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

And here I am now, avoiding the two barking dogs trying to bite my tires while I am driving through pre-dawn darkness towards the delta of the river Styx, or Acheron, as it is known today at the Ionian Sea coast of Greece. A guy on a motorbike is approaching me… perhaps a leader of the hunt to warn me off the area for safety reasons?

Greece 190

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 190

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

E.g. I remember trying to enter my local scrubland once, just across the car park behind the last apartment building and there, awaiting me, was a territorial pack of stray dogs barking at an intruder – me. At some stage, a salmon-hunting bear at a shingle beach came too close, mere 9 steps. Cactus finch, Geospiza species.

Animal 115

Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 115

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

In the end, I truly did set out to reduce the number of birds that I feature here from 1302, my years total species, down to 10-12. In Caines, Australia, we enjoyed a wet morning on the Daintree River, with Murray Hunt, of the Dain Tree River Tours. My favorite of the stay was this White-cheeked Bulbul.

2018 161

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2020

Among 60 or so heron species in the world this is the only one using this peculiar fishing technique. nubicoides ) using them as a high viewpoint to hunt dragonflies. The gentleman living on a farm by the Ngotwane Dam said ‘A croc took my dog, right there!’. Her husband, a diving instructor, said ‘I wouldn’t dive in this lake.’.

Botswana 188

Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 188

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. They may have also had hunting dogs with them as well. Which would be weird.

Turkey 203

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 203

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. Penguins are flightless, but some species locomote over long distances on antarctic ice to travel between breeding grounds and the sea.

Penguins 192

Penguins Seals Peru Science 192

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. This is another wetland species that nests in sometimes huge colonies atop trees bordering rivers and lakes.

Africa 240

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 240

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2012

That for the latter nature went on without them, letting them observe, seems to be proved by the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a big difference in your chance of getting wounded by a small to medium forest mammal if you are hunting them or if you are gathering plant products. It all depends on the dogs. But I digress.

Birds 169

Birds Collecting Rodents Wounded 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

Dogs are similarly dispersed across size ranges, with Foxes, Coyotes, and Wolves taking prey across different parts of the size range. Also, feral Cats on islands seem to be a serious problem, causing the extirpation of some indigenous species. They are invasive species. This means that they eat a lot of rodents and birds.

Feral Cats 255

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 255

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa). They are traditionally pastoral people, but have from necessity accepted agriculture, fishing and crocodile hunting as means of survival. Yellow-billed Stork.

Ethiopia 242

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Game 242

Animal Ethics

AUGUST 19, 2007

It is an animated website aimed at educating and inspiring children about endangered species, and all of our characters actually exist in a real-life camp in Tanzania which protects black rhino and wild African hunting dogs. whilst employing a local workforce and improving school and water supplies for surrounding villages.

Rhinos 40

Rhinos Tanzania Endangered Species Protection 40

Reddit Animals

DECEMBER 15, 2023

The spotted hyena displays greater plasticity in its hunting and foraging behaviour than other African carnivores it hunts alone, in small parties of 2–5 individuals or in large groups. During a hunt, spotted hyenas often run through ungulate herds to select an individual to attack. Each two-toed foot has a long, sharp claw.

Africa 40

Africa Buffalo Ostriches Animal 40

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2013

My post last week where I defended game hunting as a conservation tool has, unaccountably, encountered a certain amount of push back. Who would have thought that a post defending hunting game in general would have not been universally acclaimed? I will address two of them in the new year, namely, “Is hunting moral at all?”

Tigers 173

Tigers Hunting Game Protection 173

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

Each species account includes common and scientific name, size and weight (all metric), and information boxes on Key Identification Features (including how to differentiate the species from similar creatures), Habitat in Kruger, Habits (nocturnal or crepuscular or diurnal, social or loner, feeding behavior) and Diet.

Rhinos 240

Rhinos Mammals Animal White Rhinos 240

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2014

Sure, there is unlimited potential and every single species can once again be counted, but, nonetheless, birders often put forth the energy to get that list built up again, to erase that zero, and to hopefully put three (or even four) digits in its place before the end of the year. Amazingly, it worked! Click to embiggen.).

2014 158

2014 Fox Birds Owls 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

Wildlife conservation is concerned with protecting wildlife at the level of species or perhaps population. With the exception of species that number in the hundreds, conservation biologists are not as concerned with the fates of individual animals, it is only when such fates of many individuals are added up do they begin to worry.

Animal Rights 263

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 263

Animal Person

OCTOBER 26, 2009

This says it all: "[T]he vision of sustainable farms that give animals a good life (a life as good as we give our dogs or cats) and an easy death (as easy as a death we give our suffering and terminally ill companion animals) has moved me" (242). But this plate also holds all of the animals that were killed for your serving of sushi.

Factory Farm 100

Factory Farm Factory Farming Animal Vegan 100