10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Most birders know better than to fall prey to such sensationalism, but among the public at large, Australia is notorious for being a land creeping and crawling with dangerous and even lethal wildlife at every turn. The quacker in question was named Ripper, a drake Musk Duck raised at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve near Canberra.

2019 238

2019 Australia Ducks Fowl 238

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2015

Recently I ditched the coast and headed into the bowels of the Central Valley, to meet up with an old friend…you may know him by the name “ Falcated Duck “ Falcated Duck eluded us at first, but eventually let us stare at him at will. But this post is not about Falcated Duck. We couldn’t believe it.

Geese 208

Geese Fowl Ducks Mississippi 208

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2018

Not long after the compilation gets underway starting with the order Anseriformes , we come to Aix sponsa and the compiler asks – hopefully – “Any Wood Ducks?” Now, Wood Ducks are somewhat uncommon in eastern New York in winter and after an inevitable few seconds of silence, some smirking wisecracker pipes up with “Do wooden duck counts?”

2016 108

2016 Ducks California Hunters 108

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2015

This mainly affects domestic fowl, and in this sense is not a topic central to 10,000 Birds. Overall the problem is not huge; the total number of birds affected is small, and the market for domestic fowl is robust. Interestingly, H5N2 has been used as a vaccine for domestic fowl to prevent H5N1, the more infectious avian influenza.

Mississippi 177

Mississippi Fowl Turkey Minnesota 177

Animal Person

SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

I was watching a news segment on a wildlife rehabilitation center here in Florida. From 2002-2005 I was heavily ensconced in a bird and waterfowl phase with sometimes daily drama of the life-and-death variety that led to my unintentional education about all things duck (Muscovies, in particular).

Euthanasia 100

Euthanasia Wildlife Rehabilitation Fowl Birds 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

Felonious Jive really likes a ravishing returning rarity – a Falcated Duck. This bird spent the 2011-2012 winter at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in northern California, migrated someplace exotic and distant in February, and returned to the same pond at the beginning of this month.

2012 155

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 155