10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

Recent studies in Sri Lanka have revealed that, upon sighting a predator, a drongo will imitate the alarm calls of at least 4 other bird species (babblers, laughing thrushes, bulbuls, and others), as well as the call given by the specific predator, i.e. a giant squirrel or eagle.

Birds 201

Birds Sri Lanka Taiwan Cats 201

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2011

That’s an old wives’ tale that says bird won’t take care of a baby bird with a human smell on it–not true at all. Wildlife rehabbers are good, but what human can teach where to flip the best leaves to look for grubby larvae? What human can point out a fox hidden nearby and how to avoid it?

Birds 264

Birds Fox Raised Ducks 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

The tiercels (young Peregrines) must deal with Golden Eagles, Ravens, adult Peregrines, and foxes; they must also learn to navigate the skies and make their own kills, luckily these skills appear to be innately learned. It’s not easy.

California Condor 168

California Condor Falcons California Birds 168

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

The Blue Whistling Thrush is presumably named for its loud human-like whistling, and possibly for being blue. The Crested Serpent Eagle is another species bound to suffer from a naming error in perpetuity. “It is not deep enough yet! The Kalij Pheasant is not very good at denouncing typical avian gender stereotypes either.

Birds 147

Birds Myanmar China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2022

Eagle-eyed Pat spotted a Lesser Black-backed Gull in nonbreeding plumage and other birders that week noted a Thayer’s Gull (which we may have seen too–I mean, who expects Iceland Gull in April?). They did flush eventually, but not because of humans. Surprisingly, the Avocet area was not fenced off.

Houston 200

Houston Texas Sanctuary Sparrows 200

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation. As the names and habitats imply, not all owl species are alike, in behavior, adaptation, relationship to humans, and in how humans perceive them.

Owls 199

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 199

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

If you have always wondered what the minimum anesthetic concentration for isoflurane and sevoflurane for the Crested Serpent-eagle is, science has an answer. While serpent means large snake, the Crested Serpent-eagle also eats frogs, as this video shows. This included recording a total of 77,760 minutes of video.

China 216

China Birds Pythons Eagles 216

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2011

qn Archaeopteryx-like theropod from China Runner-up: The Bald Eagle that swooped around over the Big Gay Race in Minneapolis in October, which I didn’t get a picture of. On Seymour Island, my group witnessed a very human-like interaction amongst three boobies , one female and two males.

2011 175

2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 175

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Kinabalu (at 13,455 feet the highest peak in southeast Asia), and human development that has resulted in freshwater rice fields, secondary forest, and oil palm plantations, this means that Borneo offers an incredibly high degree of biodiversity. Browsing this field guide is a visual pleasure.

Brunei 172

Brunei Birds Asia China 172

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

The local Bald Eagles are getting busy, I suspect there is an egg in the nest. The zoo has already identified several species like the huge monkey-eating Philippine eagle that are at once distinct, endangered, and suffer from lack of attention. All I see are their buts. Also written up here. The original paper is here.

Birds 175

Birds Bald Eagle Zoos Philippines 175

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

Some of the most common breeding birds are White-tailed Eagles , Northern Fulmars , Black Guillemots , Common Eiders , Rock Ptarmigans , and Arctic Terns. Kitsissunnguit is relatively easy to get to for humans and is only a 1­2 hour boat trip away from the city Aasiaat. Source: Shutterstock ). Greenland’s Birds. Source: Shutterstock ).

North America 175

North America Eagles Breeding Fish 175

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2023

I visited Tengchong in late 2020 and wrote about it – but I also went there earlier, in 2017, and this post shows some photos I took during that trip, along with the usual comments that seem to be much more about ridiculing my fellow humans (especially ornithologists and the like) than providing useful information on birds.

China 175

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 175

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2013

How far is the closest human settlement? Well yes, but all of the planet’s tall mountains are relatively close to some form of human habitation. Some rain-forests could rightfully be termed remote but again, human habitation is actually relatively closer than what one might think. Gough Bunting by Ross Wanless.

Birds 197

Birds South Africa South America Feral Cats 197

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

But within a couple of decades, it’s effects on both wildlife and humanity became apparent. The most notorious effect is that their eggshells become so thin that a parent bird will crush it’s eggs while attempting to incubate them. They were secure in their isolated home here until humanity came to Laysan in the 1890s.

Albatross 197

Albatross Endangered Species Geese Alaska 197

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

There is also a third element, only hinted at in the opening–the environmental and scientific necessity of gathering this data to document the importance of keeping the Pacific Northwest waters healthy and uncontaminated by human elements. Fox does an excellent job balancing these three elements, keeping the emphasis on the birds.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Crested Serpent-Eagle – Spilornis cheela. Black-breasted Snake-Eagle – Circaetus pectoralis. Brown Snake-Eagle – Circaetus cinereus.

2016 154

2016 Sanctuary Australia Ghana 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Big Egg Marsh. Crested Serpent-Eagle – Spilornis cheela. Changeable Hawk-Eagle – Nisaetus limnaeetus. Cartagos 2. 14 May 2016.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Crested Serpent-Eagle – Spilornis cheela. Changeable Hawk-Eagle – Nisaetus limnaeetus. Black Hawk-Eagle – Spizaetus tyrannus.

2016 101

2016 Sanctuary Australia Ghana 101

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Big Egg Marsh. Little Eagle – Hieraaetus morphnoides. Lesser Spotted Eagle – Clanga pomarina. Los Cartagos. 14 May 2016. Sandy Hook.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Crested Serpent-Eagle – Spilornis cheela. Changeable Hawk-Eagle – Nisaetus limnaeetus. Black Hawk-Eagle – Spizaetus tyrannus.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100