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Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan

10,000 Birds

Like a bad boyfriend not changing into nicer clothes for an evening out, the Brown-cheeked Fulvetta gets chided on eBird for not making any efforts: “an unapologetically drab and unmarked fulvetta” The Chestnut-headed Bee-eater apparently digs nest-burrows in which to lay its eggs. “It is not deep enough yet!

Birds 147
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The Great Bustard Search is On (1)

10,000 Birds

In breeding season grazing cattle may walk through the nest, breaking the eggs, while wild and domestic pigs may eat both eggs and chicks. Bustards are very susceptible to any kind of disturbance and, naturally, hunters like to shoot. What treats do they face?

Serbia 113
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The Changing Fortunes of Europe’s Vultures – Part 1

10,000 Birds

The chicks need six months to develop so the adults lay their eggs in January. In Franco’s day, a price was paid to farmers and hunters who brought evidence of having shot “vermin”. These are African, sub-Saharan, vultures that were unknown in Europe until recent times. Griffon Vultures have a long breeding season.

Africa 246
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Feral Cats Are An Invasive Species in North America (and elsewhere)

10,000 Birds

That was a wild cat, a wild Wildcat, the cat that lives in the wild because that is where it is from and where it belongs, at the southern end of its pan-African range that extended at one time well into Europe and Asia. Read what you want about the origin of domestic cats; the genetic evidence is not properly sampled. Plus, Coyotes eat Cats.

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The Passenger Pigeon & A Message From Martha: One Pigeon, Two Book Reviews

10,000 Birds

8) that could not possibly happen in Europe. I understand why he writes this; the speed at which billions of Passenger Pigeons disappeared is scary, far slower than the whittling down of bird numbers in Europe over centuries. How many eggs did a pigeon lay? How many times did it nest?

2014 166
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A Field Guide to the Wildlife of South Georgia: A Book Review by a Penguin Groupie

10,000 Birds

They breed in dense colonies, incubate their single egg on the feet, and take more than a year to fledge a chick. Over 3 million pairs of Antarctic Fur Seals breed on South Georgia, saved from near extinction by fur hunters. Southern Elephant Seals and Weddell Seals are also resident, though not in such large numbers.

Georgia 179
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A covey of Greys

10,000 Birds

Conversely, many American hunters refer to the gray/grey bird as the Hun, a shortened version of Hungarian, for Hungary was the source of many of the birds introduced to the Americas. I guessed that his mate was close by, incubating her eggs. These are hardy birds – they have to be to survive a Canadian winter.

Hungary 196