10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

Raised in and around the West Texas steppe country where temperatures reached 100 degrees with regularity, he began life as the Dust Bowl and Great Depression converged. That summer of 1938, when he was ten years old, Cade read of two brothers, Frank and John Craighead, who wrote of their experiences with falcons in National Geographic.

Falcons 179

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 179

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

As a Northeast birder I am familiar with the alarming decrease in the number of Red Knots along Atlantic shores and have signed petitions and written e-mails calling for legislation and rules that will limit the overharvesting of the horseshoe crab, whose eggs Red Knots depend on. million in the late 1990’s. Should the gulls be controlled?

Delaware 179

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 179

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2013

Scientific experiments would be needed to demonstrate true cause-and-effect, but the extra attention appeared to pay off. I didn’t get to witness such cooperation in the second year of the project, as only one egg hatched. I’m running a crowdfunding campaign now to raise funds to publish it.

Eagles 185

Eagles Bald Eagle Seattle Game 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2022

There were an estimated 13,000 breeding pairs and roosting birds in 2016; additional islands have been created to support the increasing population and a raised (17-feet) walkway with observation platforms allows birders and photographers to enjoy them. This was the High Island Experience, I was told. It was amazing.

Houston 211

Houston Texas Sanctuary Sparrows 211

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2024

Being a westerner — raised in California, and now living in western Mexico — I was perhaps most excited about the migratory birds that breed in eastern North America. And then there was a Green Heron , not only showing us its nest, but also an egg. Then, around 4:00 p.m., And yet, there it was. But what could I do?

Mexico 195

Mexico Birds Raccoons Baltimore 195

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2011

I photographed this Guianan Cock-of-the-rock at a lek site near Surama, deep in the rainforest zone of Guyana, and my incredible experience with Andean Cock-of-the-rocks was at a display lek on the edge of the town of Jardin, in the coffee-belt of Colombia, both just incredible birds that make the heart soar with joy!

2011 182

2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 182

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

It’s the warbler that is often the last unchecked species on birders’ life lists and, whether you list or not, for most of us observing it is a once in a lifetime experience. A nest wasn’t found until 1903, which set off a craze for Kirtland’s Warbler skins, nests, and eggs.

Michigan 229

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 229

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 211

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 211

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2021

One Oriental Pratincole of them was courageously raising its wings when I unknowingly drove towards its eggs – I reversed, but I am not so sure about the next person using that road … Being yelled at by the chick of an Oriental Pratincole. The birding life.

Birds 215

Birds Uganda Breeding Rats 215

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Of course, it is hard to resist looking at a paper titled “Host personality predicts cuckoo egg rejection in Daurian redstarts” Basically, the personality of a female redstart (bold or shy) predicts the responses to parasitic eggs – bold hosts are more likely to reject parasitic eggs. Not this one though.

Birds 197

Birds China Eggs Owls 197

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2012

They are often raised by single mothers after their deadbeat dads disappear: Once the pair have mated, the female lays a clutch of three to six eggs and the male bird may abandon the female to take-up a new territory, in attempt to mate with additional females. You know what is interesting about Barred Warblers?

Hungary 169

Hungary Eggs Abandon Abandoning 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2011

After mating, a single egg is laid and incubation duties are shared by both parents. The long shifts before swapping duties reduce the number of times that the birds have to run the gauntlet of the gulls and increase their chances of succesfully raising the chick to the age of abandonment.

United Kingdom 160

United Kingdom Brazil Eggs Abandon 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

I once knew a guy who kept and raised cats. I new him because we enlisted his Dryfus Lion and one of his tigers to carry out experiments with bones (this is something archaeologists do). Have you ever seen the Dryfus Lion? The one that walks around Wall Street and somehow makes you want to invest in the stock market?

Feral Cats 255

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 255

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

How do I know of their Gothic moods when they have hidden them so well in an egg-white shell of conformity? And I haven’t even started to write about ageing them … What are your experiences, and what is the colour of the claws on your local gull species? It is the claws that give them away, their black nail polish.

2011 162

2011 Birds Deer Europe 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2012

I know from experience how accessible Dennis is, last year he helped me identify a damselfly I photographed in Costa Rica (Argia anceps, no common name). The Natural History section points out that Red-tailed Pennants hold their wings flat or slightly lowered, while the skimmers tend to raise their wings.

United States 233

United States Costa Rica Massachusetts North America 233

Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 29, 2006

In recent years, the prevalence of disease-causing bacteria in meat, poultry, and eggs has risen sharply, which is why health authorities insist that these products be carefully handled and thoroughly cooked, if they are used at all. There is no need for infants to be raised on cow's milk formulas. But what about prior to two years?

Animal 40

Animal Meat Cows District of Columbia 40

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

We are familiar with the story, birds flying north in the boreal summer, taking advantage of the warmth, long days, and abundant insect life, to raise their young. In my experience here, the Wheatear arrive at the end of May to early June and quickly establish territories. And for the most part it is.

Africa 196

Africa Somalia North America Nigeria 196

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

I have written about the interesting sex life of these jacanas a few times already (short version: female mates with male, lays a bunch of eggs for him to incubate and raise the chicks, leaves him, finds another male, repeat). Once I am moderately successful, I often find such photos quite pleasing. but they do. See the sequence below.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147