10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

The species is classified as Near Threatened for all the usual depressing reasons – pollution, drainage, hunting, and the collection of eggs and nestlings ( source ). Trust me, the species name makes sense for the male, though not for the female. It is also classified as Near Threatened.

Birds 202

Birds Sri Lanka Taiwan Cats 202

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

I used to play Subbuteo as a kid … a kind of tip-kick football game that was named after this species (apparently, the inventors first wanted to name the game “Hobby” but that was rejected as too generic, or so the story goes). The Eurasian Hobby was another notable raptor of the month.

Birds 191

Birds China Eggs Owls 191

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

A few families have a small number of eggs in the clutches, like gulls or cormorants. Others, like the petrels and some of the auks, will lay a single egg per breeding attempt. Others invest much more effort into fewer young, giving a smaller number a much better start. Seabirds are one group of birds that go for the latter strategy.

Eggs 163

Eggs Puffins Breeding Raised 163

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. A pair of Hooded Vultures in Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania by Adam Riley.

Endangered Species 183

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 183

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

These fossils are seen as proof that some dinosaurs brooded over its eggs. Pickrell, an Australian science writer who grew up in Great Britain and studied for his master’s degree at London’s Natural History Museum, is clearly engaged with his subject. There is a lot of science here to explain. Like birds.

Mongolia 178

Mongolia Science Reptiles Indiana 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2013

If we were just birders, or photographers, this would be dreadful behavior, but we were here to watch people engaged in Science. And Science requires Sacrifice. The aim of the game was to band raptors, and specifically to band Golden Eagles. Enough to draw the attention of a predator. Do I sound facetious? I’m not.

Eagles 170

Eagles Tethering Science Wounded 170

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). Apparently, after a male first mates with a female, he throws out the first one or two eggs she lays in their nest.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147