10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

It feels good to start a post with some truly attractive birds – such as two species of broadbills. Strangely, there do not seem to be many papers on this species. In one paper , you can find fascinating sentences such as “The new species is most similar to D. My cats refuse to even try Fiery Minivets.

Birds 202

Birds Sri Lanka Taiwan Cats 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2014

Now we gamble again (literally as well as figuratively – there’s a split-pot prize for predicting the dates of arrival, egg-laying, and other major events) on the hope that they will lay viable eggs and successfully rear young. The many eyes on this particular citizen-science prize have also yeilded other results as well.

Eggs 165

Eggs 2011 Science Falcons 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

Jennifer Ackerman points out in the introduction to What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds , that we don’t know much, but that very soon we may know a lot more. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read.

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

Or, Pygmy leaf-folding frogs, Afrixalus brachycnemis, from Tanzania, tiny climbing frogs who lay their eggs in leaves and then fold the leaves over them for protection, sealing the nest with secretions. This exhibit has been making the rounds of science museums, and if comes to your area I highly recommend it, not just for kids.

Reptiles 182

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 182

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. The visual beauty and textual facts are a strong combination.

Delaware 176

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 176

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2018

It’s not often that we have the opportunity to glimpse the home life of albatrosses, nor of any seabird species. Where does the female Emperor Penguin go after she has produced that one egg and handed it over to the male for incubation? Technology to the rescue! What about incubation shifts?

Albatross 114

Albatross Penguins Research Breeding 114

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

Ridgway himself had 23 species, 10 subspecies, and two genera of birds named for him, including Ridgway’s Hawk.) The team explored Nevada and Utah, with Ridgway collecting thousands of bird specimen, plus nests and eggs for the Smithsonian. That’s a photo of Ridgway’s office on the right, fifth floor of the South Tower.

Collecting 145

Collecting Illinois United States Science 145

Animal Person

MARCH 17, 2009

In addition to heaps of information at www.RPAforAll.org about RPA's 10,000 Years Is Enough campaign to get our universities out of the meat industry, there is now a current list of all 50 governors with address and their state's LGU. Let me know -- any time! -- if you'd like assistance or more information. Thanks and best wishes!

Meat Industry 100

Meat Industry Industry Meat Responsible Policies 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

China 217

China Birds Pythons Eagles 217

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Kooyman (co-author with Jim Mastro) spent decades studying Emperor Penguins and can be considered the world’s foremost expert on the species. Empire Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are the largest living penguin species, almost four feet tall (taller when they stretch), and the least likely to be seen on birding or nature trips.

Penguins 151

Penguins Seals Leopards Research 151

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

At the very least appreciated for their hard-shell adaptation, the way they quietly survive in ponds, rivers, oceans, islands, forests, even, for a few species, deserts, and, if you are of a certain age, their cultural depiction as ninja warriors. Or that tortoises and terrapins are considered part of the turtle family.

Turtles 189

Turtles Tortoises Family Terrapins 189

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

Basically, this species is so dimwitted, it doesn’t know how to survive. Because, Pink Pigeons are not capable of doing the tasks required to create and bring up children of the species. These endangered birds have trouble producing a fertilized egg and, even worse, they don’t even know how to build a nest so the egg survives?

Mauritius 101

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 101

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

It is the 100th Anniversary of the extinction of the species known as the Passenger Pigeon and writers are paying attention. Errol Fuller’s The Passenger Pigeon is a beautifully illustrated, elegantly written “celebration” of the passenger pigeon and the artists who illustrated and photographed the species. It is a hodgepodge.

2014 159

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 159

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 176

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 176

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

The vast majority of the 10,000+ living species of birds are passerines, and the vast majority of those have a similar system of breeding: Mom and dad bird make a nest and share parental responsibilities roughly equally, if not identically. Science (New York, N.Y.), doi:10.1126/science.1240039. Photo of a Fairy Wren from HERE.

Breeders 195

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 195

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Many, many things happened in the area of bird science this year, so this review can not be comprehensive. 08–20 Many bird species are in trouble, but the Hooded Grebe is really really in trouble. But I’ve compiled a sampling of this year’s news and events for your edification. But there was this one in Australia.

Science 185

Science 2013 Elephants Birds 185

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

JANUARY 29, 2024

The species name athertoni is derived from Lt. Unfortunately, there is not much literature on the species except for the inevitable analysis of the mitochondrial genome. As usual in China, there are some anonymous Leaf Warbler species – but who cares, apart from Bella of Alpinebirding ?

Squirrels 136

Squirrels Birds China Bears 136

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2014

32, 1887) and Egg collection (no. But, the limited space also means that information is sometimes compressed and limited. 68), informal birding headquarters near the marshes at Cley, where birders answered the phone because it was likely to be another twitcher on the other end, asking for the latest rare bird news.

Mauritius 172

Mauritius Collecting Egypt Cyprus 172

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2011

But seriously, Science has a more interesting set of answers, and some recently published research on European Robins helps to examine this question in some detail. Here’s a short list of them: 1) Species recognition. Animals can assess species and sex with much more subtle cues. Why is the Robin’s breast red?

Research 201

Research Science Birds Deer 201

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

They submitted 144 checklists, noting 628 species adding 72 to the year’s running total bringing it to 1890. Eastern Egg Rock. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Eastern Egg Rock. Eastern Egg Rock. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. 28 May 2017. 27 May 2017.

2017 100

2017 Australia Sanctuary Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

Actually, as I just found out, this is not really new information. 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). But it is all for science, I hear them say.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147