10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

And of eggs and nests and birds on nests. Into the Nest , as the title says, is about the courting, mating, egg-laying, nesting, and parenting behavior of “familiar birds”. Some chapters focus on one species (Yellow Warbler), some on several related species (Chickadees and Nuthatches). And of birds courting and mating.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2013

When it comes to New World flycatchers, empids tend to irritate me for the same reasons they irritate everyone, but species in the genus Contopus make me much happier for inexplicable reasons. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2013 North America Birds Eggs 175

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Their habitats vary widely in both rural and urban landscapes; open habitats are preferred and the species generally shuns only extensively forested areas and wetlands 1. To show how adaptive this species is, the following photograph was sent to me by one of my readers and I use it with her permission.

Hunters 175

Hunters Hunting North America Game 175

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The Bank Swallow ( Riparia riparia ) is North America’s smallest swallow. The report identifies 33 species that do not meet the Watch List criteria but are declining rapidly in many areas. The main reason for this rapid decline, as in the case of most species, is loss of habitat.

North America 187

North America 2014 California Birds 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

Since its introduction, this dove has spread quickly across the North American continent. The northwestern spread of this non-native species made it to my yard a few years ago. In North America and the Caribbean, they are found mostly in suburban, urban, and agricultural areas where grain, roost, and nest sites are available.

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Breeders 2002 North America Bahamas 178

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2020

Plus a few truly difficult species. Sure, it is an introduced species in Germany. But the Kentish Plover was sheltering its young under its body, and the Little Ringed Plover was incubating an egg — right in the middle of downtown Madrid! So seeing this beautiful (though common) European species was a special treat.

Austria 145

Austria Spain 2019 Birds 145

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2014

The featured image above shows a female incubating eggs from my first resident breeding pair back in 2007. Violet-green Swallows will nest solitarily or in colonies and in my experience seem much more mellow than other swallow species. The four to six eggs are white and unmarked. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

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Eggs North America 2007 Woodpeckers 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

But they don’t live in North America. I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. In North America, you’ve got Bears at the large end, Cats in the middle, and at the smaller end, the Mustilids. Unless we put them there. Have you ever seen the Dryfus Lion?

Feral Cats 254

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 254

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2015

The Brown Pelican and the Peruvian Pelican are closely related and once were considered the same species. The Brown Pelican occurs in both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America and northern South America. The species reached pre-pesticide numbers by the late 1990s and was fully delisted in 2009.

Pelicans 157

Pelicans North America Peru Fish 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Today, the species has all but disappeared east of the Mississippi River and has declined in western parts of its range, most likely caused by the expansion of the House Wren which destroys and removes their eggs from nest sites 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. This is what I am used to seeing.

Mississippi 172

Mississippi North America Eggs America 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology. 266-67).

Dissection 216

Dissection Birds Research Europe 216

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2016

Shrikes by the numbers: The family Laniidae is composed of 31 species of shrike, around the globe. The most common species here in North America is the Loggerhead Shrike , Laniidae ludovicianus which has 11 subspecies. Here is a pair birds that I visit quite often, in an arroyo near La Ventana, Mexico. Migrans and L.i.

Butcher 114

Butcher Birds North America Mexico 114

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2014

More than 99% of the population of Tricolored Blackbirds ( Agelaius tricolor ) live within the state of California and form the largest colonies of any North American passerine bird 1. The Results of the 2014 Tricolored Blackbird Statewide Survey confirm that this species is in rapid decline. Click on photos for full sized images.

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Blackbirds California 2014 2013 186

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2013

The White-headed Woodpecker is a non-migratory bird found in mixed coniferous forests dominated by pine trees in far western North America. Yah, another western species. White-headed Woodpeckers usually lay 4 to 5 eggs in a clutch and we’ve seen at least three different nestlings here now.

Woodpeckers 154

Woodpeckers North America America Eggs 154

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

Clicking on the map will take you to an explanation of this important biome, including its climate and its plant and animal species. All four major flyways in North America — the aerial migration routes traveled by billions of birds each year — converge in one spot in Canada’s boreal forest, the Peace-Athabasca Delta in northeastern Alberta.

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Obama 2008 United States Industry 244

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2015

Western Bluebirds ( Sialia mexicana ) like the male shown above, as well as Eastern Bluebirds ( Sialis sialis ) and Mountain Bluebirds ( Sialis currucoides ) have all benefited from 90 years of nest boxes and bluebird trails, monitored by thousands of bluebird enthusiasts across North America.

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Tenant Farming Illinois North America 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2013

The Black Swift is considered a Species of Special Concern in California. Plus the fact that they only lay one egg per season which is incubated for about four weeks and the chicks don’t fledge for another fifty days gives you some notion as to why these birds are a Species of Special Concern.

California 206

California North America Costa Rica America 206

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2015

Another species of Python, the African Python ( Python sebae ) has established a small population in the 2,877-acre Bird Drive Area (BDA) in South Florida. Photo Credit: Invasive and Exotic Species of North America (www.invasive.org). Rock Python. Photo Credits: Samuel Wright.

Pythons 180

Pythons Florida Mammals Reptiles 180

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2013

The two dozen species are, nearly to an individual, long bodied and bicolored. In North America, at least in the eastern part of it, we celebrate the return of the Baltimore Oriole to parks and farms this time of year. Icterus is a wide-ranging neotropical genus consisting of the technicolor blackbirds we call orioles.

Baltimore 176

Baltimore Broker North America Raised 176

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Both the male and female of the species have a bright red crown. Within a group, 1–7 male co-breeders compete for matings with 1–3 joint-nesting females who lay their eggs in the same nest cavity. Acorn Woodpeckers are the only species to store individual nuts in holes drilled in granaries. Click on photos for full sized images.

Woodpeckers 184

Woodpeckers Breeders Groups North America 184

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Horned Larks breed widely over North America, including up here in the High Arctic. For many North American bird enthusiasts, Common Ringed Plover ‘s are a bird they rarely, if ever, get to see. Here they are a common breeding bird, one of our two species that migrate from here to Europe and then south.

Eggs 186

Eggs North America Breeding Europe 186

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

Cliff Swallows migrate to North America from their wintering grounds in South America to nest in large colonies, sometimes numbering in the thousands. It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit.

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San Diego California illegal South America 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

It was advisable to remove them at night, to keep them calm, to establish immediately a feeding board on which they would be fed chopped beef and egg to start, then fresh birds, rabbit or squirrel. Nestlings weren’t taken until their down had been replaced by feathers. By 1999, the Peregrine Falcon was removed from the U.S.

Falcons 176

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

For ornithologists, it is the documentation of a multi-year project designed to record the distribution and abundance of birds in a specific area (in North America, usually a state or a province), utilizing a mapping method involving blocks and grids. The second page is the map page. Brauning and Andrew M.

Pennsylvania 225

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 225

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2011

July, as all northern hemisphere birders appreciate, is the month when the egg timer flips and everything starts pouring back out again in a steady stream south. Recently local birder Steve Holliday spent some time collating all the local information on ringing reports for this species with some interesting results.

Poland 157

Poland 2009 Europe France 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 29, 2011

Friends of mine came home from those lakes with tales of Sandhill Cranes , Snowy Owls with eggs in the nest and others. A tantalizing report from them included a brown owl, the likely suspect a Short-eared Owl slightly north of its accepted range. Few things in this earth can beat falling asleep after a day outdoors to bird song.

Bald Eagle 125

Bald Eagle Iceland Owls North America 125

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. This was only my fourth encounter with the species (all on the east side). Although, truth be told, this species does seem to be a rarity in Tabasco.)

Mexico 191

Mexico Birds Raccoons Reptiles 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

And, I started daydreaming about encountering something a little different, maybe a Horned Frog, Ceratophrys cornuta, a large, squat green and brown frog of South America, with a wide mouth large enough to eat other frogs as well as reptiles. A book about all the frogs and toads of the world is an ambitious undertaking.

Reptiles 183

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

This happened to me recently on a birding trip, with somewhat egg-on-the-face results. We were driving up to northwestern Michigan from our homes in Ohio (me) and West ByGod Virginia (Geoff) in search of a bird species that would be a lifer for both of us: the Bohemian Waxwing. I was on a birding quest trip with my friend Geoff Heeter.

2011 216

2011 Birds Michigan Ohio 216

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. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list. A nest wasn’t found until 1903, which set off a craze for Kirtland’s Warbler skins, nests, and eggs.

Michigan 226

Michigan Bahamas Research Endangered Species 226

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. Robert Ridgway wrote over 500 articles and 23 books, illustrating many of them himself.

Collecting 147

Collecting Illinois United States Alaska 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

With a hardiness that belies their delicate looks (but helps explain their phenomenal success), these pioneering pigeons are already sitting on eggs at at least one location in Montana. Especially of all the species that had been introduced to the US. So right now I’m feeling pretty good about Eurasian Collared-doves.

Montana 134

Montana 2011 New York Deer 134

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2015

Although it was formerly abundant and geographically widespread, Trumpeter Swan numbers and distribution were greatly reduced during the early fur trade and European settlement of North America (1600’s to 1800’s), when it was prized for its skins and primary feathers 1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq1bx7Ic2FY. v=kq1bx7Ic2FY.

North America 176

North America Wisconsin Iowa America 176

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2020

I am only responding to my subjective impression of a single species’ appearance here; specifically, that of the Bronzed Cowbird. Instead, they lay their eggs in other species’ nests, and let those nest-making birds (often significantly smaller than the cowbirds) raise their young. Native versus invasive species?

Birds 154

Birds Blackbirds Mexico Cattle 154

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

For mankind to snatch away a species’ very existence is wrong on so many levels that I can’t begin to explain them. However, despite our best efforts to wipe them off the face of the earth, some of the more vulnerable species have managed to hang on. this species breeds. Here are some U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Albatross 202

Albatross Endangered Species Bald Eagle Geese 202

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 194

Turtles Family Tortoises Terrapins 194

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

There is a total of 235 different bird species in Greenland, most of them are migratory birds with approximately 60 species breeding within the land. When their nests are ready the birds lay two eggs, and in rare occasions only one or three. Destinations Arctic Tern Greenland North America' Source: Shutterstock ).

North America 176

North America Eagles Breeding Fish 176