10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2024

This is the home of the Rusty-naped Pitta , admittedly one of the less glamorous of the family, particularly the subspecies found in Yunnan, but still a nice sight and still a pitta. The scientific species name of the Rusty-naped Pitta oatesi honors Eugene William Oates (1845-1911), an English civil servant in India and naturalist.

Burma 201

Burma India Birds Indonesia 201

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Family-owned since 1972, the property’s first guests were volcanologists from the Smithsonian Institute. These researchers preferred this property for their research due to its close proximity to the Arenal Volcano and resplendent natural environment. Over time, the lodge grew into a haven for birders and naturalists alike.

Costa Rica 154

Costa Rica Reptiles Research Industry 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

Or would be, had I encountered more of them – so far, I have seen only a very small share of the approximately 233 woodpecker species, and got decent photos of an even smaller number – not much more than 10% of all of them. So, writing a post about them is easy.

Woodpeckers 233

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 233

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Similarly, descriptions of species repeated across volumes do not lose their accuracy with each publication. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 216

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 216

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. © 2021 Barbara Ballentine and Jeremy Hyman & Quarto Publishing.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2024

This post starts like every birding blog post should start – by showcasing some bulbul species. The researchers speculate that this is because of the contrast against the green canopy background – an explanation that seems a bit spurious to me if applied to captive birds. Yes, I am joking.

Birds 145

Birds Owls China Research 145

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Pough “with illustrations in color of every species” by Don Eckelberry, Doubleday, 1946. The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. The press material says it covers over 800 species, so you know I had to do a count.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

A logical and outstanding successor to The Genius of Birds (2016), Ackerman’s award-winning book about bird cognition, The Bird Way explores the diversity of bird behavior, the norm and the extremes, with an emphasis on cutting-edge research and findings that explode assumptions. Yet, the research projects are never the whole story.

Research 225

Research Birds Science Costa Rica 225

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2021

The guide has been expertly, even lovingly revised, expanded and updated (as the authors’ names indicate, this is largely a family affair). This second edition covers 685 species found in the continental U.S. and Canada, including some species as far north as Alaska, an increase over the 500 species covered in the first edition.

North America 258

North America America Species 2018 258

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

Just last year, 5 new bird species and 5 new subspecies were discovered in a few short weeks of fieldwork on the islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka. In recent years Indonesia has been competing with the Andes as the region giving rise to the biggest number of undescribed bird species (naturally, all of them endemics).

Indonesia 264

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2023

The official Ontario bird checklist, produced by Ontario Field Ornithologists , June 2022 listed 506 bird species**, putting it in the top tier of U.S. Small Species Accounts: Each species is allotted one page (with certain exceptions) offering basics–bird names and size, one or two photographs, and a one-paragraph description.

North America 213

North America Birds Owls Canada 213

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

The feature distinguishes birds from other species; All birds have them, no other species do. Beaks vary across different kinds of birds, and this great diversity in beaks is part of the great diversity of the 10,000+ species of birds that exist today; Beaks thus facilitated the diversification of birds. So how did beaks evolve?

Alligators 214

Alligators Chickens Research Birds 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. The guide covers 1,433 species, the number of birds documented at the end of 2014, the cutoff point for the book.

Bolivia 174

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 174

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. And the term is ‘non-reversed size dimorphism.’).

North America 223

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 223

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

North America 149

North America Sparrows America United States 149

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

The book is divided into three parts: “Introduction,” “Avifaunal Overview,” and “Species Accounts.” Most birders will go straight to the “Species Accounts.” It’s important to note that the 301 species selected for this section are those of historical and current importance to the core study area, the northwest Bronx.

New York City 150

New York City New York Birds Breeding 150

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

This is “the deep cradle of Western ornithology: the birthplace of bird study,” he tells us as he writes about gazing at the 8,000-year old depictions of “flamingos, herons, raptors, avocets and many other species” (p. Common Guillemot research at Skomer Island, Wales.

Dissection 222

Dissection Birds Research Europe 222

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2017

Way back in the days when blog posts still got a lot of comments, I wrote a piece on why field guides that arrange species in a more or less strict taxonomic order regularly frustrate me. Taxonomy is constantly changing and so does the order of species in field guides. Order of bird families, non-songbirds. I see a problem.

Brunei 156

Brunei 2009 2016 2014 156

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2014

A little research revealed that these are old names of birds that have been split into different species. Water Pipit is now known as a European species; the American subspecies became the full species American Pipit in 1989. Scientific names don’t reflect the massive changes to species in the warbler family.

2006 198

2006 2014 Connecticut North America 198

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

I’m happy to say that Laura Erickson and Marie Read have written a book, Into the Nest: Intimate Views of the Courting, Parenting, and Family Lives of Familiar Birds , that is not too cute and that does not anthropomorphize. Some chapters focus on one species (Yellow Warbler), some on several related species (Chickadees and Nuthatches).

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2022

So armed with some knowledge from the “ Access Considerations for Birding Locations ” page on the Birdability website and some research, I twice visited the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge near Portland, Oregon with accessibility in mind. I also did a post about eBird Mobile Track using the refuge as an example.).

Portland 193

Portland Oregon Laws Experience 193

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It’s relatively easy to classify birds into family groups based on physical characteristics. We view them as our enemies when they eat our crops and as an extension of our family when we see them at our feeders. Jonathan Elphick and John Fanshawe provided “specialist research” and support.” Larks, for example.

Birds 215

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 215

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

There are over 11,000 species of moths in North America. I have a hard enough time with the 1,103 bird species on the ABA Checklist. The Southeastern guide doesn’t; I imagine this was to save space in a book with 300 additional species. Here’s an example, from Hagen’s Sphinx, SE guide, p. Let that sink in.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Nearly 70 species of parrots have been recorded flying free at some stage or another in Miami, including Hyacinth Macaws. Dozens of other introduced bird species, largely escapees from pet owners, now call Miami home. But I couldn’t help but get more excited about the countable species as opposed to the uncountable ones.

Miami 135

Miami Parrots Research Birds 135

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

When I read somewhere that Pygmy Geese were not actually geese at all I started doing some research. True geese belong to the tribe or sub-family Anserini within the larger family Anatidae that encompasses ducks, geese and swans. And of the the three species, the African species is without debate the most gorgeous.

Geese 181

Geese Ducks Botswana South Africa 181

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

Birding by Impression is a conscious, deliberate method of identifying and recognizing birds based on the study and evaluation of “distinctive structural features and behavioral movements” and comparison with nearby and similar species. It is not a handbook, though it approaches species from a collective viewpoint. .* So say Kevin T.

Birds 170

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

A little bit of research when I got home unraveled the ways of publishers here and in Great Britain. First published in 1973 in association with the Asa Wright Center, the book focuses on species descriptions, with illustrations grouped together in plates positioned in the center of the book. The AOU has not accepted that split.

Trinidad 196

Trinidad Birds South America Research 196

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2016

They used Great T**s from non-urban and urban areas, and mixed them up through breeding, to rule out any possible family history of telomere length. Research done quite a while back suggests that this is adaptive. Researchers have been studying song learning in birds for some time. You are certainly already familiar with this.

Mammals 110

Mammals Zebras Birds Primates 110

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

Of course Africa could not to be left out of the pink weekend so I have researched all African species whose official or alternative names include the word “pink”. Its mostly found on the ground in thickets or the edges of dense vegetation and usually in small family parties. There are certainly some stunners involved.

Africa 211

Africa Somalia Pelicans Mozambique 211

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Navarro’s exceptional drawings illustrate the species accounts. Forty-eight species. Compare, for example, the species account illustration of the Cuban Trogon with the photo that opens up the introductory chapter. The luxury of space means that each species can be shown from various angles and in distinctive poses.

Cuba 232

Cuba Birds United States 2000 232

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

I want to talk about this research but if you really want to know more about it, don’t rely on me; one of the co-authors of this important paper is Darren Naish, who happens to be a stupendous blogger, and he has written the research up here. So, for example, humans are apes. Meanwhile I have a few random thoughts.

Camels 199

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 199

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

For example, on finding gulls: Close study of gulls is not for everyone, and birders shouldn’t feel obligated to get deep into it if you prefer colorful, less-confusing, families of birds. In every chapter, Nate makes clear that you can go further and deeper, but you don’t have to. And you will still be a birder.

Birds 263

Birds North Carolina North America Science 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2019

Their populations, plus those of other species that ‘wore’ the coveted long, colorful feathers used for women’s fashionable hats, were being dangerously depleted by hunters intent on feeding the millinery industry. As a librarian and women’s studies scholar, I greatly appreciate the research. This is where Boase excels.

Industry 119

Industry Virginia Portland Campaign 119

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. Penguins are flightless, but some species locomote over long distances on antarctic ice to travel between breeding grounds and the sea.

Penguins 192

Penguins Seals Peru Science 192

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

Or, one of the 145 species of Glass frogs living in the Cental and South American rainforests, I could look through the transparent skin on their undersides and see their internal organs. All species of frogs and toads share the fact that they are amphibian creatures, they have two types of skin gland, four legs, and, well, they jump.

Reptiles 185

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 185

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

where and when the species is likely to be seen on the east coast, flight style, size and structure as compared to similar species. I realized a curious thing while researching some of the creatures in this guide–some of the common names given for the flying fish appear to have originated with co-author Steve N.G.

Pennsylvania 168

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 168

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2017

In a time of little published information about the rainforests of Central and South America aside from scientific journal articles and the works of 19th-century naturalists, the “little green book,” as it was called, became a must-read amongst nature-oriented travelers and researchers. Please–do not read this section only!

South America 152

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 152