10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. Superficially, it resembled the Black-chinned Sparrow of the southwestern United States with its gray chest and chestnut streaked with black back.

New Jersey 229

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 229

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2017

While birders up north are pishing up sparrows, digging the Autumn weekend at Cape May, or twitching vagrants, we are busy with kingbird flocks during our height of migration. Birds begin to filter down through this southern part of Central America by August but the biggest avian movement happens during the third and final weeks of October.

Costa Rica 165

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Farming 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2018

While some people never overcome this vestigial aversion to sour and bitter sensations, this innate prejudice can be overturned with experience, becoming acquired tastes we learn to enjoy just as much as the more dependable, uncomplicated pleasures of sweetness, salt, and fat. Your move, Budweiser.).

Collecting 100

Collecting St. Louis Dogs Sparrows 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

And yes, sparrows in areas with polluted air are less healthy. The Latin name of the Bull-headed Shrike is bucephalus, which apparently means big-headed or bull-headed, rather than being named after Alexander’s horse Bucephalus (which had been my guess). Thank god that this does not apply to humans. Not this one though.

Birds 203

Birds China Eggs Owls 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2018

In Costa Rica, we know it by way of windy nights with clear skies, slightly cooler temperatures, and an abundance of festivities featuring carnie rides, prancing horses, and parades. They are also involved with a project to learn more about and conserve the endemic Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. The end of another year is nigh.

Costa Rica 174

Costa Rica 2018 Birds West Virginia 174