10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2014

The trees are of one species and nearly devoid of insect life, the only plants are ornamental or lawn, and the amount of cover at ground level is virtually nil. Almost every year there are a few birds that stick around at Bryant Park long after they are gone from the rest of the New York City area. And the noise!

New York City 208

New York City New York Birds Sparrows 208

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018

Many birders have places they return to year after year, special pilgrimages promising scenes and species they see nowhere else. Enjoying these locations over time allows us to experience our beloved birding sites in all their multifaceted glory, even when those facets aren’t exactly glorious. How about you?

2018 124

2018 Ponies New York City Tennessee 124

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2018

Corey did not have a plethora of pleasing species from which to choose his Best Bird of the Weekend this weekend but he supposed that the American Kestrel that perched up for the New York City Audubon field trip he led at Queens Botanic Garden on Sunday morning will have to suffice. How about you?

2018 124

2018 New York City New York Birds 124

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2019

Corey enjoyed leading a New York City Audubon bird walk at Forest Park on Saturday morning and visiting Breezy Point on Sunday. Though he had quite a few species to choose from his easy favorite was any of the many Razorbills he saw at Breezy Point. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2019 113

2019 New York City New York Birds 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2015

Corey had a huge number of birds to choose from this weekend as northwest winds were continuous through New York City all weekend long. But of all the species he spotted he felt either of the two Grasshopper Sparrows at Kissena Park in Queens was his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 150

New York City 2015 New York Sparrows 150

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2018

He didn’t find anything particularly spectacular but he did see quite a few species. His Best Bird of the Weekend was either of a pair of young White-crowned Sparrows he found in Kissena Park in Queens, a good bird for winter in New York City! How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 100

New York City 2018 New York Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

Solid Air: Invisible Killer- Saving Billions of Birds from Windows is the summation of Dr. Klem’s expertise, experience, and professional life–what we scientifically know about bird and glass collisions, a handbook on how to prevent them, and, not insignificantly, the story of a remarkable career.

New York City 249

New York City Birds Illinois Science 249

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2014

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was one of the many species of wood-warblers he saw this weekend, which was amazing for neotropical migration in New York City. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 188

New York City 2014 Kentucky New York 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2018

Corey had a wonderful weekend of birding, hitting a variety of spots across Queens on Saturday and then leading a New York City Audubon field trip looking for ducks in central Queens on Sunday. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2018 100

2018 New York City New York Birds 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2018

Not only did I bag the beautiful bird I expected, but I also encountered a tasty species I never expect there until I see it every year: Olive-sided Flycatcher. Speaking of OSFL, Corey had quite a haul of species to choose from this weekend after leading two walks for New York City Audubon and doing a ton of birding on his own on Sunday.

New York City 100

New York City 2018 Jamaica New York 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2014

It is the first record of this invasive species for New York City and it served as a nice contrast to the hordes of pigeons in the neighborhood. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 162

New York City 2014 Breeders Virginia 162

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Dorian’s gregarious personality and self-deprecating sense of humor makes even the most meditative sections one of a piece with his birding experiences, producing a good read that may make you think. Plus tales of birding from the point of view of the traveling cyclist. There are also surprises.

Birds 207

Birds Los Angeles Massachusetts New York City 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Formerly, as you can tell from its name, it was a military base, mostly tasked with keeping New York Harbor safe from attack. I was joined on the platform by Luke Musher, a recent transplant to New York City who I met a week earlier in the same location with Doug Gochfeld. And this bird was way out over the water.

New York City 192

New York City New York Battery Experience 192

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2015

I had racked up only twenty-odd species, all of which I’d have to be blindfolded to not see if I spent a year in New York City. Did I have a lovely experience with the birds as well? A literal wild goose chase had led to a cascading series of errors in which I missed nearly every bird I sought.

New York City 154

New York City Squirrels New York Owls 154

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2013

Corey had an absurd array of avians to choose from as his Best Bird of the Weekend considering that between Friday and Sunday he saw 148 species in his journeys around Queens, the Bronx, and Sullivan, Ulster, and Orange Counties. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

New York City 152

New York City 2013 New York Birds 152

10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2018

Fifth, Kirtland’s Warbler is an amazing conservation success story, having come back from the brink of extinction to the point where it is now proposed for delisting as an Endangered Species. It’s hard to think of a species I would rather see in New York State. Will I ever twitch a bird this good again?

New York 108

New York New York City Michigan United States 108

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

we learn) that are home to coveted boreal species, breeding wood-warblers, and two species of Grouse. There are 461 species on the Maine checklist. This field guide covers 265 species, the ones most likely to be seen–residential and migratory, almost all nesting birds, many wintering birds.

Los Angeles 188

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

New York City apartments don’t allow feeders to be hung from fire escapes (though I know certain birders that skirt that rule), and it wasn’t until I had already been birding for four-and-a-half years that I obtained a small yard in central New Jersey in which I could place a feeder or two or three.

Birds 168

Birds New York City Squirrels New York 168

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

The 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is less than a month away and while we don’t have snow down yet here in New York City I am pretty sick of cold weather and could use some warmth and Florida sunshine! Sign up if you want the chance to see an enigmatic and charismatic species.

Wildlife 157

Wildlife 2015 Bald Eagle New York City 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

I haven’t yet been birding in Europe but whenever I occasionally skim a field guide about the birds on the other side of the Atlantic, I’m always encouraged to find that I’m already familiar with many species found over there, even though most of my birding experience has been limited to eastern North America.

2017 116

2017 Portugal Rabbits Europe 116

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2016

Here is what you need to do: Send me a brief description of the best bird you’ve ever seen in New York State–name of species, where you saw it, when, and why this is a bird that has stayed in your memory. You can tell that it is written by a birder who learned how to bird in New York State. ” 3.

New York 155

New York Birds New York City 2016 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2020

It was an invigorating experience and an example of my favorite kind of birding, that of the spectacle. After all, it’s not every day that you more than double the all time high count for a species in your home county, and it is definitely not every day that you get to witness a spectacle like a 12,000-strong gannet feeding frenzy!

New York 191

New York Fish New York City Experience 191

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

Back on Friday, 12 February, I was dismayed when I read the weekly New York City Rare Bird Alert email. After all, birding under a highway is not exactly my idea of a pleasant experience. What a marvelous sight my seventh goose (and 313th species) for Queens was! Greater White-fronted Goose !

Puerto Rico 120

Puerto Rico Geese Canada Porpoises 120

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2016

Both are declining species who have attracted the attention of birders and conservationists, and both are hanging on, showing the remarkable spirit that I think characterizes New Yorkers throughout the state. Brian Laben had a wonderful experience seeing this rarity in upstate New York (or, is that mid-state?

New York 100

New York Bald Eagle Birds New York City 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

GISS—general impression, size, shape—is intuitive, the result of an unconscious cognitive process derived from experience in the field. It is not a handbook, though it approaches species from a collective viewpoint. “BBI These chapters differ in length and content, depending on the number of species in each group.

Birds 169

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 169

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2017

In 2009, I traveled from New York City to the tropical rainforest of Ecuador. Though each chapter offers a wealth of mind-boggling knowledge, I particularly enjoyed the chapter on “Tropical Intimacy: Mutualism and Co-evolution,” with its examination of species interdependences and evolutionary oddities.

South America 145

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 145

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2012

A pretty major front was supposed to make its way over New York City in the wee hours so we decided to play it by ear and call each other early in the morning and figure out if the weather would be decent enough to go out at all and, if so, where we would go. First state records are held to an extremely high standard.).

Cape Verde 162

Cape Verde New York New York City North America 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Mostly the ducks were Red-breasted Merganser and Greater Scaup , the two most prevalent species on the pond, but there were a few other birds mixed in as well. It is my belief that the birds were migrating, though one New York birder suggested that they might have been flying out for some crepuscular feeding.

Ducks 169

Ducks 2011 Jamaica New York 169

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. Fitting, since New York City and London were the centers of the millinery trade. This is good stuff.

Industry 118

Industry Virginia Portland Campaign 118

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2013

Many years of experience have been lost. There have been 221 species recorded on the count, including goodies like Gyrfalcon , King Rail , Western Tanager , Ash-throated Flycatcher , Sedge Wren and Black-throated Gray Warbler. The New York City area’s Christmas Bird Count density is absurd.

Birds 163

Birds New York City New York New Jersey 163

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. 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. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 203

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2020

The last weekend lived up to my meager expectations of delivering only common species, but I did enjoy the Carolina Wrens in my yard chattering away, undoubtedly in delight that their aggressive House cousins were occupied elsewhere. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2020 159

2020 New York City New York Birds 159

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

There might be some question as to if the birding that resulted from Hurricane Irene on Sunday, 28 August 2011, was the best birding ever in New York State but any day that can even be entered into that conversation is going to feature some amazingly good birding.

New York City 150

New York City New York Birds 2011 150

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

There are owls in New York City. The two stories about New York City are personal favorites, of course. Big owls: Barred Owls on Riverside Drive and down the path from Harlem Meer, a Great Horned Owl in Central Park’s Ramble.

New York City 181

New York City Birds Owls Fox 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

The book is organized into ten chapters, framed by a Prologue and Epilogue focused on Weidensaul’s banding experience in Denali National Park. His participant observations connect to his own research experiences, providing history and perspective. Weidensaul traveled to each location to witness the research in process.

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2012

Though birds sing because it is a biological imperative I find it hard to believe that they don’t get some basic enjoyment out of the experience as well. I would add a third – for the sheer joy of it! I know I do! The dawn chorus is a delight to the ear, a celebration of having survived the night to welcome the sun.

New York City 173

New York City Birds New York Experience 173

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2015

The Marine Nature Study Area in Oceanside is one of the premiere places in New York to get great looks at a variety of saltmarsh species without having to slog through a saltmarsh. It was an exciting experience to see this heron going about its business from close range, close enough that I could hear the crabs being crushed.

New York City 199

New York City New York Hunting Sparrows 199