10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2021

Marybeth learns as she birds, embraces listing goals as a means of engaging with community, unabashedly enjoys a little competition, struggles to balance her absolute joy in birding with unexpected, life-and-death family obligations. The book focuses on two listing events: her 2012 Louisiana Big Year and her 2016 Louisiana 300 Year.

Louisiana 264

Louisiana Species Mississippi Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

The Trogon family (and order, since the order only includes one family) is quite widespread, being found in all the tropical (and some subtropical) regions of the world. Honesty requires that I confess to having seen none of these species. These species are visually very similar, with subtle differences in their tail patterns.

Mexico 188

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 188

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

We all have them: families of birds that are maddeningly similar, forever leaving nagging doubts about our identifications. Someday I will get up the nerve to write about the ten, yes, TEN Empidonax species I believe I have seen in my little corner of Mexico. New World Warblers in non-reproductive plumage. Thanks again, Fabián!

Mexico 141

Mexico Argentina Experience Experiments 141

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

In August, we took a family trip to beautiful San Diego, seeing SeaWorld , LegoLand , and the San Diego Zoo. Additionally, there are still a few regularly-occurring Pacific pelagic species that I have never seen. But I took a day for myself for a 12-hour pelagic trip sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon. Then we headed back.

San Diego 147

San Diego Los Angeles Cooking North Carolina 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

(The White-tipped Dove is actually called, in Spanish, the Paloma Arroyera , or “Gully Dove” And sorry, I have yet to get a photo of this shy species. Like most of the species on this list, this tiny highland bird prefers to make its presence know by singing, rather than by being seen.

Trinidad 186

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 186

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2018

In a little less than two weeks my family and I will be enjoying a long weekend on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Having never birded in Mexico at all I was initially concerned about identifying the myriad species that can be seen. Hopefully, I’ll do better than 85% correct when I’m in Mexico.

Mexico 107

Mexico Belize Honduras Science 107

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In this first installment, I will focus on my impressions and experiences in the highlands portion of our tour. One of these islands may have been the present day Northern Central American Highlands which includes Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and parts of extreme southern Mexico (Chiapas). This is a fascinating area of transition.

Honduras 220

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 220

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2015

In other words, millions of people got together with family and friends for a cozy day of mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, naps, football, and some serious turkeyliciousness. The turkeys I’m talking about up in here are three of the five members of the Cracidae family that occur in Costa Rica. Ain’t I great?

Costa Rica 176

Costa Rica Turkey Ecuador Hunting 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2011

It may seem like cruel and unusual punishment for we denizens of the New World to spend an entire week celebrating what is surely the coolest family of birds in the world, a family that is sadly absent from the Old World, but it can’t be helped. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

United States 186

United States South America Cooking Family 186

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

What species is shown? Though wood-warblers, the mostly brightly colored birds of the family Parulidae, are only found in the New World we felt that birders the world over would be pleased to see a plethora of posts about these striking and sought after species. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

United States 155

United States South America 2011 2012 155

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

The brilliant orange coloration and rich, haunting song of the Spot-breasted Oriole ( Icterus pectoralis ) makes this species one of my favorite permanent residents in southeastern Florida, even though it is an introduced exotic. How can an introduced species be a favorite among birders? Don’t they compete with native birds?

Miami 175

Miami Costa Rica Florida 2005 175

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2014

En route they will be “birding in nearly every country in mainland North and South America,” and, as they say on their excellent blog , “Our journey is about collecting valuable data on bird species, their status and distribution, current conservation issues, and more along the way. Bicolored Antbird.

San Diego 190

San Diego South America Costa Rica America 190

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2020

The hapless Sooty Tern ( Onychoprion fuscatus ) is the classic hurricane bird, but other pelagic species are entrained in storms and blown ashore as well, like Bridled Terns ( Onychoprion anaethetus ), White-tailed Tropicbirds ( Phaethon lepturus ), and Magnificent Frigatebirds ( Fregata magnificens ).

India 170

India Squirrels North America America 170

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2014

Nearly every country or region has an area on its periphery that regularly attracts a tantalizing assortment of vagrants or a set of species that just barely make it over an international border. For others, it is the desire to have a different birding experience from home without needing a passport.

Thailand 166

Thailand Birds 2013 China 166

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 152

North America Sparrows America United States 152

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. Remarkably, there are 59 bird families that have very little cultural significance; these are listed in Appendix III.

Birds 218

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 218

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2011

The sighting was easily the best I have ever had of the species, and it was in and out of view for about twenty minutes, foraging in small circuits but always coming back to the stand of thick brush where I had first spotted it. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

Tigers 159

Tigers United States Jamaica Pennsylvania 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

So, for example, Essay #15, “Individual Variation,” uses Herring Gulls to introduce the concept that one species, even one species at a specific age, can vary widely in appearance. John Schmitt, who illustrated Raptors of Mexico and Central America amongst many other books and magazine articles.

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

That larger clade is in turn sister to a clade containing the four remaining totipalmate bird families, which do still seem to be related, and which needed a new order name once pelicans were removed. But meanwhile, let’s look at the four avian families that comprise the brand new order Suliformes.

2011 154

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 154

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Having never been to Brazil I can’t possibly speak as an expert in terms of what birds are covered or how well species that I have never seen are depicted. The species accounts are written by Robert Ridgely, one of the premiere neotropical ornithologists, and a veteran at writing excellent field guides. Talk about a win-win!

Brazil 206

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Birds 206

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2019

It’s a rush any new birder experiences: that of every species being a lifer. Once you’ve been around the birding block a few years, your appreciation for the lifer experience deepens greatly. But the opportunities to see new species become more difficult with each one seen. Those Snowy Egrets ?

Spain 200

Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 200

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. Hummingbird species, on the other hand, number in the hundreds. So, when British natural history writer Jon Dunn (not to be confused with U.S.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

It actually makes a lot of sense, the geographic features of the isthmus between North America (including Mexico, because Mexico is part of North America) and South America cut across political lines, as do birds. Covering 1,261 species with data and taxonomy current up to August 2017, the field guide is an exciting achievement.

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

And I did manage to see a large number of new birds — 45 new species, to be specific. A surplus of quality birding experiences kept me from making my reports, which is embarrassing. I will start by telling you about encounters in Turkey with two special bird families. New places, new birds!

Turkey 162

Turkey Spain Mexico Agenda 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Although, technically, I mostly felt your pain… for the past four months, while about a dozen beautiful migratory Wood Warblers were nowhere to be found here in central Mexico. What my previous experience had not prepared me for, was that this summer I would see many of those species for the first time all at once.

Mexico 173

Mexico Nashville Virginia Shelters 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2023

I mean that in a good way: By automatically showing one’s new year list each January 1st, and comparing it to one’s last several year lists, they always make me want to hit the ground running with as many species in my first week as I can manage. This past January, however, my experience was even better. So modern of them.

Blackbirds 147

Blackbirds 2020 Ducks Mexico 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

These friends do work similar to that which we do in Mexico, but in much more delicate circumstances. And I have lots of experience with my long lens drawing attention. And it offered up another taxonomic family I had longed to meet, with my first bee-eater , an Arabian Green Bee-eater. And yet, concerned they were.

Jordan 147

Jordan Birds Turkey 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

I should add that the Big Owls taking over NYC social and even hard print media, dominating conversations with my nonbirder friends and family, are not the only owls in the five boroughs, but like a musical, the closer you are to Broadway, the closer you are to fame and fortune (and maybe even a higher quality rodent for dinner, who knows?).

New York City 192

New York City Birds Owls Fox 192

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2011

Mike Freiberg grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where his family introduced him to the world of birding. As his passion for birding grew he decided to travel Latin America; he has spent time in Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela and a great deal of time in Brazil. Over time the hobby grew into a career. in Animal Ecology.

Brazil 160

Brazil Venezuela Iowa Guatemala 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

Catbirds are not the unfortunate result of unwise experiments with radioactivity. Catbirds are a group of rather distantly related species all named for the fact that they make sounds that remind some of a cat meowing. We can start first with what catbirds are not. They are not flying cats nor birds with whiskers.

Papua New Guinea 186

Papua New Guinea Ethiopia Guinea Cats 186

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2011

Kirby Adams had a magical experience with his Best Bird of the Year and he blogged about it on his blog, Sharp Tern. My family also farms so that limits places we are able to go throughout the year. In the process we observe thousands of bird species and obtain some superb images!

2011 161

2011 Birds Ohio North Dakota 161

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

I had spent several holidays with my family in the USA in the 1980′s and then worked in Maine during the summer of 1985-beware the poison ivy and the snapping turtles! We are devoting a whole week to wood-warblers but are only just barely scratching the surface of possible topics involving this amazing family of birds.

South Africa 159

South Africa United States Austin Alligators 159

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. This may sound mundane, but my Best Bird of the Year is a species we all know quite well in one form or another.

2012 151

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 151

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2011

Rufous Hummingbirds have a well-earned reputation for getting lost — they breed along the west coast but turn up in New York in fall and winter pretty regularly — and an equally well-earned reputation for hardiness, as they breed farther north than any other hummingbird species, into Alaska. There goes the neighborhood?

South America 157

South America New York Alaska America 157