10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

” The book listed the Peregrine Falcon as a cavity nester which I thought was curious. It reads “Although the peregrine falcon is currently considered a cliff-nester, records indicate that it once nested in tree cavities. Birds Brown Pelican nesting birds Peregrine Falcon' My audience was surprised as was I.

Pelicans 67

Pelicans Falcons Birds Europe 67

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

Long and very narrow – too long and too narrow even for a falcon, all but one: Eleonora’s Falcon ! Somehow, the length of its wings is apparent only in the first second, after that, it does become a falcon-like falcon.). Trips falcons Greece' Falco eleonorae , copyright © Nikos Samaritakis {Winged Cretans}.

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Falcons Greece Birds Breeding 68

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

So when I mentioned the Eleonora’s Falcon in my last post , you may have assumed that the name was a mother’s day present, or an engagement gift from some impecunious ornithologist who couldn’t afford a ring. She also had an interest in ornithology – in particular, she banned the hunting of falcons.

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Falcons Birds Hunting Game 63

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2015

Macdonald is, among her many accomplishments, a falconer. White, who wrote The Once and Future King and The Sword and the Stone , and who was also a falconer – but a very, very bad one. So what’s wrong with the book? Her autobiographical story alternates with her meditations on T.H.

Falcons 83

Falcons Birds Michael Vick Whales 83

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

A falconer’s Peregrine hybrid, but what’s was its full parentage? Falconers discovered several decades ago that hybrid falcons have extra vigour, so with the help of artificial insemination some unlikely hybrids have been produced.

Geese 52

Geese Ducks Falcons Birds 52

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2017

The hours are ticking down to Super Bowl LI, a hotly anticipated contest between perennial contenders New England Patriots and the upstart, high-flying Atlanta Falcons. Will the Atlanta Falcons actually win the Super Bowl? Go Falcons! Of course, the team who conquered the best of the NFC can win the Super Bowl. But will they?

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Falcons Atlanta Birds Baltimore 42

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2017

Falcon Wild is a new book in that long tradition, and this one features a more realistic (though still very slightly romanticized) portrait of a human/animal partnership. An aspect of Falcon Wild that really sets it apart from the books I mentioned in my first paragraph is that Karma is sometimes alone, but never unconnected from society.

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Falcons Birds Wolves Dolphins 47

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Peregrine Falcon ( Falco peregrinus ) at Delevan NWR (click on photos for full sized images). I’m sure most of you know that the Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species because of the use of organochlorine pesticides, especially DDT, during the 1950′s, 60′s, and 70′s. Love those talons!

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Falcons Wildlife Endangered Species Birds 52

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

On 11 November 2012 I was leaving Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake after a fruitless morning of trying to photograph birds in a snowstorm and poor light when a female Prairie Falcon ambushed this Northern Shoveler on the water not far from the causeway on which I was driving. Here she is making one of her very low passes over the duck.

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Falcons Ducks Birds Utah 46

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2013

Falcons are far more numerous throughout the world, so you better start sending your best work in now for the February 14 edition. Send your most fantastic falcon submissions to to I and the Bird editor Nate Swick at naswick AT gmail DOT com with “IATB” or “I and the Bird” in the subject line.

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Falcons Birds Species ALA 60

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2011

Here’s a prediction: Parrots , falcons , and seriemas are on their way to new positions in your checklists and, eventually, field guides. However, evidence has mounted in recent years that falcons are not closely related to other diurnal raptors and seriemas don’t belong anywhere near gruiform birds. I like this one too.)

Parrots 86

Parrots Falcons Birds Costa Rica 86

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

What is a falcon, really? Based on their physical attributes and lifestyle, falcons enjoyed a very long run as a founding member of the order Falconiformes, along with the rest of the diurnal raptor-y type birds like vultures and eagles and hawks and hawk-eagles. Laughing Falcon, photo by Renato Espinosa. Like falcons?

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Falcons Birds Eagles Parrots 48

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

I need your falcon posts! Hey I and the Bird fans! If you have any blog post about those sickle-winged quasi-raptors from any point in your online writing history burning a hole in your blog, send them over to me BY THE END OF THE DAY TODAY! Send those posts to naswick AT gmail.com. Make sure you put IATB in the subject line.

Falcons 46

Falcons Birds Rights 46

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2022

A large, bulky falcon cruising overhead could only be a Peregrine Falcon. As soon as we noticed it, a Merlin appeared from nowhere and headed directly for the Peregrine, divebombing the larger falcon. As per usual falcon procedure, it all happened much too quickly for me to get a decent photograph!

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Falcons Birds Ducks Trinidad 89

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

It was Montagu who first realised that the “Ring-tail hawk” and the gray male Hen Harrier were the same species, and that the bird he called the Ash-coloured Falcon was a different species to the Hen Harrier, an impressive achievement at that time. Eleonora’s Falcons still breed on Sardinia today.

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Birds Falcons Woodpeckers Species 83

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

Rarest among the ones we saw was the endangered Saker Falcon. According to the HBW, in mountainous regions, picas and young marmots are among its main prey, giving me a chance to show you photos of these animals as well (without straying from the birding topic). Himalayan Marmot. Himalayan Pica.

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Birds China Owls Falcons 95

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

The narrative takes place across two timelines: 1) Early in Stotts’ life, when he begins working with the Earth Conservation Corps to clean the trash-choked Anacostia River 2) Decades later, when he has become a Master Falconer and is taking on his son as a new apprentice.

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Falcons Wildlife Birds Owls 72

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

The evening was drawing to a close and we had just checked on the roosting nighthawks and were about to check another field for shorebirds when we spotted a lone Aplomado Falcon perched on a distant tree. We observed it as it changed perch and attracted the ire of the resident Tropical Kingbirds , eventually forcing the falcon to depart.

Birds 107

Birds Falcons Species Experience 107

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

Once I looked through proper glass however, all doubt was blown to smithereens – it was a Bat Falcon. When this Bat Falcon departed this perch, it made the Short-tailed Nighthawks seem like they were running on low-octane fuel. All of this to say that finally I have documented all three species of nighthawk found in T&T.

Trinidad 52

Trinidad Birds Species Bats 52

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2022

But I’ll trade Red-taileds any day for a Northern Harrier , a lovely pair of Peregrine Falcons , and the surprising presence of a pair of Crested Caracaras , normally seen at much lower elevations. A wonderfully close Peregrine Falcon. Believe it or not, Caracaras (in spite of their 4-foot wingspan) are falcons, not hawks.

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Falcons Birds Species Ducks 69

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2022

In training, the falconer must never think of rewards and punishments, Nancy Cowan (pictured below, with her Harris’s hawk, Scoter), tells her: “They don’t serve us. As Montgomery shows, falconry is different from any other human/animal interaction. We serve them.”.

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Falcons Birds Hunting Chickens 78

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

A Peregrine Falcon launches, ready and willing to utilize the relative invisibility afforded by twilight to bring a swift end to someone’s morning. Much smaller but no less deadly, a Bat Falcon dines on a bat in the mid-morning perched comfortably on a roadside stump. It almost looks as if the bird is underwater!

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Woodpeckers Trinidad Birds Falcons 104

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2021

noticed a Eurasian Stone-curlew , which I dipped and, as we were leaving, one male Red-footed Falcon waved us goodbye. On our way south, we will see another Little Owl squatting on a road sign, and a flock of 7 Red-footed Falcons circling above the road. Red-footed Falcon by Martin Mecnarowski/Wikimedia Commons.

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Serbia Birds Eagles Falcons 89

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

Some people do think the Northern Goshawk is undignified, at least compared to the falcons, as I learned while reading the excellent memoir H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. Gosh-awk would be undignified. Goshawk, you see, is from Gosheafoc , Old English for Goose Hawk.

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Falcons Birds Eagles Geese 102

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2017

Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America by Pete Dunne with Kevin T. It’s also a beautiful book, thoroughly illustrated with photos curated by Kevin T. This is one of those volumes that belongs on every birder’s shelf. Karlson, $26.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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North America Birds Falcons Eagles 40

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2013

Clearly the flock was being attacked by one of the local Peregrine Falcons , which is a common occurrence but it usually happens so high up in the air that I scarcely get to notice it. I would have expected this group to also get away from the falcon as quickly as possible, as the big flock had done. And the small group of five?

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Falcons Birds Buffalo Lions 79

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2021

We only saw the first two, and in our effort to scour each broken limb for a perched raptor, we stumbled upon a Bat Falcon of all creatures. Bat Falcon in the now blazing sun. We kept our eyes peeled for any birds of prey – Savanna Hawk , Grey-lined Hawk and Common Black Hawk were all expected.

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Sea Turtles Birds Falcons Turtles 96

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2015

I am inside the city of Belgrade, checking the theoretically possible Peregrine Falcon site. Yet, not a trace of a falcon. ” Falcons do hunt pigeons, we all know that, but what is a Kamikaze pigeon? That is why Belgrade is not proud of its falcons and why I am not telling you more about them. One Feral Pigeon.

Serbia 74

Serbia Falcons Feral Switzerland 74

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

A falconer and his bird from the Mosaico de Cavaleiro in Mértola, possibly the oldest depiction of falconry in Iberia. Colorful birds adorn many of the pages of the so-called Cervera Bible and several captivating miniatures portray hunting scenes with falcons.

2016 49

2016 Falcons Portugal Birds 49

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

But some days, I also hear the loud calls of a Laughing Falcon. But it must have liked the neighborhood, it must have been able to use its kill skills again and again because a few weeks later, there it was, same falcon time, same falcon place.

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Costa Rica Falcons Birds Farming 70

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

A recent paper published in the French journal Alauda (sadly, it appears not to be available in English online yet, but here’s the gist ) brings us news that Eleonora’s Falcons breeding on the archipelago of Essaouira have been caching prey during breeding season. Which, no biggie. Acorn woodpeckers cache. Bluejays cache.

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Falcons Woodpeckers Birds Breeding 61

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

The Florida Keys Hawkwatch at Curry Hammock regularly produces spectacular numbers of Peregrine Falcon. Although the number of Broad-winged Hawk that pass through the area is no where near what you would see in Texas or Veracruz, the hawkwatch in the Florida Keys currently holds the world record for most Peregrine Falcon in a season.

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Birds Florida Miami Falcons 97

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2019

And some Falcon , most likely mixed breed, because it belonged to falconry, not the skies. Falcons – Gyrfalcon. In the 70+ episodes, I noticed only the homing Ravens (caged/domesticated) and Pigeons (domestic – in pie). Yes, there were Chicken , too (I remember the chicken soup, not the birds). Ducks (domesticated). Partridges.

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Birds Falcons Geese Parrots 63

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2022

The calling Collared Forest-Falcon was also cool, so was Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (the species at the top of this post), and so were the 120 other plus species we had from 4:30 to 8 just on that one road. A final check turned up a distant calling Laughing Falcon but not much else. Male White-flanked Antwren.

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Costa Rica Birds Species Falcons 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2020

Since you won’t be seeing any cardinals, eagles, falcons, ravens, or seahawks in the Super Bowl this weekend, you’ll have to search for them outdoors instead. Maybe we’ll all score looks at a Superb Owl or two. Hopefully some birds show up this time!

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Birds 2020 Falcons Owls 61

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2013

In a move that’s sure to stir controversy far beyond the borders of California, federal officials have announced that h enceforth, fledgling Peregrine Falcons won’t be relocated from nests built on bridges in the state. But it also means that some baby falcons are likely to plunge into a watery grave. What do you think?

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Endangered Species California Falcons Species 70

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

Several hours after we saw it and reported it to the listserv other birders saw the bird attacked by not one but two Peregrine Falcons. From a symbol (to me) of resilience to a falcon’s plaything in a few hours. Peregrine Falcons are excellent at culling the weak. That is how it is and how it should be.

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Falcons Birds Breeding Culling 63