10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

And they were intrigued and they had questions, lots of questions, more questions than could be answered by a field guide or a social media group. Each spread consists of a full-page painting of a bird or group of birds on the left and a combination of text and illustrations on the right. copyright @2020 by David A llen Sibley.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical description of the family is that of “a tropical African and Asian songbird that typically has a melodious voice and drab plumage”, another is “small, dull-colored passerine birds of Asia and Africa”, yet another states that they are “often rather plain” Individual species get even harsher reviews.

South Africa 239

South Africa Malaysia Africa China 239

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

I love sparrows, so seeing a feather-worn Vesper Sparrow this past July filled my heart with joy. We saw sparrows–a total of 14 species–and we saw many other great prairie birds, and we often saw them perched on posts. Baird’s Sparrow was one of those elusive creatures.

North Dakota 147

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2016

A guide that feels so right in my hands? Sibley Birds East covers “nearly 700” birds, up from 650, and Sibley Birds West covers “over 700,” which I’m assuming is more than the first edition count of 703 birds, if for no other reason than that taxonomic splits have give us Ridgeway’s Rail, Bell’s Sparrow and Sagebrush Sparrow.

North America 171

North America 2003 Birds America 171

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2018

In the end, I ended up with 9 species, 4 of which were new to the list, the Black-crowned Sparrow Lark, White-checked Bulbo, House Crow , and the Indian Silverbill. We have been dragging him thru every bird spot possible, so he could go to Scotland to see where his family is from. Here is the male Tree Sparrow.

Qatar 120

Qatar Sparrows South Africa Africa 120

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

Still, how many birders visit this region and could be seen as the target group for this, already a second edition? Some groups, for example shorebird illustrations, tend to be on a smallish side, probably due to the number of various plumages, plus flight paintings per plate. The rest of the region remains fairly undervisited.

Indonesia 264

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Striolated Bunting ( Emberiza srtriolata ) This member of the bunting family (that’s bunting, not sparrow. Sparrows are from the family Passeridae. According to the rather odd and quaint rules for collective terms for birds, groups of Striolated Buntings are called a whole bunch.)

United Arab Emirates 161

United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia Oman Yemen 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2019

You can even stay right in the middle of these gardens, at the Best Western Plus Gran Hotel. There are a good number of endemics and semi-endemics to be seen, such as the beautiful Golden Vireo , and the rather comical Rusty-crowned Ground Sparrow. And go ahead, bring the family. Come bird Morelia.

Birds 171

Birds San Jose Los Angeles Fort Worth 171

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2017

To be fair, I could and should have also grabbed The Shorebird Guide for the Greenshank and Collin’s Bird Guide, 2nd edition for both birds, but the Nat Geo was right there next to me, where your favorite field guides should be.). Most of the species are described in the Species Accounts, arranged taxonomically into 86 family chapters.

North America 187

North America America 2017 Birds 187

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

There are charismatic birds like Barrow’s Goldeneye, Evening Grosbeak, Red and White-winged Crossbills; mysterious seabirds like Leach’s Storm-Petrel; ‘little brown jobs’ like Winter Wren and Nelson’s Sparrow; a treasury of warbler species, 27 in all, many state breeders.

Los Angeles 210

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 210

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2021

Let’s jump right in, shall we? Lark Sparrow (photo above), 30 January, Fort Tilden, Queens, New York (self-found, way out of season). Rufous-crowned Sparrow , 26 August, Eaton Canyon, California (2nd sighting and first in over a decade). Doug found this bird while my whole family was sick with COVID.

New York 262

New York Birds California Owls 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

The bulk of the book is devoted to heavily illustrated accounts of 35 groups of similar looking birds, offering instructions on how to differentiate species by size, structural features, behavior, plumage pattern and general coloration, habitat use, and vocalization. ’) and the how (as in ‘how to describe a structural feature?’)

Birds 172

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

The bird was a little harder to find than I expected; I needed to triangulate the sounds of the call and finally, after standing and looking and walking around the tree where the bird had to be calling from, I took a deep breath, looked again, and there it was right in front of me, actually at eye level.

Arizona 103

Arizona Lovebirds Phoenix New Jersey 103

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

In the mean time, a family group of Black-throated Magpie-Jays were frolicking in the breeze high over the dry valley, showing off their exorbitantly long tail streamers. It did not take long before we had a family group of Tufted Jays right by the side of the road (KM 216) and an uncommon Gray-collared Becard at the same spot.

Mexico 201

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 201

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2017

Species Accounts are arranged taxonomically, grouped by family. Family sections start with a brief description of the characteristics shared by the species in the family, followed by a description of the sounds made by those species and how they obtain their song/call knowledge. Or, maybe that is good news too?

North America 178

North America America Birds New York 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2020

Didn’t every household have a copy of a Peterson Field Guide on the shelf, maybe a third or fourth edition that family members grew up with, which they could quickly consult to see the arrow pointing to that belly band? Text for the species accounts are on the right-hand page. Where were their field guides?

North America 237

North America America 2020 Hawaii 237

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 9, 2011

In some instances the names old names were given to new birds of familiar types in error ( American Robins are actually thrushes, and New World sparrows are really buntings), but in many other instances these names were applied to entirely new families and genera. Another long time mystery bird, or pair of birds, were the piopio.

New Zealand 160

New Zealand Australia Penguins Family 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2017

I feel that the real skill that I bring to the group is in my photography, and some what less, my writing skills. I happen to think the Crested Cara cara is one of the most beautiful birds in the falcon family. They stay here in Mexico despite the heat, and raise their families. This male hoped right up on the side of my hide.

Seattle 111

Seattle Mexico 2017 Falcons 111

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2018

We also got an extra stop in Dallas, Texas (Hey wasn’t I just here) but again no birds could be added, unless I count the House Sparrow flying around inside the terminal. Our first stop was the Lakeview Drive Ponds, Corey’s primary birding location when he and his family visited the island a few years ago.

Bahamas 130

Bahamas Costa Rica Abandon Abandoning 130

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

There is the “The Moth,” a storytelling group popularized by The Moth Radio Hour. The group’s name is in honor of the moths attracted to porch lights in evenings gone by, when storytellers would sit and tell tales on these porches. But, there have been exceptions. Moths are more than bird food. Let that sink in.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

Even more than warbler, shorebird, and sparrow identification, this is a field that tests our endurance (gull watching is too often done in bitter cold, windy conditions), patience (even getting one good photo can take hours as you try to separate the ‘interesting gull’ from the flock), observational skills (so many plumages!)

North America 208

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

This does not include the various changes made to Latin names, taxonomic ordering, nor changes to families.: Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. The name change of a small brown bird, a sparrow, is exciting. Some birders are more learners than listers, others more photographers than birders. Not every list has Great Tinamou on it.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 202

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2018

But our adventurous group, led by Oliver Komar and Yobani A. Alex first led our group to nesting Yellow-tailed Orioles , which made spotting these exquisite but elusive birds gratifyingly easy. The emerald put on an amazing show, buzzing right up to some of us and darting past others. That is how the saying goes, right?

Honduras 148

Honduras Birds Farming America 148

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2015

After the birding bugs bites, the abundance of new and colorful birds makes it easy to overlook or even blatantly ignore sparrows, “seagulls”, female ducks, and flycatchers. In fact, thanks to the Empids, few other groups of birds seem to be more associated with dread than the tyrant-flycatchers.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Panama Species Sparrows 203

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2015

Moorcroft Manor isn’t just a lovely place to stay, its a great birding location in its own right. Groups of Cape Turtle Doves feeding on the grass were occasionally joined by a nervous and much larger Rameron Pigeon, and Southern Grey-headed Sparrows and a single Bokmakierie hoped around as well.

Africa 165

Africa South Africa Stud Birds 165

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Not that the iridescent sheen on an adult European Starling isn’t attractive in its way when the light hits it just right, but when your native avifauna consists of orioles and warblers and hummingbirds, nothing the starling is dressed in can really compare.

India 158

India Stray Dog United States Stray 158

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

I was vacationing on Kennebago Lake, where my family has been coming every summer for nearly twenty years. White-throated Sparrow. Not impeded by branches or the need to bushwhack, we could paddle right up close to the sound, in this case the merry singing of a White-throated Sparrow. Kayaking is an amazing way to bird.

Birds 174

Birds DC Sparrows Canada 174

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2018

Illustrations are old school, in a separate section, with images of the right and brief descriptions of the left–73 plates offering 1,000 images. These descriptions are quite helpful, especially if you are not familiar with the family group. Species Accounts.

Honduras 106

Honduras Birds 2015 Family 106

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

In what has become the modern-day traditional method of organization, species are listed and described on the left-hand page and illustrative plates are on the right. Each species is numbered, with the numbers referring to the illustrations on the right. More on Species Accounts.

Bolivia 181

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 181

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

But if I can get a Henslow’s Sparrow in Queens why not a Sedge Wren ? I just have to be at the right place at the right time. And then I went and saw six new species so I should have managed to predict at least half of them, right? Alternate, Not-Official, List (That Exists So I Can Second-Guess Myself). Yes, oh yes.

New York City 153

New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 153

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

Dinemellia – White-headed Buffalo Weaver The White-headed Buffalo Weaver’s plumage is unique within the weaver group and the sexes are alike. Plocepasser – the Sparrow-Weavers The localized Donaldson-Smith’s Sparrow-Weaver is found in arid woodlands of the Somali-Maasai biome. Image taken by Felicity Riley in Namibia.

Tanzania 232

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 232

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

I hesitated because a 496-page book about two skulky neotropical bird groups is a little intimidating. Antpittas and Gnateaters covers 64 species in six genera and two families. (I Here’s Plate 3, the third plate for Conopophaga , one of the two genera of the Gnateater family. Antpittas and Gnateaters by Harry F.

Research 149

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 149

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2017

bought the rights to Noah Webster’s famous American Dictionary of the English Language , though it later lost exclusive rights to the “Webster” name.). Goose : “any of numerous large waterfowl (family Anatidae) that are intermediate between the swans and ducks and have long necks, feathered lores, and reticulate tarsi.”.

Albatross 106

Albatross Bears Ducks Bald Eagle 106

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Nice. ((** all names have been changed to protect identities and have been substituted with (almost) randomly chosen substitutes suitable for a family of Alpine Accentors.)) Dale Forbes Mar 16th, 2011 at 7:48 am @Corey, Is there also a Daisy involved in this Group Marriage? Dawn, you are looking coy in you profile photo. Any reason?

2011 221

2011 Breeders Breeding Deer 221

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2019

Clearly, author Phyllis Limbacher Tildes, the author of 24, soon to be 25, children’s books, is also a birder (and a little research brings up a presentation she gave at Ogeechee Audubon, Georgia with the biographical information and she and her family “love watching birds and wildlife seen near their lagoon on Skidaway Island.”

New York City 158

New York City Pelicans Birds New York 158

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

When I was a young birder in Missouri, my home-town CBC saw me return again and again – with my dad and a core group of other local birders – to the same part of the count circle. My schedule – as a young semi-professional with a family – is hardly set in stone. Flash forward to today.

North Carolina 161

North Carolina Missouri Blackbirds Sparrows 161

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2014

At the same time, one Black Stork wades through the shallows, right next to the road. Back towards the quay, we stop by a group of another pelican species, this one only passing through the area – Great White Pelicans (cover photo). This time we stop by the yellow bouy – again, that is as close as we are allowed to go.

Greece 163

Greece Pelicans Breeding Buffalo 163