10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2016

I asked a group of wildlife rehabilitators: “What are some of the Worst Bird Myths? Rehabbers are very responsive, although constantly living under the gun makes us sometimes vent about species that aren’t necessarily the ones in question. Three: Why would anyone , no matter what their species, want to become tangled in human hair?

Wildlife Rehabilitation 185

Wildlife Rehabilitation Porcupines Raccoons Birds 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

If a list also shows the status for each species, birders on their way to Costa Rica would realize that they shouldn’t really expect vireos with white eyes nor blue heads (but would hopefully know that they should very much report those species on eBird so local birders can chase them!). Spot-bellied Bobwhite bites the dust.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 202

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2011

I was fortunate enough to spot the individual in this post at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge where it was foraging in bushes and small trees between four and fifteen off of the ground. The Cape May Warbler is considered a Species of Least Concern by Birdlife International because of its large range and large and stable population.

Tigers 159

Tigers United States Jamaica Pennsylvania 159

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 224

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 224

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2017

As birders, we tend to spend more time in wetlands than most of our peers, neighbors, and family members. In wildlife refuges and reserves in many parts of the world, all you need is a scope, time, and the right overlook and you can walk away with easy, prolonged studies of ducks, herons, waders, grebes, and lots of other marsh birdies.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Birds Ducks Pelicans 100

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 155

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2011

The vast majority of Baltimore Orioles that breed in North America return to the tropics between Mexico and northern South America for the cold half of the year. A trip to the coastal plain may net you up to seven species of warblers, from the omnipresent Yellow-rumps to Chats and Cape Mays. But how does the apply to Orioles?

North Carolina 140

North Carolina 2011 St. Louis Baltimore 140

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

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. For example, of the 9 duck species we saw, 7 are winter-only.

Blackbirds 147

Blackbirds 2020 Ducks Mexico 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

beats have still managed to share 82 checklists and accounted for 737 species. Our two newest contributors have shared from Mexico and China, bringing the countries birded this month (also including; Costa Rica, Greece, Serbia, USA, UK, India, UAE and New Zealand) to 10. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

2019 122

2019 Jamaica Eggs Woodpeckers 122

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

There has been one for the last couple winters at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, but I don’t think anyone has gotten as close to it as I got to the one at the Queens Zoo. Most folks chose the former as the most likely bird while some folks, thinking they knew the avifauna of Queens well, chose the latter. DIABOLICAL!!!

Bald Eagle 113

Bald Eagle Zoos 2011 Parrots 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

of Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jon Gassett has indicated that if enough people write in protest, the proposed hunting season–due to start this December– will be reconsidered. Kills in Canada, Alaska and Mexico are not included in the count. Nationwide, wildlife watchers now outspend hunters 6 to 1. Kentucky Dept.

2011 254

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 254

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

They are rock stars in their family (or group of families, depending on what taxonomists have been smoking lately), a family that includes Scarlet Macaws , Crimson Shining-parrots , Golden Parakeets and Rainbow Lorikeets , and that is no mean feat. Kakapo are bird rock stars. Sirocco than Kakapo being handfed.

New Zealand 189

New Zealand Parrots Sanctuary Family 189

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2012

It is one of several species in the Mallard -complex of ducks, along with American Black Duck , Mexican Duck , and quite a few others. You find them in the south from Florida to Texas and down into Mexico, occasionally as far north as the Carolinas in the east and up the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois. Mottled Ducks.

Ducks 170

Ducks Florida Illinois Mississippi 170

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2021

Decades later, Richard Pough’s Audubon Bird Guide, Eastern Land Birds (I happily own the 1948 edition) included nest and egg descriptions for each species as well. And photographs of feathers in the species accounts, which surprised me. Text retrieved from the Hathitrust Digital Library. The first is accomplished well.

Eggs 244

Eggs Birds United States Sparrows 244

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

This bird spent the 2011-2012 winter at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in northern California, migrated someplace exotic and distant in February, and returned to the same pond at the beginning of this month. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida.

2012 155

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 155

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. Fish and Wildlife Service a.

South America 158

South America New York Alaska America 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl covers every residential, migrating, vagrant, exotic, and introduced swan, goose, dabbling and diving duck in North America (Canada and the United States): 62 Species Accounts on four swan species and one vagrant subspecies; 15 goose species; 46 duck species; plus accounts for hybrid geese, ducks and exotics.

Ducks 124

Ducks North America Geese Hunters 124