10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

The blue-blue bird is identified as number 1282 in the studbook, one of the oldest birds in the surviving flock, born at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center on the 2nd of June 1993 and relocated to central Florida on the 20th of April 1994. How far would I have to go back to find a wild ancestor?

Florida 216

Florida Buffalo Louisiana 2004 216

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

Checking for moult limits on a female Band-tailed Manakin to determine her age Imagine learn or improving your mist-netting, bird banding, handling, aging, and Neotropical bird ID skills in one of the most exuberantly natural surroundings ( 599 bird species recorded at Explorer’s Inn and Sachavacayoc Centre!)

Peru 188

Peru 2011 Deer Birds 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

UNLESS that is you get yourself down to the internationally-renowned Tambopata Research Centre in southern Peru where literally hundreds of macaws (and other parrots) congregate around a 50 meter high clay bank. That’s right – birds eating clay. Chestnut-fronted Macaws Ara severa.

Peru 254

Peru Parrots 2011 Research Center 254

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

For my new book, due out in 2012 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, I’ve been researching sandhill crane hunting. Hunting sandhill cranes in Kentucky is a bad idea from a public relations standpoint, considering the growing cadre of birders and nature enthusiasts for whom cranes are a touchstone species.

2011 238

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 238