10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2024

Because, although these flycatcher groups don’t have the sexy, challenging reputation of Empidonax flycatchers, they can be confusing–ask any East coast birder trying to figure out if a vagrant bird with worn tail feathers is a Western Kingbird or a Cassin’s Kingbird.

Los Angeles 183

Los Angeles North America Species America 183

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2024

The colony steadily increased, so by 1970, some 32 pairs were present. I didn’t manage to count the numbers present, but my shot of the church shows the birds packed shoulder to shoulder, with little room for late arrivals. The Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Sea, Lowestoft, Suffolk, festooned with nesting Kittiwakes. (31

Breeding 220

Breeding Russia Alaska Birds 220

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

These endearing birds are almost always found in pairs or small family groups, and I often have difficulty deciding which bird to photograph as both males and females are equally beautiful. Once there is sufficient vegetation to support their voracious appetite, they shall be present.

Trinidad 225

Trinidad Bears Family Groups 225

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2024

The Wood-Rails like to move around in a very visible group. Two classic birds of Mexico’s east coast are also present. But, in spite of a birder friend telling me the town where I was housed should be a good place to see the Russet-naped Wood-Rail , none ever showed up. The Brown Jay is noisy, large, and bold.

Barn Owls 215

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 215

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Fortunately, lots of other cute birds were present. These little Tyrant Flycatchers, present from Mexico through Colombia, never fail to charm, with their jaunty crests and characteristic “chewY-chewY!” Oh well, I’ll just have to come back again in another month. Tufted Flycatchers could be poster-birds for cuteness.

Colombia 230

Colombia ALA Canada Mexico 230

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2020

After a week of lectures, symposia, and poster presentations, I can report that NAOC 2020 was well worth the price of admission. As one topic example, Marconi Campos-Cerqueira presented a paper entitled “Past, Current and Future Distributions of Puerto Rican Fauna: Implications from Climate Change.” by Eliza M.

Puerto Rico 256

Puerto Rico Parrots Protection Ecuador 256

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

Signaling theory examines communication between individuals and groups, within and across species, focusing on whether signals–communications containing complex information–are honest or deceptive and how the exchange of these signals impacts the individuals involved and the larger group or groups to which they belong.

North America 279

North America Research Birds Groups 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

The Black Kites are distinguished in flight by their forked tail , which easily separates them from the numerous Whistling Kites that are present around Broome. Black Kites are always present at the waste disposal site in very large flocks, because they scavenge among the rubbish. Black Kites on the beach. Black Kite nest.

Breeding 153

Breeding Eggs Raised Protection 153

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2020

On a short guiding trip to this classic lowland rainforest lodge this past week, as with other visits, our group was treated to a wealth of birds. King Vultures are always present, and you never what other taloned birds might appear. Yellow-throated Toucan. Laguna also works out on the raptor front.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Parrots Birds Groups 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2021

Still, in any given three-week period (which is the period I have dedicated to this latest group of thematic posts), dedicated birding will produce some sort of news. I believe there were also a pair of Hammond’s Flycatchers present on that outing, but can one ever be sure with the Empidonax Flycatchers ?

Louisiana 263

Louisiana 2000 Mexico Groups 263

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Our first stop, at the reservoir surrounded by temperate thorn fores, a lone Least Grebe was present, as was a Belted Kingfisher whose presence I had predicted. Watching this rhythmic group behavior was actually quite hypnotic. But there were plenty of small pleasures to keep us entertained. Migratory Lark Sparrows were everywhere.

Laws 208

Laws Mexico Bears Turkey 208

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2024

Moving to the present, while I was on the Sequoia Audubon Club trip I described last week , I mentioned to one of the organizers that I was hoping to see some ocean birds passing by the coast, as those would give me my best chance at lifers for this region. Peter says that he doesn’t care much for guiding groups.

California 189

California Sea Lions Marine Life Puffins 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2022

While heavy rains can’t compare with blizzards or the dearth of species in the frozen lands, constant rain does present challenges to bird counts. Inside the forest, we did well with finding a group of White-fronted Nunbirds flocking with Scarlet-rumped Caciques, Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Rufous Mourner , and a few other birds.

Costa Rica 248

Costa Rica Eagles Species Blackbirds 248

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2022

To give more attention to local taxa, all subspecies groups present in the region have full entries as well.

Thailand 147

Thailand Colombia 2018 Groups 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

This is a very different book from what I expected, less of a handbook and more of a comprehensive identification text on 24 groups of birds, presented in words and photographs. These are bird groups that have been covered extensively by other guides. Armistead and Brian L. It is an intriguing choice of species.

Birds 190

Birds Groups 2015 North America 190

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2020

Howell and colleagues propose a standard sequence of species for field guides based on eight groupings–swimming waterbirds that swim, flying waterbirds, walking waterbirds, upland gamebirds, raptors, miscellaneous larger landbirds, aerial landbirds, and songbirds. The Accounts present text on the left and images on the right.

North America 215

North America America Hawaii Birds 215

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2021

In general, they can be grouped into two main factions; birds of the highlands and species that prefer the lower, warmer altitudes although a few can also winter from the lowlands up into cloud forest. Pretty uncommon and greatly outnumbered by the Mourning Warbler but still present in brushy habitats of the highlands.

Costa Rica 235

Costa Rica Kentucky Louisiana Species 235

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

It’s faster than committee work, more direct than bureaucracy, and it presents a clearer and more complete portrait of the range and value of the biodiversity of these countries. These are convincing, smartly presented arguments. I think it’s confusing to see Middle American Kingbird in the field guide but not in eBird.

Costa Rica 220

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 220

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

How could we continue doing what we love—teaching folks about birds and natural history—without traveling the world physically with our tour groups? After some deliberation within the company, we landed on the idea of an online video series, OutBirding with Field Guides.

Rattlesnake 152

Rattlesnake 2020 Connecticut Industry 152

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Europe’s relief makes it a particularly hard continent to present bird distributions on a small scale and I wish it was possible to enlarge the maps. Apart from this, a few new vignettes have been added. Lars Svensson is Europe’s leading field ornithologist. Killian Mullarney is one of the world’s finest bird illustrators.

Europe 258

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 258

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

Solid Air is divided into 12 chapters, presented as if Klem was on an auditorium podium giving a logical argument on why people need to take window strikes seriously. The American Bird Conservancy offers a Glass Collisions Products & Solutions Database, where products are evaluated and rated.

New York City 258

New York City Birds Illinois Science 258

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2020

But our three local Teals ( Blue-winged , Green-winged , and Cinnamon ) were all present, and there were the predictable hundreds-to-thousands of Northern Shovelers and Pintails. I really have no idea, since I could not be sure whether I was seeing the same groups many times each, or many groups one time each.

Mexico 143

Mexico South America Ducks Groups 143

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2021

Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireos are still present! Finding this elusive and beautiful species at Pino Real kind of put me “on the map” with my wonderful group of Mexican birder friends. Mountain Trogons are also still present! I would have guessed it would be the first species to abandon this now-disturbed site.

2013 163

2013 Emotional Abandon Abandoning 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2020

The small group of seven Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos that we observed most recently were busy feeding on a native tree. They are all present in the header photo and the photo below. They have very powerful beaks and claws and it is not uncommon to see where they have been by the leaf litter below the large trees.

Litter 247

Litter 2013 Australia Groups 247

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2022

Vagrant migrants that have made their way onto the Costa Rica bird list have included a surprise Northern Mockingbird from the Caribbean coast, a Couch’s Kingbird identified by its distinctive call (which was also recorded), and a group of five adventurous Greater White-fronted Geese !

Costa Rica 257

Costa Rica Species Panama Geese 257

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2023

Tufted Coquette Arriving here during the hours of darkness presents its own cadre of obstacles, however. Routine sightings of Lilac-tailed Parrotlet are of flocks screaming hundreds of feet overhead, so it was incredible to spend hours with this small group of 12-15 birds as they preened, huddled, and bickered.

Trinidad 235

Trinidad Barn Owls Owls Reptiles 235

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

These images are from the Kindle edition and are presented slightly differently in format and size in the paperback edition on page 22. The book’s twelve chapters can be divided into groups of 5, 5, 1 and 1. They complement Kricher’s text., The updating of the text is very important.

2006 255

2006 Tortoises Sea Lions Sea Turtles 255

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2021

At least, this warbler looks a bit more interesting than the other group of indistinguishable warblers in China, the various leaf warblers (which I decided to boycott in this blog post despite them also being present at Wolongshan – sometimes one simply has to take a stand against what is wrong in this world).

China 264

China Pandas Birds Zoos 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2013

They were even present at the Poo Ponds in town on New Year’s Day to get onto our year list very early. They are often seen after good floods, which we have had over the Wet Season this year in Broome and there are large flocks present at the local ephemeral lakes. They have a distinctive erect black square tail when they run.

Groups 167

Groups Australia Rights Birds 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2020

But there is a final group of species here, about which I have not written very much. I feel lucky when I see a Northern Flicker , but they are present here, though rare, year-round. While they present no problems with their common names, I should give honorable mention to some other species.

Mexico 199

Mexico Birds Honduras United States 199

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

There was, inevitably, another group of Little Friends present at Cerro de Garnica that day, and in exactly the large numbers I had hoped for. What I love about Golden-crowned Kinglets is that you can always see their golden crowns. Ruby-crowned Kinglets really should learn from them.

Mexico 197

Mexico South America Species America 197

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2022

The Nonggang Babbler shown earlier is a good illustration of the Wikipedia statement that “this group [Old World Babblers] is among those Old World bird families with the highest number of species still being discovered.” Meanwhile, the Pin-striped Tit-babbler curses its fate. Nongang has a fairly large number of babblers.

China 212

China Birds Asia Vietnam 212

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2022

Food We had breakfast in the hotel (tropical fruit, omelette, natural juices and Colombian coffee), and almost all other meals in a small, family run Moro’s Restaurant, fully booked for our group, so in the times of Covid we enjoyed a certain level of isolation. The food was tasty and hearty.

Colombia 246

Colombia Birds Cooking Fish 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Next stops offered White-crowned Parrot and Barred Parakeets , Chestnut-sided and Canada Warblers , Collared Aracari , half a dozen Purple-throated Fruitcrows … I heard a strong double-nock of a huge Pale-billed Woodpecker , but the bird didn’t present itself to our eyes. A group (maybe 4-5 ex.)

Costa Rica 241

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 241

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Our group, led by world-renowned guide Herbert Byaruhanga, piled into canoes ostensibly to search for a variety of papyrus and wetland specialties, but really we were just looking for the shoebill. The Shoebill does not simply present itself but rather, like any object of ardent affection, must be pursued diligently. And look we did.

Uganda 269

Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 269

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2014

The lawsuit alleges that the City of Albuquerque partnered with animal advocate groups to implement a Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program in which stray or feral cats are trapped, sterilized, vaccinated, and then abandoned at the location at which they were trapped. Blair Dunn on behalf of Marcy Britton, a resident of Albuquerque.

Albuquerque 190

Albuquerque Neutering Trap Neuter Return Stray Cat 190

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2021

It is the only federal research group dedicated to studies needed to manage the National Wilderness Preservation System. There is also a research institute dedicated to wilderness: the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute is an interagency facility located at the University of Montana.

Puerto Rico 260

Puerto Rico Alaska Protection Research 260