10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2017

Last night I lay awake from 4 am til almost 5, worrying about the black-footed ferrets I met in Montana and the humans who had devoted their lives to helping them. The environment is currently facing some of the most massive challenges in recent human history, and for the first time we have the knowledge to do something about that.

Endangered Species 100

Endangered Species Ferrets United States Montana 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2013

When you move on to Montana, you discover that there are worse things that one species of tiny screaming mammal tricking you each year as you try to cope with an influx of songbirds and a winterized memory bank that contains only Black-capped Chickadees and Dark-eyed Juncos (and only about half their calls at that.) You sigh and move on.

Chipmunks 181

Chipmunks Squirrels Rodents Montana 181

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2016

Whether there is one Sandhill Crane in a camas field in Montana or 1,000 in a flock on their wintering grounds, they put the charismatic AND the mega in charismatic megafauna. When ground sloths and Titanis disappear, adapt; when humans and their strange accessories appear, adapt. I’ve never seen a crane dance.

California Condor 157

California Condor Mississippi Florida Montana 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2014

One of the interesting things about web cams is that as they foster familiarity, they also favor the familiar human urge to impose narrative. This is my first season with the ranch, and I’m very excited to being putting some of my theories about nest cams into practice. We’ll see how it goes.

Montana 189

Montana Eggs Horses Morals 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2018

This year, a few months after my fortieth birthday, when I saw a Blue Jay in West Glacier Montana I felt only a small bit of surprise – it was an uncommon bird but no longer really extralimital as a wintering species. There’s a certain suburbanization of the natural as well as the human world.

New York Times 140

New York Times Montana Oregon Washington 140

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

It involves plate tectonics; and the separation of North America from South America and their eventual reconnection; and the end of the Cretaceous Era thanks to a big asteroid, and the movements of animals, including humans, in response to all of those things. Well, I know of one such guy, anyway. With abundant roadkill (1.3

Guyana 241

Guyana South America Washington DC 241

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that federal listing has been an unprecedented success in saving threatened species in a way that localized efforts and appeals to voluntary human restraint simply have not. Private efforts are inevitably, almost by definition, atomized.

Nevada 160

Nevada Endangered Species Montana Humane 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2022

They did flush eventually, but not because of humans. Meanwhile, a birder from Montana who happened to be watching the Magnificent Pirate next to me, was shouting the magic words, “Life Bird!” Multitudes, hundreds of Brown Pelicans and Terns–Least, Common, Foster’s, Sandwich, Royal, and Caspian.

Houston 211

Houston Texas Sanctuary Sparrows 211

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. Stark, a white Gyrfalcon , is a falconry bird born and raised.

Falcons 119

Falcons Wolves Dolphins Montana 119

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2012

Wednesday morning I woke up late, as I had been showing some Montana guests the highlights of the East Village bar scene on Tuesday night. Joking aside, the instant viral popularity of this video seems to me to be speaking to some deep-rooted fears in the human psyche. From the futon I detected the strains of Vangelis.

Eagles 135

Eagles Psychology Monkeys Primates 135

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

During the weekend that I was there, it was announced that there were over 1300 fires burning just within the state of Oregon, not to mention California, Washington, Montana and British Columbia, Canada. I imagine I have a pretty good idea of what this does to the human inhabitants of the area, but what does it do to the birds?

Oregon 100

Oregon Birds Montana California 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2014

And yet, perhaps ironically, the biggest sign of spring in a Montana March is when the skies fill with white. It’s natural that the geese will take their fill of the smorgasbord human activity has laid in front of them.

Geese 179

Geese Montana Breeding Pelicans 179

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

She has a master’s degree in science from the University of Montana, and is the author, as mentioned above, of Condors in Canyon Country: The Return of the California Condor to the Grand Canyon Region (Grand Canyon Association, 2007), recipient of many awards including the 2007 National Outdoor Book Award for Nature and the Environment.

California Condor 177

California Condor Falcons California Birds 177

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2012

Not only is Spain a stronghold for these birds, but they are hard to miss — huge, bright white, social, and not in the least shy of humans and human dwelling-places. But the White Stork in Europe is a big, pretty bird that nests in plain view of humans, often in the middle of town on top of an important, prominent building.

Spain 171

Spain Europe Industry Rodents 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2012

The nest cam, in my mind, is the perfect compromise — minimally invasive to the bird, while offering even the most unadventureous or house-bound humans the opportunity to get to know a small slice of nature. I’m planning a trip and seeking advice. ” This weekend, remember a bird you love.

Montana 164

Montana Geese Blackbirds Eggs 164

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

It wasn’t until I noticed the “locusts” here in Montana that I got curious about them. Human-created habitats like road edges, pastures, and railroad right-of-ways suit them to a tee, so it hardly seems fair to call them the locusts when we are the ones who have expanded explosively and stripped the land bare.

Montana 166

Montana Cooking Texas Cattle 166

Animal Person

APRIL 7, 2009

Butcher (no joke) from Montana: " “No one has to send a horse to a processing plant. And it’s much more humane than leaving them there to starve to death.”. There are entire countries filled with starving people--do we think killing them is a "humane" idea? Financially). It’s just an option for horses that are unusable.

Horse Slaughter 100

Horse Slaughter Horses Unwanted Horses Slaughter 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation. As the names and habitats imply, not all owl species are alike, in behavior, adaptation, relationship to humans, and in how humans perceive them.

Owls 211

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 211

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

In each instance they start with a striking anecdote — my particular favorite took place on the University of Montana campus, where in 1964 an American Crow learned to call and taunt stray dogs into causing perhaps the most adorable college riots of the decade.

Humane 143

Humane Emotional Stray Dog Science 143

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2012

This story comes from Emily Johnson, who is a sub-permittee for a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Helena, Montana. Grace’s high school is in Bozeman, Montana, next to a McDonald’s. Sometimes the human capacity for both cruelty and compassion can balance out in the life of a single bird. Such was the case with Russell A.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 193

Wildlife Rehabilitation Montana Compassion Rescue 193

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2011

Gray Jay : This drab but charismatic species demonstrates that the more a bird interacts with humans, the more colloquial names it will tend to pick up. Once known as the Canada Jay, but more interestingly by such tags as Camp Robber and Venison Hawk for its habit of hanging around humans and viewing them as a food source.

Hunters 181

Hunters Falcons Ducks Montana 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2012

Last week was spring break at the University of Montana, and so, for me, a chance for a brief flying visit back east. Yesterday, there were none. Today, Tree Swallows are here, flashing light and dark above the river. Now, let’s back up. Though spring migration is only just starting to ramp up there, of course I had to visit the Ramble.

Chicago 176

Chicago Litter Louisiana Montana 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2014

East of the iconic Glacier National Park and south of the Montana Hi-Line memorialized in the work of James Welch, the area around Freezeout put me much in mind of the Charles M. Russell NWR — a landscape of rollers punctuated by buttes, long views, little settlements.

Geese 171

Geese Montana Ducks Canada 171

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

It has snowed in Montana, it has snowed at the Olde Homestead, and I have commenced my annual Andy Rooney-like wails of anguish about the earlier and earlier appearance of holiday decorations in stores. So, winter is very nearly upon us, and no, I never did find a Yellow-headed Blackbird. I could hope to pick up some other birds, as well.

Badgers 176

Badgers Montana North America Abandon 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Ruddy Quail-Dove – Geotrygon montana. Still, the list will be as complete as we can keep it and will be updated on the first Saturday of every month.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Ruddy Quail-Dove – Geotrygon montana. Still, the list will be as complete as we can keep it and will be updated on the first Saturday of every month.

2016 154

2016 Sanctuary Australia Ghana 154

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Ruddy Quail-Dove – Geotrygon montana. Still, the list will be as complete as we can keep it and will be updated on the first Saturday of every month.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Australia Ghana 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Ruddy Quail-Dove – Geotrygon montana. Still, the list will be as complete as we can keep it and will be updated on the first Saturday of every month.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Ruddy Quail-Dove – Geotrygon montana. Still, the list will be as complete as we can keep it and will be updated on the first Saturday of every month.

2016 101

2016 Sanctuary Australia Ghana 101

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2016

Others, by their own admission, are Luddites and believe that the pinnacle of human technological achievement was reached on the day that man first bound a notebook in moleskin. Ruddy Quail-Dove – Geotrygon montana. Still, the list will be as complete as we can keep it and will be updated on the first Saturday of every month.

2016 100

2016 Sanctuary Ghana Australia 100