10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2020

But like Spain, its only neighbor on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal is cut off from the rest of Europe by the steep, natural border formed by the Pyrenees. Beyond that is the entire expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, stretching some six-hundred leagues west to Newfoundland — and even further to the mainland shores of North America.

2015 158

2015 Portugal France Europe 158

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2020

These goods, purchased with Mexican silver, would then be transported overland through Mexico City, and shipped from Veracruz to Spain. I had never birded this way before, and can confirm that what I had heard is true: Birds are much more tolerant of human presence when those humans are on a boat!

Birds 164

Birds 2006 Mexico Morocco 164

Critter News

MARCH 1, 2010

I know people will whine about why she didn't leave the money to human causes, but I'm proud that she did it. I get so tired of people calling for money to human charities. Humans control the frigging WORLD. That's a problem with humans as a species, not with specific people like this woman. They are a huge minority.

Endangered Species 100

Endangered Species Spain Humane Tagged 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

Incidentally, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal are among the eighteen countries where falconry is inscribed as a living human heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESC0), attesting to the great heritage of this sport in many parts of the world.

2016 132

2016 Portugal Falcons Japan 132

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

Not only is it common and coastal, its global range is also largely restricted to the Mediterranean, with a few colonies also found along the western Black Sea shores, the lower Danube river, and into the Atlantic along the coast of Spain to the French Bretagne. So there you have it: conservative taxonomy leads to unfortunate common names.

Europe 128

Europe Spain Italy Ireland 128

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 231

Dissection Birds Research Europe 231

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

According to some sources, when the so-called Pilgrims settled in for the First Thanksgiving Dinner with the local Native Americans, in 1620, they dined on Turkey, and this Turkey came from the Old World, from stock that was originally brought to Spain by Columbus. According to R.D.

Turkey 209

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 209

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

I’ll start off by naming the univerally accepted species, the House Sparrow propper Passer domesticus , the Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus and the ill-named Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis , which occurs from Spain all the way to central Asia and is rather difficult to find in the former.

Sparrows 225

Sparrows Italy Asia Austria 225

Critter News

JANUARY 3, 2010

In this week's podcast ending January 2, 2010: **The USDA and National Institutes of Health find animal welfare violations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; **the Catalan Parliament in Spain finally votes to ban bullfighting in the region; **the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, CA has a record year for marine life suffering from illness (..)

AETA 100

AETA Marine Life Animal Welfare Wisconsin 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

When you think of invasives, you think of the birds that have been helped by human beings to get where they are, such as House Sparrow or European Starling. The species spread north to the Mediterranean, reaching parts of Spain and southern Europe, spread along the Atlantic coast of France and, at times, even reaching Britain and Ireland.

Cattle 170

Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 170

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2012

White Wagtails appeared a-plenty on my trek across Spain, from the days in Madrid before the trip began in earnest to my final moments in the Barcelona airport, where I looked out a window and noticed one waggling on the pavement of the outdoor smoking area. Those of you who read last week’s entry may be noting a theme here.

Spain 168

Spain Cows Groups Humane 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

After weeks of preparation (and not writing many 10,000 Bird posts), my wife and I are finally in Spain. Algeciras, Spain, to be specific — right around the bay from Gibraltar. Our trip to southern Spain is a work trip, so it was a week until I was able to get out and bird in form.

Spain 147

Spain Birds Mexico Eagles 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2014

Meanwhile, forts were built to protect the island from invaders, war broke out between Spain and the United States, and the island became a U.S. In a few years they could only be found in El Yunque, a tropical rain forest in northeast Puerto Rico. And, the parrots almost, but not quite, disappear from the face of the earth. The birds thrive.

Puerto Rico 240

Puerto Rico Parrots New York City 2013 240

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

If it hasn’t begun already, the grape harvest should be getting underway in Spain this month. If the storks have been making the great journey back and forth between Spain and Africa long before people even began making wine, the feature grape of this single-varietal wine – the green-skinned Albariño – is a more recent arrival to Catalonia.

2017 114

2017 Spain California Condor California 114

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 17, 2011

Dogs are able to detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes and warn humans of impending heart attacks and strokes. In many ways, human emotions are the gifts of our animal ancestors. In June 2006, Jane and I visited a chimpanzee sanctuary near Girona, Spain. Grief in magpies and red foxes: Saying goodbye to a friend.

Emotional 100

Emotional Animal Whales Whaling 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2012

Until 2007 the British Ornithologists’ Union lumped it with the Herring Gull , perhaps the classic “sea gull” of human contempt. Yellow-legged Gull The Yellow-legged Gull fits in with Fisterra in that it is not, at first glance, very romantic. Now it has cachet and even a certain Mediterranean charm.

Portugal 164

Portugal ALA 2007 Sparrows 164

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 17, 2011

But instead of feeding the Cuban masses hungry for freedom from Spain the Ovenbird in Bryant Park nourishes birders desperate for freedom from the tyranny of the season. -José Martí For the second time in three years there is an Ovenbird hanging around in Bryant Park well into December.

Spain 187

Spain Birds Collecting Sparrows 187

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2012

I am heading towards the end of a two week family break in Andalusia, Spain as I write this and last week we jumped in the hire car and headed to a Spanish Town called Ronda for a day trip. There is beauty in these places but sometimes I have to look hard to find it.

Birds 170

Birds Spain Industry Humane 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

This species prefers wetlands and its numbers have been decimated due to a combination of habitat destruction caused by human population growth and illegal removal of birds and eggs from the wild for the pet and zoo trade. This plain used to be little affected by humans, being grazed by just a few cattle, goats and camels.

Endangered Species 198

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 198

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2022

It starts as follows: “Historical variations (1966–2016) in the exposure to inorganic elements in raptors of South West Spain have been little studied.” Presumably, this also leads to income inequality, if parallels to humans are any guidance. ” The feeling of not knowing about this is almost unbearable.

Finland 147

Finland Birds 2016 McDonalds 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2020

Even through they subsist on insects during much of the year, European Robins are year-round residents of Britain, and during the colder, gray months of year, their colorful bearing and often audacious presence around humans was not lost on early observers.

Ireland 166

Ireland Branding Spain Compassion 166