10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Like any birder visiting a new place, I had a target species list I was hoping to seek out during the one day I had available between business commitments. The climatic changes set in motion by the Industrial Revolution are now proceeding at a pace far greater than many species and ecosystems can adapt to naturally.

Species 180

Species Science Los Angeles Birds 180

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

The chapter “Horseshoe Crabs” illustrates why this is THE keystone species of the Delaware Bay. The three co-authors of Life Along the Delaware Bay are scientists who know how to write about science without jargon or pretense. Most articles on the Delaware Bay focus on horseshoe crabs and Red Knots.

Delaware 186

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 186

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

I tried to get a better idea of what exactly the definition of cuckoo-dove is but am still not very clear about it – Wikipedia only offers the rather formal definition “any of several species of bird in the genera Macropygia , Reinwardtoena, and Turacoena of the pigeon family.” But I may well be wrong.

Birds 147

Birds Geese Fish Industry 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives. copyright @2020 by David A llen Sibley. As Sibley tells us in the Preface, he originally intended to write a children’s book.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death. Birders know that the light’s not always perfect or even particularly good when you’re trying to tell one species from another. Speculation is useless in acts of vandalism. It may be as simple as trying to hit the big white one. The big white one. It flies on.

2011 244

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 244

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

It is the 100th Anniversary of the extinction of the species known as the Passenger Pigeon and writers are paying attention. Errol Fuller’s The Passenger Pigeon is a beautifully illustrated, elegantly written “celebration” of the passenger pigeon and the artists who illustrated and photographed the species. It is a hodgepodge.

2014 162

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

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. Initiating a hunting season on a large, charismatic species like a crane is no way to resuscitate hunting.

2011 258

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 258

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2011

Between staying warm/cool, finding food, avoiding predators, migrating thousands of miles every year, finding mates, raising chicks and doing all this at the mercy of the elements, it makes sense that they have more brainpower than just simple instinct to run on. I believe in science. Science, for many years, has done no better.

Emotional 222

Emotional Science Birds Mammals 222

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

The magnificent history and diversity of birds on Earth came into sharper focus this month with the publication of 28 new scientific papers in Science and other journals. processed the entire genomes of 48 bird species and compared nearly 42 million base pairs of DNA (Hackett et al. American Flamingo photo by Dick Culbert).

Family 279

Family Birds Parrots 2014 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2011

Even if you don’t live in the summer range of a particular species, you may have opportunities to observe it while it passes through, especailly if you live in an active flyway, like I happen to. Another question this raises has to do with migration itself. The birds do the flying for you. Why migrate? Well, not really.

Research 206

Research Humane Compassion New York 206

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Many, many things happened in the area of bird science this year, so this review can not be comprehensive. I’ve organized them by date (month/day) of the approximate reporting or blogging time of the item of interest, which does not necessarily reflect the actual date of occurrence. But there was this one in Australia.

Science 196

Science 2013 Elephants Birds 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2023

Not a cover species The Black Kite is not actually black, but of course, misleading bird names are not exactly rare. It is mostly a question of economics – raising just one is troublesome enough given the resources required to feed and educate the chick. No surprise then that the species is listed as Vulnerable.

Birds 130

Birds Iraq China Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2015

The 31 teams, 15 of them international and 16 local, set out as the clock struck midnight on March 24th, 2015 to scour the southern part of Israel for as many bird species as possible. A male Crowned Sandgrouse – just one of the 235 species seen during the race. Jonathan Meyrav.

Cyprus 259

Cyprus illegal Birds 259

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

I have written about the interesting sex life of these jacanas a few times already (short version: female mates with male, lays a bunch of eggs for him to incubate and raise the chicks, leaves him, finds another male, repeat). But it is all for science, I hear them say.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147