10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2024

Perhaps the most curious thing about the Great Spotted Cuckoo is its distribution, for it is both a non-breeding Palearctic migrant to Africa, and a trans-Africa migrant. According to The Birds of Africa Volume III , “In much of the tropics present throughout the year, with breeding and non-breeding birds usually indistinguishable”.

Cyprus 223

Cyprus Africa Europe Asia 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2024

Interestingly, the molt of the males takes about 20 days longer than that of the females – the authors speculate that this is because of the different peak time efforts in breeding, with the males being involved earlier (singing, establishing territory) than the females (incubating, nestling care).

Vietnam 200

Vietnam Fowl Birds Iran 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2022

Tragically, I never saw any birds near the nest later on – I guess they abandoned it, decided to quit procreating, or just got eaten by some other bird or cat. The juvenile Chinese Blackbirds get older but still look kind of stupid. But the stars of the month were some breeding Eurasian Tree Sparrows. The male at work.

Sparrows 147

Sparrows China Birds Tigers 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

. … Nest dismantling by the Hair-crested Drongo may be an adaptive behavior to increase fitness by reducing risk of future predation and competition for nest sites in the following breeding season” ( source ). The Brown Crake is not that easy to see in Shanghai even though it is breeding here. ” ( source ).

Mountain Goats 147

Mountain Goats Singapore Giraffes Birds 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2011

I chanced to glance at a bird perched atop the Oak tree in my back yard, figuring it was one of the Blackbirds or Grackles that had recently returned to my neighborhood. The vast majority of Baltimore Orioles that breed in North America return to the tropics between Mexico and northern South America for the cold half of the year.

North Carolina 140

North Carolina 2011 St. Louis Baltimore 140

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

So, winter is very nearly upon us, and no, I never did find a Yellow-headed Blackbird. The Gray-crowned Rosy Finch , when she abandons her breeding grounds, prefers to forage on the ground, similar to (and sometimes in company with) Snow Buntings, Horned Larks , and Longspurs.

Badgers 177

Badgers Montana North America Abandonment 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2014

In Sibley Two, the in-flight images literally fly across the page in slight diagonals, with the full-bodied images are presented below in a parallel order (meaning we see the same bird–fresh juvenile, worn juvenile, 1st year, Adult breeding, Adult nonbreeding–in the same part of the page for each species).

North America 242

North America Birds Alaska America 242