10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2013

Much has been made in these pages about the havoc that feral cats wreak on native birds. An abandoned kitten nicknamed Frankie had staked out a McDonald’s restaurant as its feeding grounds, and for more than a year, subsisted mainly on handouts from employees and customers. And the TNR/exterminate debate rages on.

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Feral Cats Feral Cats Tnr 225

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2012

Most readers of 10,000 Birds know that nature is full of surprises and that we aren’t the only ones with a lock on intelligence and creativity. When it noticed a piece of kelp with an air bladder attached, it abandoned the stuff near shore and made the short swim out to collect its prize.

Raccoons 250

Raccoons Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 250

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2014

One thing I’ve learned birding south Texas this spring is that birds are extremely fond of oranges, including birds you just wouldn’t expect to be into citrus (like the Swainson’s Thrush above). If you ask me, no bird looks more at home with an orange than a male Baltimore. Prothonotory Warbler.

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Baltimore Texas Tennessee Abandon 241

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

Look in the middle, just over the trees: there’s a big flock of birds up there. I said, abandoning my bike and bushwhacking toward them. Birds crows wildlife rehabilitators' Same thing with the photo below. So: on a beautiful fall afternoon, my friend Ardal and I decided to go to for a bike ride.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Wounded Birds Abandon 209

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2024

As I have written before on this site, I consider even a bad day birding to still be a great walk in the woods. And this Monday was not a spectacular birding day. It was drizzling off and on all morning, and never sunny, so the birds weren’t active at all. And a few birds did gift me some photos.

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Abandon Abandoning Abandonment Mexico 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

Some of my earliest bird-related memories (what other memories even exist?) Today, Barn Owls can be found across both islands, hunting open fields at twilight or comfortably resting in abandoned relics of the sugar cane industry. Visitors to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary can often see a pair roosting together in the mangrove.

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Trinidad Owls Barn Owls Abandon 279

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2013

In 2012, for the third straight year, wading birds in south Florida had poor nesting success. Most hard-hit were federally endangered Wood Storks , which saw all 820 nests fail or be abandoned. Only 26,395 nests were started in 2012, a 39 percent decline compared to the decadal average.

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Florida Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 158

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2024

Though the birding around Lake Kerkini may be outstanding, it’s inevitably the lake itself that is the centre of interest. The Greylags are interesting, as they are of the eastern race, rubrirostris , with distinctive pink legs and beaks, unlike the orange of our birds at home in Britain.

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Pelicans Greece Fish Bulgaria 242

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2021

I took a couple of weeks “off” from chronicling my weekly outings, in order to give my thoroughly amateur recommendations on bird photography, for other thoroughly amateur photographers that might be out there. But special post subjects must eventually come to an end, while weekly birding does not.

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2020 Ducks Birds Abandon 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2024

The sea is frothing with Great Cormorant and Herring Gull , with more than 100 birds diving into the water. I park the car and walk through a cacophony of bird song to the viewpoint. I spend the next 45 minutes walking around the tree from which Mick is singing but just can’t find the bird. But where’s the bird?

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Sweden Birds Porpoises Deer 229

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

This is the reason I’m birding in Tanzania with no field guide. The last time I visited my friend India, who lives in the hills above Karatu, I brought my own field guide and filled a notebook with bird names, descriptions, and sketches. You like birds,” he said, giving me a winning smile. Birding apps? I gasped. “I

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Mongoose Chickens India Wildlife Rehabilitation 230

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

The loss of the Passenger Pigeon stings because of the impossible descriptions of the bird’s abundance. But imagine those flocks are verdant green, a color unmatched by any native bird currently in North American (north of Mexico, of course). Barreling into your feeder with reckless abandon and cleaning you right out.

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Parrots Hunters United States North America 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2022

Still, it has quite a good habitat and birds – so good, in fact, that the frugal blog post writer (me) decided to write two separate posts about this park. This is part one, covering birds named from A to H. Given the exciting and exotic birds Hainan has to offer, starting the post with a Barn Swallow is a bit of a letdown.

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Birds Egypt China Thailand 278

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2024

By Fitzroy Rampersad Fitzroy or Fitz as he is fondly called began observing and photographing birds when the COVID-19 Pandemic forced border closures around the world including Trinidad & Tobago where he was vacationing at the time. For many birders, the quest to spot a specific bird can become an obsession.

Trinidad 241

Trinidad Costa Rica Panama Whales 241

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Set in an abandoned oil refinery where wildlife is slowly regaining control save for the desperate attempts of golfers to retain all eighteen holes, industrial ghosts loom over rolling freshwater lakes bordered by fifty foot tall trees. The subtle white edging to the gape of this bird indicates it is near breeding time.

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Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 257

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

I’ve seen Yellow Warblers in the low shrubs of Western New York pastures, the river valleys of Missoula, and the trees of abandoned industrial sites in New York City. Chuk makes his quip about the Black-winged Yellow Bird; my friend Molly insists that everything is a duck, a pigeon, or an owl.

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Connecticut Baltimore North America New York City 218

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

House prices which were already starting at high have now progressed past stupidly high and eye-wateringly high and are now at the point where I’m contemplating abandoning civilisation and living in a cave in Siberia. Have you ever bought a property based on the birding opportunities? Be sure to let me know in the comments.

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Los Angeles New Zealand Abandon Abandoning 180

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2024

I was participating as a speaker and guide in the Third Bird Festival of Michoacán. The key word here may be “Third” [Bird Festival, that is]. Birding in Michoacán, and indeed, in Mexico, is quite a new activity. These three annual birding festivals have focused on promoting bird tourism in Michoacán.

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Lamb Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 245

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2013

Why am I posting a photo of a hippoboscid on a Red-tailed Tropicbird, a bird I’ve never rehabbed? Also called louse flies, they’re squat little parasites that hide in the plumage of birds and suck their blood, especially sick or compromised ones. Birds flat flies hawks hippoboscids wildlife rehabilitator'

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Vet Abandon Abandoning 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2013

I though that the bird below was going to be the best bird of my weekend. I feared the swifts had already abandoned this area for parts south. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. Birding best bird weekend'

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2013 Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2018

Leaves and birds in the Appalachian Mountains. Strong populations of birds reside in the hardwood forests and dense understories in this north-eastern location of West Virginia. There are guides for historic buildings as well as birding tours. If you visit later in the year, join Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count.

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West Virginia Virginia Kentucky South Carolina 203

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2015

Birding in Florida is unique in that so much of that state’s plenty is evident even to the casual observer. It’s a family vacation, sure, but there’s always time for birding and in Florida, the birding often finds you. One had a cluster of recently fledged birds and their nonplussed parent.

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Owls Tenant Florida United States 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2019

In April of this year, I had the crazy idea of submitting this article to 10,000 Birds for their consideration. In spite of being cosmopolitan birds, found on seven of the nine continents, Black-crowned Night Herons are pretty special birds. But every once in a while, the birds actually do something that tells a story.

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Giraffes Spain Abandon Abandoning 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2023

Lake Kerkini National Park in the north of Greece is the very best birding area in the Balkan Peninsula and definitely among the top ten hotspots of Europe. Some 320 species have been recorded here, and in springtime it is possible to observe more than 150 bird species in a week. The lake lies at a mere 35 m / 115 ft a.s.l.

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Greece Pelicans Stray Dog Tortoises 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2018

Nowadays, it has a feeling of an abandoned construction site. Should I add, in this green oasis 152 bird species were recorded in the last three and a half years and that the two local White-tailed Eagle pairs are still loyal to their nesting territories. …and after the road construction (June 2018).

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Eagles Otters Serbia 2016 212

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

A fascinating post at Bird Ecology Study Group about a series of observations of an Indian Peafowl that was more than willing to abandon her albino chick.

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Abandon Abandoning Abandonment Groups 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2012

But eastern Zimbabwe is an almost mythical place and a highly productive birding destination. I have had the privilege of birding Zimbabwe on a handful of occasions. The country is also famous for its regular sightings of that most wanted of birds, the African Pitta. Just be prepared for well…almost anything.

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Zimbabwe Buffalo Mozambique South Africa 237

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

When out birding, I prefer completely wild habitat. I enjoy birding in cocoa estates especially – as they retain some of the highest percentage of native biodiversity (as compared to other altered habitats). Shade-grown crops have myriad advantages, and naturally, we’re here for the birds. Yellow-breasted Flycatcher.

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Trinidad Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 261

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2022

But their broad collection of rather odd sounds (moans, groans, hoots, screeches, and bill rattles) also do not include anything remotely like a “ beep beep “ Popular media getting bird calls wrong. Those were dark days for my attempts at bird photography, my friend. This is because roadrunners are very entertaining birds.

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Coyotes Mexico ALA Abandon 252

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2015

There are many charismatic endangered birds that capture people’s hearts and imaginations: the colossal California Condor , the evocative Red-crowned Crane , and the adorable Spoon-billed Sandpiper come to mind. This is a short series that brings attention to these incredible birds, and my various adventures to try and see them.

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Brazil California Condor 2013 Abandon 239

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2015

You (or your child/friend/etc) have just found a seemingly parentless baby bird. Here with the answer(s) is Maureen Eiger, a bird rehabilitator in Roanoke, VA: . Wild bird rehabilitators want bird parents to feed their own babies. Unfortunately a bird’s nest location is not always perfect.

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Wounded Rescue Medical Cats 257

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

They were commenting where they felt most at home – on their favourite FB pages (predominantly American Birding Association). Eric DeFonso: “I was thinking about one particular quote from the blog post today while guiding, pertaining to recounting special bird sightings. ‘ Making sure that all trip participants see all the birds.

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Greece Zambia Birds Abandon 247

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2019

I was describing the area we were going to and the target birds ( European Rollers – cover digiscoped in the rain in the same area, Ortolan Buntings , etc.). Rollers were cooperative, several birds including a pair in an old oak tree. What were your experiences with bird guides? was mostly silent.

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Factory Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 193

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2024

However, my current favourite member of the family Cucilidae is the Great Spotted Cuckoo (GSC), a common bird in Cyprus in spring. Birds that nest in southern Africa winter to the north in the tropics, while birds that breed in southern Europe and Turkey migrate south to, you guessed it, tropical Africa.

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Cyprus Africa Europe Asia 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2024

In this second post on the birds of Tan Phu Forest, let’s get the bulbuls out of the way first. Even for a bulbul, it is a “bulky, very noisy, conspicuous” bird (HBW). Even for a bulbul, it is a “bulky, very noisy, conspicuous” bird (HBW). Three seem to be particularly common here.

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Vietnam Fowl Birds Iran 243

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

I enjoy digiscoping–using a digital camera with my spotting scope to get photos of birds. Originally digiscoping started as a way to simply get a documentation or souvenir photo of a bird using point and shoot pocket cameras with scopes or binoculars. It’s changed quite a bit over the years.

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Israel ALA Abandon Abandoning 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2022

The American Birding Association has declared that 2022 is the year of the Burrowing Owl, but if Rosemary Mosco has her way, it will also be the year of the Rock Pigeon. Mosco’s birds (and other creatures in her comics) carry an air of insouciance. Rosemary Mosco’s work is hopefully familiar to many of you.

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New York City 2018 Abandon Abandoning 246