10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2013

The Surfbird outside of the breeding season can be found along almost the entire Pacific Coast of the Americas, from southeastern Alaska all the way to Tierra del Fuego in southern Chile. In breeding season, Surfbird is found in mountain ranges scattered throughout Alaska and the Yukon Territory 1. Truly a West Coast species.

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Alaska Chile 2013 Breeding 182

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

You can’t say the same about migration: you can’t say that every book about birds is necessarily about migration, for the simple reason that only about 4,000 bird species migrate (with some 1,800 of those traveling long distances). (Well, purely physical attributes play a part, too: they’re pretty good looking.).

Alaska 251

Alaska Kenya Georgia Russia 251

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2018

to the Rocky Mountains and beyond, Alaska, throughout the Caribbean, and in seven countries in Europe. Of the 300 hummingbird species across the globe, North America only sees fewer than two dozen of them. Then, I learned that over 400 species of birds have been identified in and around these islands.

Texas 208

Texas Alaska North America America 208

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2014

Birders know why Alaska is known as The Last Frontier. But until this past month, I’d never been to Alaska. The Anchorage area hosts a number of far norther species I could never hope to see in North Carolina, and I quickly pulled together a list of targets and my friends made a plan. Birding Destinations Alaska bears'

Alaska 167

Alaska Grizzly Bear Bears North Carolina 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2016

The vast majority of this area (about 85%) is in Alaska. Farallon NWR , a group of islands near San Francisco, hosts the largest colonies of breeding seabirds south of Alaska. But when taken as a whole, the impact of the Refuge System is truly profound, supporting population-level numbers of numerous bird species.

Wildlife 190

Wildlife Grizzly Bear Puerto Rico Alaska 190

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2024

Taking inspiration from Matthiessen’s 1967 book (long out of print), which combined his natural history essays with species accounts by Ralph S. Species Profile, Black-necked Stilt, p. 57; © 2024 by Pete Dunne and Kevin T.

North America 264

North America America 2006 Delaware 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2022

In any case, screech-owls are birds of the Megascops genus, small nocturnal owls found in wooded habitats from southern Alaska to northern Argentina. More than 20 species are recognized, many look similar and to throw a bit more challenging flavored sauce into the Megascops mix, there might be a few more species awaiting description.

Costa Rica 241

Costa Rica Owls Panama Argentina 241

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

Across the world’s northern oceans, 24 species of auklets, murres, puffins, guillemots, and related seabirds make a living catching food beneath the waves and breeding, often in large colonies, on coastlines and islands. All alcid species alive today can fly, but with difficulty. Birds alcids taxonomy and systematics'

Penguins 257

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 257

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2021

As of mid-November 2021, the Collaborative had submitted more than 4,200 checklists (up from 1,700 in 2018) and has observed 691 species in the United States (up from 618). Thus, there are now seven states with 200+ observed species. The state with the largest increase was Arizona , with 139 species added.

West Virginia 244

West Virginia United States Puerto Rico Minnesota 244

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2016

I am actually jumping out of my assigned beat area, to share some photos from my trip to Kodiak Island Alaska. The upside for me, not to take away from my day with 27 different bears, was the next 6 days all by myself on Kodiak Island, recording as many new bird species as I could find. Well, I guess I just have to go back!

Grizzly Bear 154

Grizzly Bear Alaska Bears Puffins 154

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

You can see the list of the more than 270 bird species observed throughout the year at the marsh, along with their frequency and time of year seen here. Among the several species we did see on the jetty however, is the Black Turnston e ( Arenaria melanocephala ). Click on photos for full sized images.

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Sanctuary Breeders Alaska North America 235

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2015

A number of years ago I was granted the privilege of flying into the Kuparuk Oil Field, above the Arctic Circle in the remote regions of the North Slope Borough in Alaska. The justification was ridiculously laughable: in order to further study the species. The unique behaviors this mysterious species might exhibit?

Collecting 240

Collecting Wildlife Rehabilitation Solomon Islands Texas 240

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

On that occasion I counted 40 individuals from 10 different species. Although counting individual hummingbirds is always a questionable enterprise, and distinguishing hummingbirds by species can be quite challenging as well.) During one 6-hour outing, I once again counted 40 individuals, this time from 8 species.

Mexico 219

Mexico Alaska Falcons Raised 219

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2015

My wife and I had the chance to visit Alaska! The Alaska wilderness lives up to the visions we had. The birds were not as plentiful because we were there during the tail end of the summer when most species had already flown south. Alaska was incredible. But an opportunity presented itself and we took it.

Alaska 162

Alaska South America Penguins Owls 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2022

Many different species of shorebirds travel the East-Asian Australasian Flyway to spend the non-breeding cycle of their lives here in Broome. Only this week the extraordinary journey of a Bar-tailed Godwit travelling from Alaska to Tasmania in just eleven days has shown us all just how incredible these shorebirds are.

Turtles 257

Turtles Alaska Breeding Species 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2012

Are you in Alaska? Most of them are essentially telling you what species they are when they talk, so just focusing on appearance may make the identification process more complicated than it has to be. Their bills are obviously different lengths and shapes…they must be different species, right? Here are a few helpful tips.

LACS 218

LACS Alaska Connecticut Wildlife 218

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2013

First of all, the species only occurs semi regularly in North America in a small patch of Alaska where it occasionally breeds. Most of its range is actually in the Old World so if you want to see one in North America you have to arrange a trip to western Alaska in breeding season, not exactly an easy proposition logistically.

Los Angeles 165

Los Angeles San Diego Alaska North America 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2011

There was a lot of hunting for Bald Eagles—it is traditionally a game species. There was a bounty on them in Alaska from 1917 until 1952—up to $2 a head! Yes, they have been an endangered species for as long as most of us can recall, but remember, they were traditionally a hunted species.

Bald Eagle 264

Bald Eagle Eagles Hunting Kentucky 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2021

I pointed at the bird shown below but he insisted it could not be that species – no long tail … For people of a certain age, gender and background, at some point The Smiths were the most important band in the world. Other species, such as this juvenile Light-vented Bulbul , seem to have more ambiguous feelings about molting.

LACS 262

LACS Birds France Japan 262

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

And some distinctive-looking species, like Surfbird and Buff-breasted Sandpiper are placed in genera by themselves. Godwits are spectacularly powerful fliers; the Bar-tailed Godwit makes an eight-day, non-stop flight from Alaska to New Zealand each autumn, a distance of more than 7,000 miles (11,500 kilometers).

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Family North America Netherlands New Zealand 208

Critter News

MAY 18, 2009

Looks like blue whales may be coming back to Alaska. From the Associated Press: Blue whales are returning to Alaska in search of food and could be re-establishing an old migration route several decades after they were nearly wiped out by commercial whalers, scientists say. Here's hoping Sarah Palin leaves them alone.

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Whales Whaling Marine Life Alaska 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

The Red-breasted Sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus ruber ) and the Red-naped Sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus nuchalis ) were considered different forms of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus varius ) until 1983 when they were split into separate species. The bird shown above arrived at my house at the end of October, a new species for my yard list!

Alaska 170

Alaska North America Woodpeckers 2010 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

Whereas American birders may be familiar with Sooty and Bridled Terns as stormwashed vagrants to their shores, and might get the Aleutian Tern on a pilgrimage to Alaska, the Grey-backed Tern is a much more rarely seen bird. The species replaces the widespread, almost pan-tropical, Bridled Tern in the western Pacific Ocean.

Hawaii 169

Hawaii Alaska Eggs Species 169

Critter News

AUGUST 30, 2008

Why has John McCain chosen Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as a running mate? For me, I've been deluged for months by Defenders of Wildlife material about Alaska's heartless treatment of wolves. I hope that the scrutiny of Palin will do something about Alaska's unfair and cruel treatment of wolves. A big F-U to animals.

Alaska 100

Alaska Wolves Endangered Species Defenders Of Wildlife 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2016

Maybe because there are 27 species, some of which take four years to attain adulthood and then some of the larger gulls cross breed! If I make it up to the Canadian coast or Alaska I will most likely find a breeding adult to photograph. Here are a couple of photos showing the Mew Gull’s wings… and tail.

California 177

California Alaska North America Breeding 177

Critter News

JANUARY 26, 2009

For this reason, the state of Alaska contends that additional regulation is unnecessary. The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet," Palin said last week. Tags: beluga whale Palin alaska endangered species.

Whales 100

Whales Whaling Polar Bears Alaska 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2011

Ruddy Turnstone is a Species of Least Concern according to BirdLife International. It has an enormous range, occurring in such far-flung locales as New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Alaska, Greenland, and Brazil, to name just a few. It is one of two turnstone species, the other being the Black Turnstone A.

Saudi Arabia 157

Saudi Arabia New Zealand Brazil Alaska 157

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

A recent comment thread on Facebook about absurdly high counts of some species in the eBird database got me curious. What is the most of any one species that has ever been reported at one time? But I bet Eddie Shea, who reported the eight Gyrfalcons from Alaska in June of 2010, was pretty pleased to see them. Painted Buntings ?

Louisiana 188

Louisiana Birds Nicaragua Iowa 188

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2024

Given how far Hokkaido is from Europe, it seems a bit surprising how many bird species wintering on this Japanese island have a name starting with “Eurasian” Or how many of these species I have also seen in my parents’ garden in Germany. It seems extra-pair paternity is very frequent in this species.

Iran 219

Iran Germany Research Humane 219

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2011

Another example would be the Eagle Lady in Alaska. Do neighbors refer to you as bird species + Lady or Guy? Will it be sustainably nutritious for them in the years to come (but the nutritional value of corn is a completely different blog post topic)? Are you the local Goose Lady? Grackle Guy?

Bald Eagle 261

Bald Eagle Deer Minnesota 2000 261

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2021

On the other hand, in April, some other species start breeding here in Shanghai. The Pacific Golden Plover “is an aristocrat among birds”, according to Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959), The Birds of Alaska (as found on HBW). As all my cats are indoor animals, I do not feel particularly responsible or guilty for this.

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Birds Farming Alaska Breeding 215

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Nearly 70 species of parrots have been recorded flying free at some stage or another in Miami, including Hyacinth Macaws. Dozens of other introduced bird species, largely escapees from pet owners, now call Miami home. But I couldn’t help but get more excited about the countable species as opposed to the uncountable ones.

Miami 162

Miami Parrots Research Alaska 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2011

How excited we were to see what was for us a new species as we drove up into Olympic National Park on the road to Hurricane Ridge. And even less did we know about the taxonomy of the Black-tailed Deer , which turned out to be not a new species of deer for us at all. A Black-tailed Deer ! Let’s deal with the second issue first.

Deer 140

Deer Mules Alaska Mammals 140

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2021

My last trip to Europe may have taken place years before I became a birder, but this is one of those European species I tell myself I can recognize thanks to its occasional appearance in the appendices of some North American field guides that describe casual and accidental rarities from Eurasia.

2018 158

2018 France Alaska United States 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

In 2012, I reviewed The Jewel Hunter , an absorbing narrative in which author Chris Goodie travelled throughout Asia, Africa, and Australasia to observe and photograph every Pitta species in the world. Hummingbird species, on the other hand, number in the hundreds. link] © 2021 Jon Dunn. Jonas D’Abronzo.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Bolivia Ecuador 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2013

Like several species, breeding Peregrines were extirpated during the height of the DDT era but have reclaimed their island domain in more recent years. The Channel Islands have all sorts of species and subspecies that are endemic to the islands, including mammals, reptiles, plants, and of course birds, many of which are nonmigratory.

California 190

California Sea Lions Whales Whaling 190

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2024

Secondly, much of the appeal is that this is a bird we don’t see in the UK very often, for Waxwings are an irruptive species, and in most years only a few ever reach our shores from their breeding grounds in the boreal forests of Scandinavia. For many years Waxwings were my bogey birds that I kept on missing.

Finland 244

Finland Estonia Bears Ireland 244