10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2016

I want to alert you to a recent study (from April) that looks at the plight of bird populations under conditions of climate change in Europe and North America. Data were collected from the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the Pan-European Common Birds Monitoring Scheme. Why are Europe and North America different?

North America 141

North America Europe America United States 141

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2024

When we look at the breeding birds, they are all Palaearctic, either mainland species or endemics that evolved from mainland species. This immediately suggests that something about the conditions of these islands makes them suitable for Palaearctic birds but for those from the Americas.

Cape Verde 287

Cape Verde Europe Breeding Africa 287

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2013

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. The non-breeding distribution is virtually unknown, although they are suspected to winter in northern South America (Howell and Web 1995). Very little is known about this enigmatic species.

South America 214

South America San Diego Mexico America 214

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2013

Of all migratory birds breeding in North America, Swallow-tailed Kites are among the first to leave for the wintering grounds. The local kites at this time of the year are about to start breeding. Swallow-tailed Kites are also among the first migratory bird arriving to breed in the U.S.

Florida 260

Florida Cuba Colombia 2004 260

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2021

As the boreal migrants head north, breeding season for the residents and austral migrants is beginning to pick up. They’ve not wasted any time, having drifted northward from mainland South America only a few weeks ago. They’ve not wasted any time, having drifted northward from mainland South America only a few weeks ago.

Raised 264

Raised Breeding South America Family 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2013

And, in South America, there is at least one species that is being heavily preyed on by North American Minks which are not supposed to be in South America. Their natural range is in a smallish region of southern South America. Some of the lakes they breed on have been stocked with salmon and trout.

2010 227

2010 South America 2011 Argentina 227

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2015

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest North American breeding bird 1. The males arrive on breeding grounds before the females and, according to their range map, they probably breed here in Shasta County. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. Click on photos for full sized images. It will blow you away!

North America 249

North America 2010 Breeding America 249

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

Maybe you are a lucky kid whose parents took you birding South America as a toddler, a rich heir with an inheritance to burn, a lucky diplomat choosing your tropical posts, an international bird guide or a bird tour agency owner? That gamble is rigged, so the house always wins.

Family 299

Family Birds South America Breeding 299

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2012

Here in Northern California I am fortunate to have at least three of the western hummingbirds of North America visiting my yard. She will begin breeding in April. The male is the only hummingbird in North America with a rufous back. She is the latest of our local breeders, not nesting usually until mid-May.

Breeders 245

Breeders North America America California 245

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2013

elegans ) are the largest rails in the Americas. Their taxonomic status long has been unclear due to their overall similarity and the fact that in eastern North America and Cuba, they hybridize. King Rails occur widely in eastern North America, in eastern and central Mexico, and in Cuba.

Species 254

Species Cuba North America Louisiana 254

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2012

There cannot be many ABA area breeding birds harder to get than those that only breed on the remotest tips of the north of North America and then fly off to places that aren’t on the major continental flyways. They do turn up on the coast of North America, but not often. You may even have seen one and not known it!

North America 208

North America Fiji Hawaii America 208

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

Are they breeding? from South America. Mitred Parakeets are native to southwestern South America. But the greatest mystery of the Mitred Parakeets of New York is where they go during the breeding season, and whether they are breeding. What, you may ask? How did they get there? How do they survive the winter?

New York City 244

New York City Los Angeles New York South America 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2012

Most of the Osprey breeding in North America are migratory, only Florida, the Caribbean and Baja California host non-migratory breeders 1. In migratory populations males usually arrive to breeding grounds a few days before the females and look for nest sites. This pair copulated several times while I was observing.

California 236

California North America Sacramento Breeders 236

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2011

The Buller’s Mollymawk is an endemic breeder to New Zealand, although it ranges widely away from the islands to feed, and regularly goes to South America’s Humboldt Current to feed. As albies go they seem to be doing better than most species, and are only listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

Albatross 244

Albatross New Zealand South America Breeders 244

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. Alcids are thought to have originated along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean during the Eocene or even the Paleocene.

Penguins 258

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 258

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2015

Growing up in South America, I distinctly recall the arrival of “the swallow with a deeply forked tail”. They fly from extreme northern North America to the southern tip of South America and are seldom seen perched during migration. Swallows have migrated north to south along the Americas for millennia.

South Dakota 178

South Dakota South America North America Wyoming 178

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

This is when we might see the greatest variety and numbers of wood-warblers, where we can watch dizzying groups of swallows zip through the skies as kettles of Turkey Vultures , and Broad-winged and Swainson’s Hawks flow towards South America. How many Sinaloa Martins also fly this way?

Costa Rica 338

Costa Rica West Virginia New York South America 338

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2020

May migration in many parts of eastern North America was and is an amazing natural celebration. Yes, the birding is truly exciting but we just don’t have the annual parade of breeding plumaged, singing warblers, grosbeaks, and orioles. I please guilty to being bedazzle-warbled. In Costa Rica, well…not so much.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Panama Nashville Baltimore 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2022

Three live and breed here, two migrate through the country in large numbers (one of those also breeds here in small numbers), and another migrates through and winters in Costa Rica. This is how these charming flycatchers roll in southern Central America. In Costa Rica, we have our pewees, 6 species of them. Eastern Wood-Pewee.

Costa Rica 278

Costa Rica Pennsylvania South America Panama 278

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2014

Let’s say you’re a bird wrapping up your breeding season in the north of Scotland—where do your thoughts turn when winter beckons? The researchers theorize that these birds might not be strays from the Scandinavian Phalarope population, but instead perhaps originally from North America. the Caribbean islands, and Ecuador and Peru.

Iceland 222

Iceland Stray Ecuador South America 222

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

One of my favorite things about Central America are the bird feeders. They are species that breed in the US and then spend the winter in Central and South America, eating what’s avialable–especially fruit. Fruit is something that migratory birds could eat and worth trying in your yard in North America.

Nigeria 252

Nigeria Belize Birds South America 252

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

There are two Painted Bunting populations, one that breeds along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida and one that breeds in the interior United States and northern Mexico from southeastern New Mexico to western Mississippi. The Atlantic Coast population lingers on the breeding grounds after nesting to molt.

Mississippi 278

Mississippi Mexico Alabama North Carolina 278

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2014

The wood stork occurs and breeds in Central and South America. I have seen them foraging on sandy shores of rivers deep in the Amazon, enjoyed them in their raucous breeding colonies in the Everglades, flushed them out of canals during walks around my house, and perhaps more importantly contribute to their recovery. Photo: U.S.

North Carolina 231

North Carolina Bald Eagle South Carolina Florida 231

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

They leave their breeding grounds in early summer to move down the coast, some travelling as far south as the Gulf of California. This beautiful shorebird is on Audubon’s Watchlist because of its susceptibility to catastrophes on its limited breeding grounds. Of course, all birds in these photos are in non-breeding plumage.

Sanctuary 235

Sanctuary Breeders Alaska North America 235

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

This didn’t detract from the pleasure of finding one of North America’s most strikingly marked wablers. I was thrilled to be seing warblers so early in March, until I remembered that Townsend’s Warblers can be seen along the west coast during the cold months. It was almost as if the species had been forgotten.

San Francisco 245

San Francisco North America Owls America 245

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2012

When they are not getting ready to breed they are a pretty bland brown-and-white bird. Actitus macularius , as spotties are known to the scientific set, are widespread across North America and winter across Central and South America, even as far south as Chile. They are, of course, spotted, but only in alternate plumage.

New Jersey 203

New Jersey North America Chile South America 203

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Spoonbills and ibises are stocky, colorful wading birds with distinctive bills: downcurved and pointed in the case of ibises, flat and paddle shaped in the spoonbills (above is my shot of Roseate Spoonbills ( Platalea ajaja ) near a breeding colony in Louisiana). Interestingly, Ramirez et al.

Louisiana 230

Louisiana Mississippi America Pelicans 230

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2011

Eagle Lake, Lake Almanor and Clear Lake have all been identified as Audubon California Important Bird Areas (IBA), meaning that they provide essential habitat for breeding, wintering, and migrating birds. Like the breeding activity of many species this spring, the grebes were late, probably due to the unseasonable weather.

California 251

California Eagles North America Blackbirds 251

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2011

According to Birds of North America Online , the Great-tailed Grackle’s ( Quiscalus mexicanus ) breeding range has been expanding northward for several years. Far north of where the current range maps show this species breeding. This male was perched in the bulrush and calling, apparently claiming breeding territory.

California 214

California North America Breeding America 214

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2013

Perhaps because of threats to the ecosystems of the many places the Arctic Tern visits (Europe, Africa, South America, and North America), it may be on the decline. Some of those once-popular breeding spots now produce no chicks at all.

Bald Eagle 211

Bald Eagle Pandas Puffins Bears 211

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2024

The Rusty Sparrow is a large sparrow that can only be found from western Mexico to northern Central America. Bird long enough in North America, and you will eventually meet the Empidonax flycatchers: 14 small flycatchers, most of which are very nearly identical. In this very rainy year, there’s a whole lot of breeding going on.)

Sparrows 244

Sparrows Livestock Birds North America 244

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

Although both species are widespread in North America as breeders in shrubby edge habitats, that is not the case in the southern half of the sunshine state (the more northerly race of Prairie Warbler is an uncommon breeder in the panhandle). And so concludes this brief introduction to Florida’s breeding warbler duo of the mangroves.

Florida 217

Florida Miami Breeders Tampa 217

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

Unlike North America, Germany has never had naturally occurring psittacines that went extinct, and the one we have is a true and complete invasive alien introduction. and the White Storks are also wild and countable despite breeding at the zoo. Yes, Germany has parrots, or parakeets to be more precise.

Germany 255

Germany Netherlands Zoos Costa Rica 255

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Very few birds – or animals for that matter – would plunge head-first into the churning cauldrons of some of South America’s most treacherous rivers. Red-ruffed Fruitcrows are a highly sought-after species and are tough to find elsewhere in South America. Torrent Ducks are the thrill-seekers of the avian world.

Ducks 266

Ducks Colombia South America Squirrels 266

4 The Love Of Animals

AUGUST 28, 2016

As America recognizes the contributions of its workers on September 5, Petplan pet insurance is marking Labor Day with a celebration of the working dog. From Boxers to St.

Breeding 100

Breeding Dogs Pets America 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2014

Green-tailed Towhee s breed in species-rich shrub communities within shrub-steppe habitats, and disturbed and open areas of montane forest, often created by forest fires 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. Click on photos for full sized images. Up in Ashland we found them on the outskirts of Howard Prairie Lake.

Oregon 234

Oregon North America Birds Owls 234

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2011

Anyone who has gone bird watching in North America, however, knows another kind of phoebe, a bold little genus that turns up with remarkable frequency from the arctic circle to the equator. This phoebe is a fixture in the American Southwest and Central America and can be spotted all the way down to Argentina.

Argentina 239

Argentina United States North America America 239