10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. And the term is ‘non-reversed size dimorphism.’).

North America 254

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 254

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 form a distinctive family within the shorebird order Charadriiformes. © David J. See Cairns et al.

Penguins 270

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 270

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

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). White Ibis ( Eudocimus albus ) in Florida © David J.

Louisiana 244

Louisiana Mississippi America Pelicans 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2011

They are part of a family of New World Quail which includes Gambel’s, Mountain, Scaled and Montezuma Quail, as well as the Northern Bobwhite. All New World Quail are highly gregarious, typically found in coveys or flocks except during breeding season. The family group pictured below has been visiting my yard recently.

California 261

California Rattlesnake Gophers Eggs 261

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2017

The Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America by Nathan Pieplow is innovative, fascinating, and challenging. The Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America is divided into three main sections: Introduction, Species Accounts, and Index to Bird Sounds (also called the Visual Index).

North America 189

North America America Sparrows Birds 189

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2012

One of the sweetest subsections of the duck family has to be the sawbills, formally known as mergansers. Mergansers are a family of diving waterfowl in Merginae , the seaduck subfamily of Anatidae. Anyway, the hoodie is the only merganser endemic to North America. Notice the sawbill?

North America 247

North America Thailand Russia Ducks 247

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. Phoebes are proud members (at least they seem so) of the Family Tyrannidae , the tyrant flycatchers. with its eastern cousin.

Argentina 240

Argentina United States North America America 240

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2011

It may seem like cruel and unusual punishment for we denizens of the New World to spend an entire week celebrating what is surely the coolest family of birds in the world, a family that is sadly absent from the Old World, but it can’t be helped.

United States 227

United States South America Cooking 2011 227

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

The goal of Around the World For Penguins is simple: Describe the 18 species of penguin and their breeding grounds “from the perspective of a traveller.” But, unlike most books focused on a bird family, this one is organized geographically. The full-length species accounts are not repeated.

Penguins 279

Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 279

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 186

South Dakota South America North America Wyoming 186

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Their taxonomic affinities have caused great confusion and debate amongst ornithologists; they were originally assigned to the thrush family, then Old World warblers before being shifted to babblers (the last mentioned a common dumping-ground for any aberrant passerines). A dancing Blue Crane , South Africa’s national bird.

South Africa 258

South Africa Lesotho Swaziland Africa 258

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2013

And now we enter into a family of birds more or less unknown to non-birders. And truth told, over the years they’ve been something of a square peg for ornithologists too, not fitting precisely into any of the known families of birds. The feet, pushed to the very back of the body, are adorned with bizarre webbing.

Jordan 239

Jordan Guatemala South America Birds 239

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

So I contacted him for the exact location, which turned out to be a beautiful 14-acre property that belongs to his family, and he kindly invited me over. and Canada and winter in northeastern Mexico, while the sedentary wrens of central Mexico, Central America, and South America are now to be identified as Grass Wrens.

Barn Owls 264

Barn Owls Owls Leopards Mexico 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

He goes on to describe how early classifications of the nine-primaried oscines relied on bill shape to determine family boundaries. A new perspective on tanagers Much of the core of the tanager family remains intact. Odd little grassquits singing from power lines in South America’s great cities.

2003 257

2003 Sparrows South America Family 257

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

Before finally connecting to the South American continent about three million years ago, Central America consisted of a series of volcanic islands. Many Nearctic species and families reach their southern terminus in the Northern Central American Highlands, such as Common Raven , Red Crossbill , Steller’s Jay , and even Brown Creeper.

Honduras 253

Honduras El Salvador Costa Rica Arizona 253

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. This poorly documented swallow is a breeding endemic to these high mountains. Photo by Andrew Spencer.

Mexico 239

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Bats 239

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

The first is that the illustrations by Dale Dyer are based, and largely seem to be the same, as the illustrations for his previous guide Birds of Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama (co-authored with Andrew Vallely, PUP, 2018). Doing this work takes time!

Costa Rica 246

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2012

It breeds across much of North America, is present year-round in the Caribbean, northern Central America, and the west coast of northern South America, and in winter is found across the rest of Central America. By the next day, when I returned, the entire Killdeer family had vacated the premises.

Eggs 197

Eggs South America America North America 197

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

This group — dubbed the bombycillids , from the waxwing genus and family name — appears to fall near kinglets and a large group containing thrushes and muscicapids (Old World flycatchers and chats) in the passerine tree. Spellman et al. Cedar Waxwings are pictured above in a lovely image by Minette Layne.). ” Spellman et al.

Saudi Arabia 253

Saudi Arabia 2008 Indonesia Colombia 253

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2023

2012), and (4) Waterfowl of Eastern North America, 2nd ed. Every species account (well, most every account) includes information on habitat and talk briefly about range and distribution (there are no range maps in this guide); it is usually noted if the species breeds in Ontario, and often noted if it is migratory or residential year-round.

North America 246

North America Birds Owls Canada 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

The Sinaloa Martin is a large swallow, which seems to breed only along a narrow band of the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, and Jalisco. It sports the intense purple back and head of its close relative, the Purple Martin , which is found in much of North America (summer) and South America (winter).

Mexico 246

Mexico South America 2020 America 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2013

The Pygmy Nuthatch ( Sitta pygmaea ) is a non-migratory bird that lives primarily in Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine forests in western North America. They are one of the few cooperatively breeding passerines in North America and a third of the breeding pairs have 1–3 male helpers, usually progeny or other relatives.

North America 168

North America America California Collecting 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2013

Proposal 2013-A-2 would split the “Guatemalan Pygmy-Owl” ( Glaucidium cobanense ) of southern Mexico and northern Central America from the widespread Northern Pygmy-Owl ( G. Let’s take a look at some of what lurks inside: Pygmy-owl split. gnoma ) on the basis of vocal differences and a discrete range. Sandwich Tern split.

2013 232

2013 Sparrows Stray Owls 232

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2011

But the new second edition of Watching Sparrows * by Michael Male and Judy Fieth, who have a whole series of bird films already produced or in production , not only kept me staring at the screen but drew in family members to see what I was watching, to say nothing of my cats, who were enthralled by the sparrows singing on screen.

Sparrows 217

Sparrows North America United States America 217

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Third, observing and photographing breeding birds and their young have become acts of ethical confusion as birders, photographers, and organizational representatives debate the impact of our human presence on the nesting process. Some people love books like that. Yellow Warbler fledgling. But special. Familiar is not necessarily common.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2015

I’m a big fan of the antelopes, a group that is most commonly associated with Africa but which also occurs in Asia and, if you stretch the term to be cladistically meaningful, Europe and North America. By this I mean applying the term antelope to cover all of the family Bovidae, which would include the sheep, goats and ox.

Africa 209

Africa Wolves Goats Sheep 209

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

The first bird to draw my eye was a fine adult Grey Plover, or what is known in America as a Black-bellied Plover, sitting characteristically hunch-backed just a few yards from my car, on the edge of the tide. Though these plovers are common on the North Norfolk coast, their nearest breeding grounds are far to the north.

Geese 241

Geese Russia Unwanted Breeding 241

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Horned Larks breed widely over North America, including up here in the High Arctic. Here they are a common breeding bird, one of our two species that migrate from here to Europe and then south. At the same time (and sometime the same location) we have Semipalmated Plovers breeding, which makes identification a challenge.

Eggs 231

Eggs North America Breeding Europe 231

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2020

The Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher is one of the relatively few birds that winter in South America, but fly no further north than Mexico for the breeding season. As were the Greenish Elaenias, birds in the Tyrant Flycatcher family. The Rusty Sparrow can be seen in much of Mexico and Central America. Black-headed Siskin.

Squirrels 220

Squirrels Sparrows South America Mexico 220

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2013

It is one of three species of ani ( Groove-billed and Greater Anis are the other two) and together form a unique branch in the cuckoo family. According to the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas, the first confirmed breeding record was in Miami in July of 1938.

Florida 233

Florida Virgin Islands Miami Breeders 233

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

. ((** all names have been changed to protect identities and have been substituted with (almost) randomly chosen substitutes suitable for a family of Alpine Accentors.)) all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes. Journal of Ornithology 137 (1): 35-51 N. Davies et al.

2011 235

2011 Breeders Deer Breeding 235

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Most Acorn Woodpeckers are cooperative breeders and live in family groups of up to a dozen or more individuals. Groups may also contain up to 10 male and female non-breeding helpers, usually offspring of the group produced in prior years 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online a.

Woodpeckers 203

Woodpeckers Breeders North America Groups 203

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

The latter figure very significant when you remember that many breeding passerines depend on the humble caterpillar to feed themselves and their offspring. Native trees, unsurprisingly, had a far higher insect biodiversity and a far higher biomass of insect life. Black capped Chickadee. POST SCRIPT.

North America 264

North America Wildlife Mammals Breeding 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

Wood-Wrens , birds of the family Henicorhina , are very small wrens of Central and South America that like to live very close to the ground, in dense forest underbrush or elfin forests. The only one that occurs in western Mexico, where I live, is the Gray-breasted Wood-Wren.

Mexico 253

Mexico South America America Species 253

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2012

With a family renowned for its strong flight and capability to colonize far flung locations (such as the Imperial-Pigeons and Fruit-Doves of the Tropical Pacific, Blue Pigeons of the Indian Ocean, or endemic pigeons of the Canary Islands), this fact comes to no surprise. Is this the closest equivalent to a tramp species in the Americas?

Florida 207

Florida Miami Bahamas Mexico 207

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Though wood-warblers, the mostly brightly colored birds of the family Parulidae, are only found in the New World we felt that birders the world over would be pleased to see a plethora of posts about these striking and sought after species.

United States 160

United States South America 2011 2012 160