10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

The Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America by Jesse Fagan and Oliver Komar, illustrated by Robert Dean and Peter Burke, does just that. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America covers 827 species, including resident, migratory, and common vagrant birds.

El Salvador 235

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Bufflehead ( Bucephala albeola ) Female at Cavity Entrance photos by Larry Jordan “Some 85 species of North American birds excavate nesting holes, use cavities resulting from decay (natural cavities), or use holes created by other species in dead or deteriorating trees. Notice the chick in the upper left corner.

North America 253

North America America Barn Owls Fur 253

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2020

The April arrival of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, Second Edition was a supremely happy moment in a very difficult, sad month. A companion regional guide, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America was published in 1941; its fifth edition will be coming out in early September.

North America 260

North America America Hawaii Birds 260

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2013

Unlike the more common American Goldfinch, the Lesser Goldfinch’s ( Spinus psaltria ) plumage does not change color during breeding season. The female Lesser Goldfinch can sometimes be confused with the female American Goldfinch in breeding plumage. Both of these species show gregarious flocking behavior except when nesting.

California 192

California Species North America Oregon 192

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2014

The second edition of the National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 2nd Edition has one of the longest book names in bird bookdom: National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 2nd Edition: Now Covering More Than 1,000 Species With the Most-Detailed Information Found in a Single Volume.

North America 186

North America America Family Falcons 186

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2024

My main interest lies in the endemic species and subspecies, trying to understand why some species got there and others didn’t. When we look at the breeding birds, they are all Palaearctic, either mainland species or endemics that evolved from mainland species. On the eastern Canaries they are Palaearctic species.

Cape Verde 289

Cape Verde Europe Breeding Africa 289

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2019

With birds bedecked in their breeding best and filling the air with song, this is migration at its loveliest. A wonderful variety of bird species are waiting to be seen and among them are many a birder’s favorite avian group, the wood-warblers. In the birding world, May is the beautiful time. Great Green Macaw!

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Species Belize New Jersey 203

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. Stephens et al. Let’s look at that first.

North America 150

North America Europe America United States 150

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

Birders normally care about species and make species lists, how do families fit into those? Adding more species brings a lot of excitement, as long as you bird your own country or a continent. 11,000 species require lots of money and a good portion of one’s life. That gamble is rigged, so the house always wins.

Family 299

Family Birds South America Breeding 299

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 217

North America Fiji Hawaii America 217

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. We hope that our journey will provide important information about many Neotropical bird species as well as inform conservation.” Very little is known about this enigmatic species.

South America 224

South America San Diego Mexico America 224

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 guide covers 520 species of birds regularly found in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, including, interestingly, a number of exotic species. But, first the basics.

North America 189

North America America Sparrows Birds 189

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2013

Twenty two species are distributed among six genera, depending on what happens to be extinct, and for the most part one grebe is like another. This makes Grebes vulnerable to climate change and the predation of invasive species. It is easy to see how Minks set lose in a welcoming habitat could eat an entire species.

2010 236

2010 South America 2011 Argentina 236

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

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. In Costa Rica, this species is common in various middle elevation forest habitats.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Panama Nashville Baltimore 264

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. See Cairns et al.

Penguins 266

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 266

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. The least common species of hummingbird I see here is the Calliope Hummingbird ( Stellula calliope ). She will begin breeding in April. He also sports a brilliant orange-red gorget.

Breeders 250

Breeders North America America California 250

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

There’s a new proposal before the American Ornithologists’ Union’s North American Classification Committee to split Painted Bunting into two species (yay! — maybe, more later) and to name the new species “Eastern Painted Bunting” and “Western Painted Bunting” (no!).

Mississippi 278

Mississippi Mexico Alabama North Carolina 278

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2014

I was happy to read that the wood stork ( Mycteria Americana ), a bird near and dear to me, was down-sited from the status of endangered to threatened species. Fish and Wildlife Service is down-listing the wood stork from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). However, birds in the U.S. Photo: U.S.

North Carolina 240

North Carolina Bald Eagle South Carolina Florida 240

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 252

Albatross New Zealand South America Breeders 252

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2023

The official Ontario bird checklist, produced by Ontario Field Ornithologists , June 2022 listed 506 bird species**, putting it in the top tier of U.S. Small Species Accounts: Each species is allotted one page (with certain exceptions) offering basics–bird names and size, one or two photographs, and a one-paragraph description.

North America 246

North America Birds Owls Canada 246

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

For mankind to snatch away a species’ very existence is wrong on so many levels that I can’t begin to explain them. However, despite our best efforts to wipe them off the face of the earth, some of the more vulnerable species have managed to hang on. this species breeds. this species breeds.

Albatross 247

Albatross Endangered Species Bald Eagle Alaska 247

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 213

New Jersey North America Chile South America 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

I’ve been fortunate to see two Penguin species in the wild (African and Galapagos) and have dreamed of seeing more–maybe even all!–especially 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.”

Penguins 279

Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2022

In Costa Rica, we have our pewees, 6 species of them. 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.

Costa Rica 279

Costa Rica Pennsylvania South America Panama 279

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. Otun Quimbaya remains a very good place to view this highly enigmatic and entertaining species. Torrent Ducks are the thrill-seekers of the avian world.

Ducks 267

Ducks Colombia South America Squirrels 267

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. Swallows Everywhere. Costa Rica is a great place to watch swallows, especially Cliff Swallows.

Costa Rica 338

Costa Rica West Virginia New York South America 338

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). Everyone, I would like you to meet the ‘Florida’ Prairie Warbler ( S.

Florida 227

Florida Miami Breeders Tampa 227

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 ). Of course, all birds in these photos are in non-breeding plumage.

Sanctuary 243

Sanctuary Breeders Alaska North America 243

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). A cryptic species? Interestingly, Ramirez et al.

Louisiana 240

Louisiana Mississippi America Pelicans 240

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

This didn’t detract from the pleasure of finding one of North America’s most strikingly marked wablers. It was almost as if the species had been forgotten. 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.

San Francisco 250

San Francisco North America Owls America 250

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

Are they breeding? from South America. Mitred Parakeets are native to southwestern South America. They are a temperate zone species, found at high elevations, so they are somewhat cold-adapted. The birds have never been recorded on breeding bird surveys (or for that matter on any Christmas Bird Count).

New York City 246

New York City Los Angeles New York South America 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

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Gray Kingbird perched on a Gumbo Limbo Tree, another typical West Indian species native to South Florida. Although a reasonably common species in southern Florida, Gray Kingbird is especially abundant in the West Indies where even islanders not interested in birds are very familiar with this species.

Dominican Republic 253

Dominican Republic Puerto Rico Miami Florida 253

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. Like the Adjutants in Asia and Jabiru of the Americas, the Marabou is our bare-headed scavenging stork.

Africa 250

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 250

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

Many species that are currently common may stay that way, and some species will likely increase…and hopefully species besides House Sparrows , European Starlings , Rock Pigeons and Eurasian Collared-Doves , which those in North America know as the four avian horsemen of the apocalypse. Whats in it for birds?

North America 258

North America San Francisco Suffering California 258

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. You can listen to some of their incredible calls, courtesy of Xeno-canto here.

California 224

California North America Breeding America 224