10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2011

In California, coveys break up and pairs begin forming in February or March, followed by nest building and egg laying in May or June. She will usually lay 12 to 17 eggs, averaging five per week 1 , before beginning incubation. Occasionally, larger clutches occur due to egg dumping by other females. References: 1 Baicich, Paul J.

California 263

California Rattlesnake Gophers Eggs 263

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I think most of us in North America have come to the somewhat disappointing conclusion that fall migration is pretty much finished for the year. The flocks that just a fortnight ago held multiple species in varied, if subdued, hues, now overwhelmingly consist of a single species. You’re done. Look at those bright legs!

North America 243

North America North Carolina South America Tennessee 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

The northwestern spread of this non-native species made it to my yard a few years ago. The lightest shade of lavender coincides with a 0 – 2% frequency of sightings, the next darker shade 2 – 10%, the next 10 – 25%, the next 25 – 40% and the darkest (almost black) shade is a 40 – 100% occurrence of the species.

Breeders 221

Breeders 2002 North America Bahamas 221

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Less than 1% of all species exhibit role some type of role reversal where males do what females typically do. Male Phalaropes, Jacanas, Tinamous, and Rheas build nests, incubate the eggs and take care of the chicks. Perhaps the most complicated and bizarre mating system is that of the Rheas of South America. Photo: Liam Quinn.

South America 174

South America Eggs Raised America 174

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The Bank Swallow ( Riparia riparia ) is North America’s smallest swallow. The report identifies 33 species that do not meet the Watch List criteria but are declining rapidly in many areas. The main reason for this rapid decline, as in the case of most species, is loss of habitat. Click on photos for full sized images.

North America 230

North America 2014 California America 230

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2011

If you were an Eskimo Curlew (and boy, do we wish you were) somewhere in Newfoundland ready to head south across the sea to South America, eating an extra bit of food before take-off will certainly be easier than going down for a quick drink of fresh water somewhere over the Atlantic. Or picture yourself as a bird fetus within an egg.

Mammals 263

Mammals Birds Eggs Fish 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2012

The pair may have to compete for nesting cavities with several other species including native Tree Swallows and Violet-green Swallows, as well as non-native House Sparrows and European Starlings. The female alone incubates the usual 4 to 6 eggs for about two weeks beginning the day the last egg is laid. i Kamakawiwo?ole’s

Washington 230

Washington Eggs Israel California 230

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2015

Although it was formerly abundant and geographically widespread, Trumpeter Swan numbers and distribution were greatly reduced during the early fur trade and European settlement of North America (1600’s to 1800’s), when it was prized for its skins and primary feathers 1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq1bx7Ic2FY. v=kq1bx7Ic2FY.

North America 187

North America Iowa Wisconsin Michigan 187

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2014

The featured image above shows a female incubating eggs from my first resident breeding pair back in 2007. Violet-green Swallows will nest solitarily or in colonies and in my experience seem much more mellow than other swallow species. The four to six eggs are white and unmarked. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

Eggs 184

Eggs North America 2007 Woodpeckers 184

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2013

The Black Swift is considered a Species of Special Concern in California. Plus the fact that they only lay one egg per season which is incubated for about four weeks and the chicks don’t fledge for another fifty days gives you some notion as to why these birds are a Species of Special Concern.

California 240

California Costa Rica North America Niger 240

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

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. I had hoped to have some Semipalmated Plover chick photos for comparison but as of last night they seem to be still at the egg stage.

Eggs 244

Eggs North America Breeding Europe 244

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. Here are some U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Albatross 253

Albatross Endangered Species Bald Eagle Alaska 253

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2012

Right now we’re pretty much a three species town, Ravens with a chance of Hoary Redpolls and a sprinkling of Rock Ptarmigan. (I I smashed the High Arctic Christmas Bird Count record this January 2nd by managing to find all three species here in town. Typically there are four eggs in a brood especially on good year.

South America 197

South America Eggs Family Raised 197

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Isla Rasa was declared a sanctuary in 1964, and egg-collecting and disturbance during the breeding season are discouraged. With the breeding colony concentrated on one small island this species is vulnerable to a catastrophic weather event. References: 1 Birds of North America Online , 2 BirdLife International. v=FUBX_tlHySc.

San Francisco 170

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 170

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2020

I am only responding to my subjective impression of a single species’ appearance here; specifically, that of the Bronzed Cowbird. Instead, they lay their eggs in other species’ nests, and let those nest-making birds (often significantly smaller than the cowbirds) raise their young. Native versus invasive species?

Blackbirds 198

Blackbirds Mexico Cattle Birds 198

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Both the male and female of the species have a bright red crown. Within a group, 1–7 male co-breeders compete for matings with 1–3 joint-nesting females who lay their eggs in the same nest cavity. Acorn Woodpeckers are the only species to store individual nuts in holes drilled in granaries. Click on photos for full sized images.

Woodpeckers 218

Woodpeckers Breeders North America Groups 218

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Today, the species has all but disappeared east of the Mississippi River and has declined in western parts of its range, most likely caused by the expansion of the House Wren which destroys and removes their eggs from nest sites 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. This is what I am used to seeing.

Mississippi 178

Mississippi North America Eggs America 178

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science. How do they know?

North America 279

North America Birds Research America 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2024

Being a westerner — raised in California, and now living in western Mexico — I was perhaps most excited about the migratory birds that breed in eastern North America. This was only my fourth encounter with the species (all on the east side). Although, truth be told, this species does seem to be a rarity in Tabasco.)

Mexico 246

Mexico Birds Raccoons Baltimore 246

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

The Andean Flamingo ( Phoenicopterus andinus ) is one of the three flamingos occurring in the high Andes of South America. Egg harvesting to sell as food was intensive then, with thousands taken annually from the breeding colonies in Chile. Egg collection for local consumption still continues at lower scale.

Chile 160

Chile Endangered Species Eggs Argentina 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2023

It covers 403 species: 172 nonpasserine species and 231 passerine species in the Species Accounts, 198 species beautifully illustrated by the author in the Plates section. The scarcity of information on the young of some avian species is astounding.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 290

Wildlife Rehabilitation Family Birds Collecting 290

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2015

Another species of Python, the African Python ( Python sebae ) has established a small population in the 2,877-acre Bird Drive Area (BDA) in South Florida. Photo Credit: Invasive and Exotic Species of North America (www.invasive.org). The invasive Burmese Python ( Python molurus ) is well established in the Florida Everglade.

Pythons 231

Pythons Florida Mammals Reptiles 231

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2020

Plus a few truly difficult species. Sure, it is an introduced species in Germany. But the Kentish Plover was sheltering its young under its body, and the Little Ringed Plover was incubating an egg — right in the middle of downtown Madrid! So seeing this beautiful (though common) European species was a special treat.

Austria 214

Austria Spain 2019 Germany 214

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

And, I started daydreaming about encountering something a little different, maybe a Horned Frog, Ceratophrys cornuta, a large, squat green and brown frog of South America, with a wide mouth large enough to eat other frogs as well as reptiles. A book about all the frogs and toads of the world is an ambitious undertaking.

Reptiles 238

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 238

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2015

This results in all eggs and chicks being taken by the water and a failed nesting attempt. During the wet or flooded season most Amazonian shorebirds congregates on the eastern coast of South America in coastal mangroves, estuaries, coastal lagoons, river mouths, and even rice fields.

South America 189

South America Fish Breeding Eggs 189

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2016

Shrikes by the numbers: The family Laniidae is composed of 31 species of shrike, around the globe. The most common species here in North America is the Loggerhead Shrike , Laniidae ludovicianus which has 11 subspecies. Each nesting pair will have 4-8 eggs, and there is some reference to location being a factor on that quantity.

Butcher 169

Butcher North America Birds Mexico 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

For ornithologists, it is the documentation of a multi-year project designed to record the distribution and abundance of birds in a specific area (in North America, usually a state or a province), utilizing a mapping method involving blocks and grids. You can see the Species Account for Henslow’s Sparrow above, in the banner photo.

Pennsylvania 258

Pennsylvania Breeding Sparrows Birds 258

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

Cliff Swallows migrate to North America from their wintering grounds in South America to nest in large colonies, sometimes numbering in the thousands. It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit.

San Diego 165

San Diego illegal California South America 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2013

The White-headed Woodpecker is a non-migratory bird found in mixed coniferous forests dominated by pine trees in far western North America. Yah, another western species. White-headed Woodpeckers usually lay 4 to 5 eggs in a clutch and we’ve seen at least three different nestlings here now. White-headed Woodpecker Male.

Woodpeckers 154

Woodpeckers North America America Eggs 154

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology. 266-67).

Dissection 264

Dissection Birds Europe Eggs 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. The African Spoonbill is one of the six global spoonbill species, and the main African one (there are also some Eurasian Spoonbills in Africa).

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Eggs Africa 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

This happened to me recently on a birding trip, with somewhat egg-on-the-face results. We were driving up to northwestern Michigan from our homes in Ohio (me) and West ByGod Virginia (Geoff) in search of a bird species that would be a lifer for both of us: the Bohemian Waxwing. I was on a birding quest trip with my friend Geoff Heeter.

2011 244

2011 Michigan Birds Ohio 244

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2015

Western Bluebirds ( Sialia mexicana ) like the male shown above, as well as Eastern Bluebirds ( Sialis sialis ) and Mountain Bluebirds ( Sialis currucoides ) have all benefited from 90 years of nest boxes and bluebird trails, monitored by thousands of bluebird enthusiasts across North America.

Tenant 167

Tenant Farming Illinois North America 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

The island contains 80,000 breeding Sooty Terns, in addition to 4,500 breeding Brown Noddies and another 100 breeding pairs of the huge Magnificent Frigatebirds, not to mention pelicans, herons, Black Skimmers , other tern species, and so much more. Sooty Terns are incredibly birds. Trips bird banding dry tortugas Florida'

Florida 234

Florida Birds Groups Breeding 234

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The section South Georgia Wildlife describes 65 species of birds, 20 species of sea mammals, nearly 60 species of insects, and more than 40 species of flowering and nonflowering plants. They breed in dense colonies, incubate their single egg on the feet, and take more than a year to fledge a chick.

Georgia 194

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 194

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2011

July, as all northern hemisphere birders appreciate, is the month when the egg timer flips and everything starts pouring back out again in a steady stream south. Recently local birder Steve Holliday spent some time collating all the local information on ringing reports for this species with some interesting results.

Poland 157

Poland 2009 France Europe 157