10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. That’s what makes us such good company: No birds to be seen at the moment?

New Jersey 246

New Jersey Guatemala France Birds 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2014

Birding in the Amazon Rainforest has its pros and cons. However, rainforest birds live in specific microhabitats and are often much easier to hear than to see in the dense multilayered rainforest. This Birding Rally’s competitors were companies that specialize in birding and nature tours.

Peru 219

Peru United Kingdom Birds South Africa 219

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

Some birders like to see just birds, while others like birds, but don’t mind stopping or even taking detours to see other creatures along the trail. I like to see birds for a long time and hear their vocalization; even if these are common species. Elliott’s and Possibly a Markham’s Storm-petrels (bird on the left).

Peru 221

Peru Birds Albatross Experiments 221

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2020

My business trip to Florida to host the Tests and the Rest Winter Conference 2020 was more than just a professional success. January in Florida always delivers on tasty birds. Corey was so bummed about having to lead an Owl Prowl in an area with no owls that he decided there were no good birds this weekend. How about you?

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2020 Florida Ducks Owls 194

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2012

Summer birding gets a bad rap, especially around here, but July offers one highlight. As soon as the test began, so did the monotonous cheeping. My conjecture was confirmed three hours into the test when that streaky little bugger hopped out into the open. I blame Baby Bird Week. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2012 162

2012 Sparrows Birds Experiments 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2015

As a result, some of the most popular and exciting birding destinations in the world run on Tico time. Having visited quite a few outstanding ecolodges in my blessed life, I’ve learned that exceptional birding destinations must first and foremost harbor exceptional, accessible birds. A handsome Crimson-collared Tanager.

Costa Rica 250

Costa Rica Birds Farming 2014 250

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

When I saw the NL Pure in a webinar for the first time, immediately – before the webinar ended, I asked my Swarovski sales rep for a pair to test. I kept them in my backpack until yesterday, didn’t want to hold them, to get any impressions… I wanted to test them as a tabula rasa (a clean slate). And today I did.

Chile 306

Chile Argentina Serbia Raised 306

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2013

I was reading Carrie’s post last month and got to thinking about car birding in general. Personally, I am a big fan of car birding, despite the necessary fossil fuel burning that is involved. For many birders, the thought of car birding is as natural as using a field guide. You will see more birds.

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LACS North Dakota Costa Rica Idaho 137

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2012

Photography is a great tool to improve bird ID accuracy as explored in my previous post Photography and Birding. My experience is only with Canon equipment which I have used for five years, of course there is also Nikon and others but these will not be considered here. macro of $1474. The weight of the kit is 0.3

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Birds Experiments Experience Protection 182

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2012

Knowledge is more likely to be shared via shared experience than the exchange of data, though both happen. But early in the process of learning about the Efe I made a foray into the literature available in the 1980s of orientation and navigation, and this included the literature on birds.

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Compassion Research Cooking Transported 246

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

You may have read my recent piece on Birding the Okavango Delta in Botswana here on 10,000 Birds. If you have never thought of India as a birding destination, I’d urge you to give it a good look. Babita Tours has many years of experience organizing tailor-made wildlife tours for private groups in this wonderful country.

India 238

India Wildlife Tigers Rhinoceros 238

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Seriously though, we were walking our dog at the local park when out of the blue she said (and she is not into birding at all) “ You know what would be great. Imagine looking at birds through that.” There were rumours of cameras, some devices for bird ID, etc. Like binoculars have but with further reach. and Aaaah’s!

Serbia 246

Serbia Austria Elephants Ducks 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

In 2007 I was working in a university building that was just begging for bird feeders. This was where I set up my bird feeders, just one at first, then expanding as everyone expressed delight in seeing the Carolina Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Downy Woodpeckers. There were no dead birds for weeks. I hoped it was an anomaly.

New York City 264

New York City Illinois Science Killing 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

You know how you plan your regular Monday birding outing in spite of a category 2 hurricane making landfall on the coast, 135 miles away, because the rain bands are supposed to finish impacting your area at around 7:00 a.m.? And then the hurricane stalls, and the rain continues until noon, but you go birding anyway? Which I did.

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Blackbirds Shelters Ducks Mexico 261

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2021

“That bird! That bird, chase it! Shearwaters scattered at our approach and the wind howled in our ears but it couldn’t dampen Wilfredo’s focus, nor his vocal insistence to “follow those birds”! As the prop motor revved and ocean spray flew by, I wondered, “Which birds”?

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Dolphins Sea Turtles Turtles 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

I recently birded the Tualatin River NWR near Portland, Oregon, and made that my test case for a deeper dive into the Mobile Track. The refuge is a popular birding location , and it has 229 species observed and nearly 8,000 checklists submitted.

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Portland Oregon Washington Geese 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

Birds are a subset of dinosaurs (See: Honey, I Shrunk the Dinosaurs. Prior to the extinction of all of the other dinosaurs, resulting from a cosmic impact event about 65 million years ago, the ancestors of modern birds were different from modern birds in many ways, but also similar in many ways. So how did beaks evolve?

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Alligators Chickens Birds Reptiles 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2015

New research suggests that the phenomenon of contagious yawning can also be seen in birds. In one experiment, yawns were observed when birds in neighboring cages could see each other, and again when views of adjacent birds were blocked. Click here to go directly to the study.).

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Mammals New York Science Birds 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. These and other important birding related questions come to mind and during a normal July, I would be personally and actively helping answer them. Which tours saw the most roosting owls?

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Costa Rica Birds Thailand Farming 258

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

This, 2022, has been a curious year for books about birds and birding. Dragan]: Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide , by Hume, Still, Swash, and Harrop is a photographic guide. The artwork of “Europe’s Birds” is dazzling, the text condensed and comprehensive, and the layout and design are without peer.

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Sri Lanka Malaysia Suriname Malawi 262

10,000 Birds

JULY 14, 2022

After testing both Swarovski NL Pure 10×42 and 12×42, I – a self-confessed lover of smallish full-size binoculars, felt the urge to try the latest 32 mm NLs. Although I did test them thoroughly later, I knew from that first sight, this pair was made for me. 10s are a whole new experience compared to 8s.

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Indiana Game Woodpeckers Experiments 230

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. Like the Eurasian Nuthatch.

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Iran Germany Research Humane 225

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2015

Those are the headlines from a study by Nicholas Mason and Scott Taylor , released online in March and covered here on 10,000 Birds and elsewhere at the time. In the meantime, how can we develop a more balanced view of global bird diversity? ” What to do?

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Species Research Humane Birds 266

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2016

Of course it also means that there is only one week left of birding to top up your year list and I am not really expecting to add anything new to my year list over the next week unless the tropical low that is buffeting the north-west of Western Australia throws something our way. It is quintessentially a Christmas bird! Common Snipe.

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2016 Geese Ducks Birds 178

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2015

A literal wild goose chase had led to a cascading series of errors in which I missed nearly every bird I sought. At least I could test them out. Did I have a lovely experience with the birds as well? I was feeling fairly disheartened. My big year, after starting off with an incredible rarity , had fizzled.

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New York City Squirrels Bears Owls 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2012

Hungarian birding guide Attila Steiner shows the typical reaction to looking through a Swarovski ATX First of all, the biggest of the new scopes will boast a 95 mm objective lens. As cool as watching the birds was I also enjoyed watching my fellow birders test out the new optics. But I am getting ahead of myself here.

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Hungary 2013 Game Groups 247

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

One of the most regularly traversed roads for the purpose of birding on the island of Trinidad is the Arima-Blanchisseuse Road. Most folks who have come here for birding have stayed at the Asa Wright Nature Centre (likely reopening later this year – but more on that to come) which is located along this picturesque road.

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Trinidad Squirrels Species Birds 260

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

Moved by an unseasonable bout of optimism, I went owl-chasing this weekend and actually encountered what has been a true nemesis bird for me: Northern Saw-whet Owl ! For Corey, this was a weekend without a single standout species but with many birds that were pretty darn neat. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2011 Deer Owls Birds 133

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

And Flamingos and Hornbills and a Secretarybird and birds with names like Hamerkop and Thick-knee and Eremomela (which I know is a scientific term, but which, when pronounced correctly, reminds me of a Yiddish term of endearment my grandmother used). And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to South Africa.

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South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 255

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

If there is one order of birds that is guaranteed to draw involuntary gasps and odd keening noises, it is the Strigiformes. A recent experience left me upside-down in a drift of pine needles as finding myself face-to-face with a Barred Owl was such a shock that I lost the power of standing. Birds Barred Owl'

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Owls DC Litter Reptiles 188

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2015

We assume natural selection has shaped birds to avoid predators. Noticing predators, reacting to them perhaps with an alarm call, and escaping them, as well as other behaviors, keep the bird alive and thus allow it to reproduce. We would expect, then, that natural selection favors birds that are good at these things.

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Birds Research Pets Hunters 153

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

My best bird of the weekend was a Great Black-backed Gull , a rarity in a land-locked Serbia, with less than 10 observations so far. Alright, it did focused on the weldings of the barge and not the bird, but it was still amazing. (I How to describe the experience in one word? in which way? In every way!

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Greece Battery Serbia India 174

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2014

After wrapping up our time in the highlands of Honduras, Chris Lotz (owner of international bird tour company Birding Ecotours ) and I arrived at the deservedly famous Pico Bonito Lodge. However, for me, there were birds to be seen. Photo by James Adams. For the hardcore birder, Pico Bonito has plenty to offer.

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Honduras Monkeys America Birds 170

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2016

and dreaming of a place where the heat is moderate, beer snake-cold and birds innumerable… Let’s say, where the average annual maximum varies from 22 to 24 degrees Celsius / 72 to 75 Fahrenheit and where some 700+ bird species – 24 of them endemic – are waiting for an intrepid birder… Answer to the riddle?

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Africa Uganda Gorillas Rwanda 169

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2023

As usual, my experience with such boardwalks was somewhat underwhelming, as was Eshowe as a whole, but there were still a few birds worth mentioning at the forest and in the area surrounding Eshowe. There are actually much nicer photos of the Purple-crested Turaco in another blog post of mine, Birding Mkuze.

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South Africa Africa 2018 Birds 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2018

The birding around Lago de Yojoa in Honduras is frankly phenomenal, as I learned during a June 2018 birding junket organized by the Instituto Hondureño de Turismo. Peraza , could not sit still knowing that so many tasty target birds could be found within easy driving distance. EL RANCHO HOTEL Y RESTAURANTE.

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Honduras Birds Farming America 177

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2018

Even notice that hot weekends don’t usually make for hot birding? Though I succeeded in resisting the siren song of shorebirds at the lakeshore, I couldn’t help but pay attention to birds everywhere else I went. What was your best bird of the weekend? Interesting, no? How about you?

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2018 California Birds Experiments 100