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.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2020

North America is home to many amazing bird species, including several which require a special effort to see and appreciate. In the summer, they are the highest altitude breeding songbird in North America. South Texas Birding & Nature. So let’s look at this sampler, shall we?

America 263

America Arizona North America United States 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2021

The adult males sport that look; a bird created with crayons and an imaginative mind. The female isn’t quite so unreal but is still a cool little bird in her own right. She also makes a mark with her small size, one of the smallest birds in Costa Rica. A Garden Planted for Birds.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica San Jose Birds Farming 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Now, it is much easier for me to achieve first-time sightings of species in Europe than it is in Mexico, at this point of the game. So I might have assumed I would not see new species in the Palmones wetlands. The first gave me eight new species for Spain, of which four were lifers. But this time, I could.

Spain 178

Spain Mexico Europe North America 178

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

Birders head to Costa Rica to see stunners like Resplendent Quetzal , Three-wattled Bellbird , Orange-collared Manakin , fancy hummingbirds , tanagers, and literally hundreds of other birds. These and several other species might end up being armchair ticks if and when we take a closer look at their evolutionary history.

Costa Rica 211

Costa Rica Species South America America 211

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2022

Thank you, goddess of birding luck and text group people).* My inner self felt stuck in an area between disbelief and total joy and the voices near me were echoing this state of mind: “Oh My God,” “I never thought I would see this bird,” “Look at that bill!” “How did that bird get here?”

Birds 259

Birds Compassion Eagles Science 259

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 254

New York City Birds Illinois Science 254

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2021

The survey was commissioned by National Flyway Council (NFC), which implements the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP), which, in turn, aims to maintain abundant waterfowl populations in North America. The vast majority watched birds at home (99%), fed birds at home (90%), and watched birds away from home (98%).

Minnesota 264

Minnesota Research Pennsylvania Ohio 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. There are large avian handbooks and small ‘how-to bird’ guides, and quite a few excellent books of both types have been published.

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

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

MAY 26, 2013

Many of us are still enjoying the final weekend of May, so let’s cut to the chase and talk about our best birds. My best bird this weekend was an Eastern Wood-Pewee calling from a bare branch. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend' How about you?

2013 176

2013 North America Birds Eggs 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2018

Angela Minor has lived, traveled, and birded from the southern U.S. As a freelance travel writer, she authors the state park birding series at Bird Watcher’s Digest, writes for several travel publications including Blue Ridge Country, Smoky Mountain Living, World of Cruising, and serves as a field editor for Birds & Blooms.

Texas 175

Texas North America Alaska America 175

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

They also remind me why I love birding in Michoacán. I would love to know how the order spread across these regions, since that spread must have involved either crossing oceans or the frigid regions that these birds avoid. Honesty requires that I confess to having seen none of these species. Those are good numbers.

Mexico 182

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 182

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In September, I had the fantastic opportunity to travel to an increasingly popular destination for birding: Honduras. Chris Lotz, the owner of the international bird tour company Birding Ecotours , invited me to join him on a familiarization trip that included several highland sites as well as Pico Bonito Lodge.

Honduras 214

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 214

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

If you like birds on posts, if seeing “little brown jobs” posing nicely in the distance as you drive or walk along a dirt road only to have it fly away as you approach makes you deliriously happy, then North Dakota is the place for you. I wanted to see prairie birds and I wanted to experience a new state.

North Dakota 138

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 138

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

So what does climate change mean for birds? Though all birds will be somehow impacted by climate change, I think it is important to note that not all will suffer. As deserts expand, birds suited to arid climates may be just fine. That said, there are many species we should be extremely concerned about.

North America 215

North America Birds Suffering California 215

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. There are many dusty side roads in this area, many of which offer productive birding.

Mexico 191

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 191

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

Something has always puzzled me in my years working in the bird feeding industry: why don’t we offer more fresh fruit to birds in our yards? Heck you can even find mixes with heavy fruit flavoring…but why don’t we offer fresh fruit scraps to birds on tray feeders instead? Is it a convenience issue?

Nigeria 247

Nigeria Birds Belize South America 247

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

New Year’s resolutions from birding friends are starting to trickle in as I write this review. It is the last day of 2015, time to select the bird of the year past and set goals for the bright open future, when everything is new again. The process is called “Wide-angle birding: Be the bird, see the bird.”.

Birds 190

Birds Groups 2015 North America 190

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Birding for the Curious: The Easiest Way for Anyone to Explore the Incredible World of Birds by Nate Swick brings birding back to its roots—a simple, joyous way to enjoy nature using our eyes, ears, hands (for sketching), and brain. There are now no excuses except a lack of curiosity. And, nobody wants to admit that.

Birds 263

Birds North Carolina North America Owls 263

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2015

I started birding in what must have been 1978. Each new bird has been and still is a major personal achievement, another goal made, and always cause for unquestionable personal celebration. That’s how important the lifer experience is and I suspect most other birders who started out young feel the same.

Costa Rica 150

Costa Rica Birds Pennsylvania North America 150

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. We’ve traveled to lots of places, seen lots of great birds, and met lots of great birders. So, as we’ve done for the last several years we thought we would share our Best Birds of the Year with you. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours?

2014 188

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2012

There are probably more identification guides about raptors than there are for any other bird group. But, before Jerry Liguori’s wonderful photographic guides of Hawks at a Distance (2011) and Hawks from Every Angle (2005) and before Clark and Wheeler’s classic Field Guide to Hawks of North America (2nd ed.,

North America 222

North America Bald Eagle Birds Eagles 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

But they don’t live in North America. I new him because we enlisted his Dryfus Lion and one of his tigers to carry out experiments with bones (this is something archaeologists do). I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. Unless we put them there.

Feral Cats 255

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 255

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

Happy Second Day of the New Year, 10,000 Birds friends! I came late to bird feeding. Jim Carpenter is the founder of Wild Birds Unlimited, the popular bird feeder and seed franchise. There is a lot of information out there about feeding birds—web pages, pamphlets from bird feed retail stores and Audubon centers.

Birds 173

Birds New York City Squirrels New York 173

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2020

How long does the bird stay aloft, and how many dives does he do? Other “ Explores” are directed at the soft, amorphous practice-singing of young, first-year songbirds ( Explore 24, in Chapter 4, “How a Bird Gets Its Song”) and the specific differences between warbler dawn and day songs ( Explore 52, in Chapter 7, “When to Sing, and How”).

Virginia 242

Virginia Boston North America 2020 242

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Newly surrounded by wildlife, he found his love of birds reignited. A professional hawkwatcher for many seasons, his passion and knowledge saw him invited to join the board of the Hawk Migration Association of North America in 2013. This is Luke’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. Great birds. Sociability.

Bald Eagle 238

Bald Eagle Los Angeles Connecticut Eagles 238

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2020

Every year along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from June to November, experienced birders anticipate the exciting possibility of finding rare, tempest-tossed seabirds blown in from the tropics far north of their usual range. So, while I missed out on any Isaias rarities, this week’s featured beer offers some consolation.

India 167

India Squirrels North America America 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2012

Neither of us had ever seen any species of hedgehog and it is no wonder that we were both surprised and excited to see such a cool little creature. There are seventeen species of hedgehog found across Europe, Asia, and Africa, the only places where hedgehogs are native. Fine, my best bird was a White-backed Woodpecker , alright? …

Hedgehogs 169

Hedgehogs Hungary Opossums North America 169

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2023

I recently asked ChatGPT some questions about the best birding locations in the United States and the results were decidedly mixed. Here are the queries and the ChatGPT responses are below: What is birding? What is a “nemesis bird” in birding? What is a “big year” in birding?

United States 147

United States North America Birds America 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Twitching is a British term used to mean “the pursuit of a previously located rare bird.” ” In North America it is more often called chasing, though the British usage is starting to catch on there, especially among younger birders 1. Basically, I never had the time to chase birds. This was a no-brainer.

California 100

California North America Wildlife Campaign 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

British birders are very serious about birding and their birds. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S.

Ireland 143

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 143

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. For birders, it’s the extremely large book, shelved in a place where it can’t crush the field guides, used to research the history of a bird in their area. It included surveys of nocturnal and marsh birds, and a point count survey of songbirds.

Pennsylvania 228

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 228

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2014

Violet-green Swallows will nest solitarily or in colonies and in my experience seem much more mellow than other swallow species. These elegant birds nest in cavities of various sites, including trees, cliffs, and nesting boxes. You can also see the bird’s leftt wing sticking out.

Eggs 163

Eggs North America 2007 Woodpeckers 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2015

From the 1913 USDA Farmers Bulletin #513, Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard: “The bluebird is one of the most familiar tenants of the farm and dooryard. For rent the bird pays amply by destroying insects, and takes no toll from the farms crop. ” Nest Boxes (Bird Houses) from 1912. It was in 1926 that Thomas E.

Tenant 161

Tenant Farming Illinois North America 161

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2015

Birds of California , the new volume in the ABA series, arrived the day I returned. Every bird book seems to be about the west coast this month!) With the boat speed what it was, and being the only birder on board, to stop watching meant I might miss an interesting bird. That’s 22 Marine Mammal species and 43 Seabirds.

Dolphins 162

Dolphins Whales Whaling Porpoises 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

I haven’t yet been birding in Europe but whenever I occasionally skim a field guide about the birds on the other side of the Atlantic, I’m always encouraged to find that I’m already familiar with many species found over there, even though most of my birding experience has been limited to eastern North America.

2017 117

2017 Portugal Rabbits Europe 117