10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2024

As a little child, I´ve always liked watching birds fly around and imagined, what it would be like flying around on my own whenever I feel like it and not having to sit in an airplane full of nice people. The only reason for it being in fifth place is the unpleasant noise this bird tends to make, which greatly differs from its appearance.

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Birds Owls Hunting Germany 229

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2014

In Australia we definitely have our fair share of invasive species and the main problem is that we are such a huge land mass with such a small population. The population of Australia is concentrated mainly around the city areas along the coast and many invasive species have been able to spread with ease.

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Australia Species Feral Cats Feral 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2011

Bald Eagle image is by Francois Portmann and is used with permission You know, I’ve been thinking about this whole dustup over hunting cranes in Tennessee and now Kentucky. I think it’s time to hunt Sandhill Cranes. We’ve always hunted Bald Eagles. There was a lot of hunting for Bald Eagles—it is traditionally a game species.

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Bald Eagle Eagles Hunting Kentucky 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

In Belgrade, Serbia, winter months offer surprisingly good birding possibilities. And that harsher, mountainous climate attracts some northern guests to overwinter, as well as birds that come down from Serbian mountains to spend the winter in somewhat lower and more hospitable areas, such as Avala. Photo Snezana Panjkovic.

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Serbia Woodpeckers Ducks Birds 306

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2024

While I have visited a few birding sites around the Netherlands during the course of my Bachelor studies, I did not go birding a lot around the city where I lived, Maastricht. On the bird recording site Waarneming, I saw that a Great Northern Diver ( Common Loon ) was found on a lake just south of the city.

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Netherlands Birds Ducks Hunting 245

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, offers several great birding spots and here are some recommendations for areas to go birding in and around the city, how to get there by public transport, and some of the bird species you might expect to see. To get there, take the bus line 56 to the “Cukarica” stop.

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Transported Woodpeckers Serbia Birds 277

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2012

What this land-locked country lacks in endemic birds it more than makes up for in accessibility of tough species, numbers of birds and the overall wildlife experience. It is also home to the largest concentration of African Elephants on the planet and over 450 bird species. We are currently filming in Botswana.

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Botswana Lions Zebras Elephants 235

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Not all birds are created equal. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. Central Africa has one of those birds.

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Uganda Africa Penguins 2019 293

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

Usually, it’s “Bird eating fish” but here we have a case of a “Bird-eating fish.” It has also found its way to Japan where it is considered to be an invasive species. So, the modal catfish is a fish that hunts from below, can take large prey, and occasionally eats a bird.

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Fish Whales Whaling France 227

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2015

Ten years ago, those flocks were reduced to a few hundred birds. Nowadays, the flocks are even smaller, merely a few dozen birds. As we speak, in Serbia these birds are still hunted in August and September. Since this spring’s revision of the European Red List, the Turtle Dove is listed as a vulnerable species.

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Serbia Slaughter Slaughtered Turtles 270

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2023

Perhaps a little more shock-inducing and paradoxical than concepts of birding at sewage ponds or graveyards, an oil refinery seems to be the antithesis of a desirable place for a birder. From Yellow-hooded Blackbirds to Purple and Common Gallinules , there are almost too many birds to focus on!

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Trinidad Birds Ducks Fish 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

(This photo is actually of a TK seen a few days later, but it was at our favorite birding gas station pit stop that we also stopped at on our first day. Excellent 10,000 Birds posts have been written about Pico Bonito and Honduras by Corey and Carlos , so I’m going to focus on some of my most memorable experiences.

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Honduras Birds Costa Rica South Africa 262

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

This is a bird that flew over 3,400 miles in one flight from Brazil to South Carolina, an amazing bird that is representative of every other Whimbrel. Look at the amazing journeys that this bird had made and then say that it wasn’t a disgusting act to shoot such an astounding and amazing creature.

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Hunters Barbados South Carolina Hunting 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2022

The only bird-related activity I can think of is looking at bird photos I took in Singapore in 2015, and adding some irrelevant comments to them. Presumably, birds living in Singapore do not understand German. Lesser Whistling Ducks are “not threatened by hunting as they are not considered good to eat” ( Wikipedia ).

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Singapore Birds Zebras Feral 255

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. Gray-necked or Red-headed Picathartes in Korup National Park, Cameroon.

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Sierra Leone Ghana Equatorial Guinea Cameroon 274

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

This was actually the place where the late Richard ffrench spent much of his time as a music teacher, amassing countless observations of birds that would later form the basis of one of the essential birding guides for Trinidad and Tobago. The subtle white edging to the gape of this bird indicates it is near breeding time.

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Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 243

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2023

On the slow crawl into the farm, the first sighting was a small group of Green Ibis – a new species for me. Endemic to the Guianan shield, this species has captivated me since I first laid eyes on a photograph of it. The Point-tailed Palmcreeper is a strange bird in all senses. I had never before seen a Limpkin do this.

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Farming Guyana Birds South America 244

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2011

As you’ll remember, Kentucky’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources unanimously passed its sandhill crane hunting proposal. The public comment period on the Kentucky sandhill crane hunting proposal ends AUGUST 1 2011. Here are six top reasons to protest this hunt. Why put additional pressure on a recovering species?

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Kentucky Protest Protesting Protesters 260

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 251

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2024

All birds have value. Let’s face it, some birds are more popular than others. There are bird species with the power of personality and feathered friends with super migratory prowess. In a lot of places, this backyard beauty is the most popular bird on the block! Just take a look at a Northern Cardinal.

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Costa Rica Birds Parrots New York 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2020

One of the many things I did not know about Delhi is that it is the capital city with the second-largest number of bird species (after Nairobi). So when I went there for work last year, I added three days of birding to the trip. Not the most exciting bird in the world, I guess, but still worth showing in a democracy.

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Cattle India Sanctuary Birds 241

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

It feels good to start a post with some truly attractive birds – such as two species of broadbills. If you like cute birds, you will probably like the Black-and-yellow Broadbill. Homework assignment: Is the bird in this video a male or a female? Strangely, there do not seem to be many papers on this species.

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Sri Lanka Taiwan Birds Cats 242

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2017

They often don’t think of birds at all, but of the infamous summer-camp prank in which a newbie is left in the dark with a bag and a flashlight far from camp. Real snipe hunting, for those that partake of such practices, is a daytime activity that involves guns and being able to track the birds’ rapid flight from cover.

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Hunting India 2002 Hunters 121

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2022

How high is birding on your list of activities – is it the very first or merely one of? These are the types I recognise: Coffee Break Birding – 10-15 minutes, usually not planned ahead but squeezed out of your schedule. It is a good option if you know that there is that one special bird. My kind of birding.

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India Africa Birds Laws 270

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

What could motivate gunmen (I cannot call them hunters) in two states to deliberately kill North America’s tallest and most critically endangered bird? It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death. More states will doubtless join the queue of those proposing hunts. Do all hunters realize that?

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2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2024

Given that according to the HBW, the species prefers dense primary and secondary montane forests, the note that the bird also forages among kitchen waste (in the same HBW entry) seems somewhat incongruous. Fish & Wildlife Service has a web page for this species – but it contains absolutely no information.

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Burma India Indonesia Thailand 236

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2023

Sukau birding essentially means staying in a more-or-less comfortable lodge on the banks of the Kinatabagan river, and taking boat tours on more-or-less rickety boats on the river. This is how it looks like: Or at sunset: A species I did not come for from Shanghai is the Black-crowned Night Heron. Different perspectives.

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Birds Elephants Eagles Rhinoceros 243

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2019

These reports (called “ Banking on Nature “) are relevant to birders because they are among the few comprehensive analyses that relate to the economic impact of birders on national wildlife refuges, which are among the more popular birding locations. A number of these NWRs appear on my list of the Top 25 NWRs for Birding.).

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Wildlife Maryland San Francisco Minnesota 273

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Have you ever birded a place so young that birds still have no names ? … – part 2 – Once I finish this writing, with a strange mix of emotions I will put the Lynx field guide Birds of Colombia to the bookshelf for the first time, more than half a year after I received it. He had his Zeiss glasses in his hand. ‘I

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Dolphins Colombia Otters Monkeys 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2014

The subject was not hunting; it was contest killing. Contest killing – where individuals or teams gun down as many of a single species as they can within a specific time period, with prizes going to the winner(s) – is legal all over the country. As a group, yes, we are anti-hunting,” she said. It will never happen.

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Killing Hunting Possums Hunters 260

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2022

It may seem like an unnecessarily recurring theme in my posts about birding within Trinidad & Tobago, but the more I write on the subject the more it becomes apparent that the number three must have some significance, somewhere. Its inaccessibility has led to it not being birded often. Broad-winged Hawk. Slowly, we continued.

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Trinidad Tigers Birds Monkeys 263

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2012

One of the defining characteristics of birds, besides the obvious features of wings and feathers, is their bills. From toucans to curlews and from hummingbirds to flamingos, birds display an almost otherworldly diversity in these body-parts. Bills are instrumental in defining three of the senses in birds – taste, touch and smell.

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Mammals Mozambique Birds Colombia 245

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

When looking for birds in Costa Rica, the Central Valley isn’t the first place that comes to mind. Tongues and patches of green space host birds but most birders leave as soon as they can. Why linger when you can go where the birding is better? I can’t blame them, I would too.

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Costa Rica Sparrows Rodents Rats 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2014

I am not anti-hunting. The “Crow Down” is a “hunting contest” where both adults and children slaughter as many crows as they possibly can in two days. Obviously killing contests have nothing to do with traditional hunting, and “animal abuse” is normally used when describing domestic animals.

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Killing Animal Abuse Slaughter Slaughtered 272

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The number of people who hunt waterfowl in the US has declined since the mid 1990s. Eventually, the pigeons, as it were, may come home to roost and the waterfowl and other wildlife, as well as hunters and bird watchers, will be sitting ducks. And, of course, bird watchers are in a sense free-loading on the duck stamps as well.

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Ducks Hunters Hunting Wildlife 243

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

In front of us, the river is two miles wide… and it is paved with birds: smaller groups of Greater White-fronted and Greylag Geese , numerous Mute Swans and Mallards , plus Eurasian Teals , Gadwalls , Common Pochards , a few Ferruginous and Tufted Ducks , Common Goldeneyes and several Smews. A goose hunt sounds like a WWII battle.

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Geese Boars Hunting Serbia 189

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

My family took our annual post-Easter Egg hunt hike at Powder Mills Park, where I spied several gorgeous matched pairs of Wood Ducks along with lots of different woodpecker species. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

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2012 Eggs Hunting Woodpeckers 210