10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

I only had a few days in California while visiting my brother at Berkeley, but we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to visit one of the most famous birding sites in the country: Point Reyes National Seashore. Add those life mammals to the life birds I already expected to see, and I was practically vibrating with excitement.

Seals 228

Seals Elephants Whales Whaling 228

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

You should know by now that there are a good number of birds that spend an appreciable amount of time underwater. And then there are the crazy-awesome Dippers and one should not forget the great diving birds like Gannets and Albatrosses. See, with a little bit of imagination, even a scuba diver can find birds all over the place.

Sharks 235

Sharks Thailand Dolphins Whales 235

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

This place is such an epic birding location that one cannot possibly do the city and its surrounds justice in one post. These birds, and their closely-related counterparts, the Drakensberg Rockjumper, constantly find themselves on the most-wanted list of pretty much every visiting birder. And rightly so. But by George is it worth it!

South Africa 257

South Africa Penguins Africa Birds 257

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

There is a fantastic paper just out in Science : “Sustained miniaturization and anatomoical innovation in the dinosaurian anceestors of birds” by Michael Lee, Andrea Cau, Darren Naishe and Gareth Dyke. Whales are cows. The point is, of course, that whales are not cows. You should have said whales. But birds are dinosaurs.

Camels 230

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 230

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

All of these titles deal with birding in specific North American geographic areas: The Atlantic coast, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The photos show the forms of the bird seen on the east coast and are annotated with notes on plumage and other distinguishing field marks. It’s time for some short book reviews. Well, short for me.

Pennsylvania 189

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 189

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The descriptions of the territory’s birds, seals, whales, introduced mammals, invertebrates, and plants are written within the framework of the conversationist, so it is more than a field guide, it is a record of endangered wildlife and the efforts being made to protect it. Who can resist penguins and whales?

Georgia 182

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 182

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2013

Today we take a brief reprieve from birder commentary to talk actual birds, specifically those of Santa Cruz Island, where my lowly-esteemed colleague Seagull Steve is currently doing field work on some of the nearshore seabirds there. The fundamental question is, where is it? is concerned.

California 200

California Sea Lions Whales Whaling 200

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

I was lucky to visit India several times, but as a keen birder I carried along only a bird book, and even upgraded it to a new edition between the trips. Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales.

Mammals 211

Mammals Asia Sri Lanka Bhutan 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2024

By Fitzroy Rampersad Fitzroy or Fitz as he is fondly called began observing and photographing birds when the COVID-19 Pandemic forced border closures around the world including Trinidad & Tobago where he was vacationing at the time. For many birders, the quest to spot a specific bird can become an obsession.

Trinidad 241

Trinidad Costa Rica Panama Whales 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2012

As pigeons go it is very large, measuring up to 50 cm, and it is one of two species of pigeon endemic to New Zealand. Unlike the rare Parea the Kereru is a relatively common species as does particularly well around Wellington, where they are often seen flying round in search of fruit and leaves.

New Zealand 205

New Zealand Whales Whaling Collecting 205

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2014

As New Zealand’s beat writer I think I’ve done an okay job of discussing the birding of an entirely different island for most of the year, so it’s only fair that I keep that winning streak going by talking about my target for the trip. It’s a species that has bedeviled and bewitched me over the years.

Sharks 201

Sharks Leopards Snow Leopard Whales 201

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. Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family.

Africa 250

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 250

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

A lot of folks, including this very blog, are using this as an occasion to memorialize not just the Passenger Pigeon but the extinct birds of the Holocene as a group. A species, wiped off the earth, never to exist again. Good, I say. This got me wondering, what was the centennial of the last Great Auk like? Then the 80s happened.

California Condor 239

California Condor Guam Whales Whaling 239

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2013

Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. After taking an ornithology course last year, he was hooked and spends most of his free time birding or reading birding blogs. Of course, birding was on the itinerary!

Iceland 232

Iceland Puffins Europe Birds 232

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

– Birds are indeed dinosaurs, yet, are indubitably not. Knowledge is knowing that a bird is a dinosaur. For example, “the Ungulata include hooved animals with multi-chambered stomachs, except the whales.”. The second feature, which emerged from the first, is that no three (or more) organisms can share an ancestral node.

Monkeys 177

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 177

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2016

The Ross Sea is the most productive stretch of water in the Southern Ocean, teeming with large predatory fish, whales, seals, penguins and other animals that form the last intact marine ecosystem on Earth. There are 11 species of birds that breed in the Ross Sea region. Enough History – Back to the Future. And the Mammals.

Russia 189

Russia Penguins Whales Whaling 189

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2019

Presuming that you want to bird Costa Rica, you would book a southbound flight (from N. Reachable by direct flights from Portugal, the island country of Sao Tome and Principe lying in the Gulf of Guinea, in the armpit of Africa, has about 140 bird species and 28 endemics – more endemics per square mile than anywhere else on Earth.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Sri Lanka Rwanda Papua New Guinea 203

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

And besides, it’s nice to see something that isn’t the same 12 (now 13) species of seabird (plus Molly Meep Meep, a Black Brant ) There may not be as many as in October, but they are there, and they can be cool. And there aren’t just cool birds rocking up, migratory bats do too. A Humpback Whale. A Hoary Bat.

Whales 157

Whales Whaling Sharks Bats 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2013

Our time on the island was spent looking at birds, exploring, picnicking, throwing rocks in the water, and admiring a very cooperative Santa Cruz Island Fox. Then the birds showed. Sooty Shearwaters and a Western Gull fly back the aftermath of a Humpback Whale breaching. Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae.

Whales 153

Whales Whaling Dolphins California 153

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!) Offshore Sea Life ID Guide: West Coast is designed to be a quick, handy resource for use on whale watching and one-day pelagic trips. That’s 22 Marine Mammal species and 43 Seabirds.

Dolphins 162

Dolphins Porpoises Whales Whaling 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2013

The birdlife in the Cape is nothing short of spectacular, with a healthy dose of charismatic endemic species. Over 40 species of South African endemics can be found in the Cape – Cape Sugarbirds, Cape Rockjumpers, Orange-breasted Sunbirds to name but a few. A pair of birds nested at Boulders Beach for the first time.

Penguins 248

Penguins South Africa Sharks Leopards 248

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2024

On the other hand, their white color and their considerable size made me see them as somewhat arrogant birds – the white Golf convertible of the bird world. And now we get to the part of the post in which I briefly and unscientifically mention a few research papers on the species to have a reason to post a few more of my photos.

China 246

China Iceland Whaling Whales 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

The number of individual birds and mammals alone that are affected by these factors are countless; and when you consider fish, reptiles and amphibians, it is hard to comprehend the magnitude of life that gets wiped out around the world (and certainly including the U.S.) There is nothing abstract or controversial about this.

Animal Rights Movement 252

Animal Rights Movement Animal Rights Wildlife Rights 252

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2011

Before my trip to Washington the only species of puffin I had ever seen in the wild was the puffin of the Atlantic Ocean, the appropriately named Atlantic Puffin. The first obstacle was getting to the general range of the species, which is the west coast from northern California to Alaska and across to Russia.* I love puffins.

Washington 195

Washington Protection Puffins Rhinoceros 195

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Whereas much pelagic birding involves arduous trips out to continental shelves with nothing but gulls on the way, you pretty much start hitting albatrosses a few minutes out of the little harbour and they keep coming for the duration of the trip. This lovely bird is Westland Petrel. The secret to Kaikoura’s bounty is twofold.

Albatross 213

Albatross New Zealand Dolphins Whales 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

I bring this up not to boast (well, not much) but because I think that this approach to wildlife travel is somewhat neglected in birding circles. Read most accounts of how birders see birds outside their patch and one way or another, they’re tourists. Nothing forms bonds like rolling around in bird…uh… waste.

Uganda 171

Uganda Sharks New Zealand Africa 171

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

I like pelagic birding. Being on a boat surrounded by the endless blue of the ocean is a wonderful experience, especially when the waves aren’t too high, the sun isn’t too bright, and the birds are showing. The other pelagic bird that we saw in numbers on the chum slick we created was Wilson’s Storm-Petrel.

Whales 177

Whales Whaling Dolphins New York 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2012

Birding has been an all-consuming interest for Patrick Cardwell since boyhood days spent in a wildlife-rich environment. In this epic post, Patrick depicts just how dynamic the pelagic birding is off Cape Point in South Africa.

Albatross 221

Albatross Penguins Dolphins Whaling 221

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Because, let’s face it, when you get off that plane and look at those severe volcanic landscapes and then find yourself face to face with one of the islands’ four mockingbird species, you’re not going to think, “Oh, look, lava and a mockingbird.” There are changes in where to find the birds.

2006 278

2006 Tortoises Sea Lions Porpoises 278

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

I am shocked to be writing this post already, and doubly shocked that I’ve seen six new species for Queens since I guessed what my next five Queens birds would be just eight months ago, back in March. It’s been a good year for birding in Queens! Fortunately, there are birds to help. I’ll make it three!

New York City 162

New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

This, I am told, is seawatching , a birding activity in which one stands in one place, sometimes for hours, and watches for birds of the sea and lake and river. It is acceptable to point out other sea creatures–dolphins or whales or dragonflies–but the main goal is the observation and identification of the birds.

Ducks 247

Ducks Groups North America North Dakota 247

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2013

I will never tire of banging Kaikoura’s drum as the best place in the world to see albatrosses, and since albatrosses are the among the best birds in the world it amazes me that none of you have made it out here yet (actually, some of you have, per some of the comments, but Corey hasn’t). As you can see the birds are really close!

Albatross 174

Albatross New Zealand Fur Seals 174

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

The birds that wear tuxedos and star in major motion pictures. People call them “flightless birds&# but they do in fact fly; They just do it underwater. The evolution of the living penguins is one of the best known cases among birds, or even vertebrates in general, mainly through the study of DNA, bio-geography, and anatomy.

Penguins 228

Penguins Seals Peru Leopards 228

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2019

I was poking around my eBird checklists recently and came across one from one of my more intriguing days birding. Like many birders, I’ve had “patches” where I routinely go birding. Patch birding is rewarding because the birds become familiar, as do the changes across the seasons. There is satisfaction in the everyday.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco Portland Whales Whaling 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

In fact, the last one was back on 15 May 2012 when my Queens list stood at 289 and I guessed what my next eleven birds would be that would get me to 300. Now my Queens list stands at a whopping 302, which means I have actually added thirteen species since my last predictions. This was a pair of relatively uncooperative birds at St.

2012 160

2012 New York City Jamaica 2013 160

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Happy birding, Dale Forbes Tags: accentors , Alpine Accentor , Birds , features , polygynandry • Have you seen the cool 10,000 Birds t-shirts? While studying, he also worked on various conservation/research projects (parrots, wagtails, vultures, and anything else that flew) and ringed thousands of birds.

2011 235

2011 Breeders Deer Breeding 235

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2017

North America is aflame with eclipse fever right now, which provides yet another opportunity to wonder what life would be like if the average citizen felt a fraction as much passion for birding as is devoted to countless sports, media, celebrities, fashion, or even the rare astronomical phenomenon. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2017 100

2017 Whales Whaling North America 100