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 258

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 258

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2011

Most of the time when we think of birds, we think of the things that make them birds, and not the things that make them dinosaurs. You’ll hear people tell you that birds are dinosaurs, and that is supposed to blow you away and make you go all gaga about birds and evolution. are convenient secondary uses.

Birds 271

Birds Marsupials Primates Whales 271

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 244

Sharks Thailand Dolphins Whales 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2013

The boat-trip over to the island is far from uneventful and the pelagic birding is very rewarding. Northern Humpback Whales visit the waters surrounding Isla Isabel every year to mate and its not unusual to see dozens of these cetaceans breaching and whacking their tales on the ocean surface. If you like boobies (no giggles please!),

Whales 267

Whales Whaling Sharks Marine Life 267

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2014

Is it mere coincidence that Father’s Day falls on such a perfect weekend for birding? Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend isn’t rare, difficult to see, or worthy of such a status by any other typical metric. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend' I think not.

2014 221

2014 Whales Whaling New York 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2013

Dawn breaks over Kaikoura (where Duncan saw Sperm Whales !). Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend ! Birding April weekend' If April showers bring May flowers, what does April sleet bring? Guess I’ll be finding out!

Whales 209

Whales Whaling 2013 Birds 209

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2024

The sea is frothing with Great Cormorant and Herring Gull , with more than 100 birds diving into the water. He gets a good look of the little whales too, but everybody else on the ferry is seemingly unaware of the spectacle. I park the car and walk through a cacophony of bird song to the viewpoint. But where’s the bird?

Sweden 242

Sweden Birds Porpoises Deer 242

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2013

Even the solo birders out there have to appreciate that birding together is often better than birding alone. Corey and I don’t get out in the field together much, since we’ve determined that the ongoing security of 10,000 Birds requires the two of us to live in separate cities. Another new Queens bird for Corey!)

New York City 223

New York City 2013 Nashville New York 223

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 210

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 210

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 223

California Sea Lions Whales Whaling 223

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2021

When you bird afar and wander wide, you carry a field guide to the birds of the region you are exploring, a pair of binoculars, likely a camera, perhaps a spotting scope and a tripod too, plus clothing, medicines, toiletries, electronics, money and documents… Did you notice the missing item? Yet, those bird guides are hefty.

Madagascar 264

Madagascar Mammals Lemurs Seychelles 264

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

SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

She contributes regularly to Ontario Nature , reviews books for Birding, and also blogs about her misadventures in bird identification while offering trenchant analysis of avian coiffures on her own blog Birds and Words. This is Julia’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. Happy puffins. Murres and Kittiwakes.

Puffins 229

Puffins Whales Whaling Bald Eagle 229

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. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales. The post Mammals of South Asia (Lynx Edicions) appeared first on 10,000 Birds. cm Weight 0.4

Mammals 251

Mammals Asia Sri Lanka Bhutan 251

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

MAY 12, 2013

The bill of the Greater Flamingo is a marvel of nature that would make any baleen whale turn pale with envy. Indeed, they are the avian equivalent to baleen whales, feeding exclusively on brine shrimp and blue-green algae using their highly specialized bills as filter devices. … It is Pink Bird Weekend on 10,000 Birds! .

France 234

France Whales Whaling 2013 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2012

Kereru or New Zealand Pigeon ( Hemiphaga novaseelandiae ) are also very attractive birds. They positively shine in sunlight Sitting on a pot used to boil whale fat in the past If you liked these images make sure to head on over to 10,000 Clicks , the 10,000 Birds photo-galleries page, and see our growing collection of galleries.

New Zealand 235

New Zealand Whales Whaling Collecting 235

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2013

Some of those mysterious creatures were birds. The most obvious place that cryptozoology and ornithology overlap is in the area of Lazarus taxa and would-be Lazarus taxa — the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Eskimo Curlew, Pink-headed Duck , and the like — birds that no one doubts existed once, whether or not they exist today.

Apes 197

Apes Primates Woodpeckers Whales 197

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2013

Clocking more than 50,000 miles per year, the birds appear to have cornered the market on the world’s longest annual migration. And that’s just the birds–you can spy on everything from panda bear cubs to beluga whales. Birding Birds terns video' You may already know how awesome Arctic Terns are.

Bald Eagle 241

Bald Eagle Pandas Puffins Bears 241

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 164

Whales Whaling Dolphins California 164

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2011

But then came the biggest obstacle of all… …would Daisy agree to a boat ride that had a bird as its goal? There was no pretending this was a whale-watching trip, a ruse that is growing stale anyway. when the puffin flew past, a bird that the whole family can appreciate. It’s not too expensive, is it?&#

Washington 227

Washington Protection Puffins Rhinoceros 227

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 246

Trinidad Costa Rica Panama Whales 246

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 243

Iceland Puffins Europe Birds 243

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2016

Kaikoura is New Zealand’s finest birding destination, and seeing it brought low is a terrible blow. Thanks to it’s marine canyon it’s the place to see Sperm Whales, swim with Dusky Dolphins and New Zealand Fur-seals, and watch albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels. Sperm Whales are a huge draw, literally!

Albatross 218

Albatross New Zealand Fur Seals 218

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. we are hosting Extinction Week here on 10,000 Birds from 7 September to 13 September. … Birding Extinction Week Great Auk' Good, I say.

California Condor 256

California Condor Guam Whales Whaling 256

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Here a fledgling Chipping Sparrow , which is one of those confusing, streaky, brown birds, gets stuffed by an adult. And, of course, as I do sometimes, I managed to sneak in a bit of birding. Fortunately the birds mostly came to me and I just had to keep my binoculars and camera handy.

New York 212

New York Cooking Chipmunks Whales 212

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 196

Whales Whaling Dolphins New York 196

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.

Dolphins 162

Dolphins Porpoises Whales Whaling 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

But later in August, Alexander Suh at the University of Münster emailed me about a new paper he and his colleagues have just published: Mesozoic retroposons reveal parrots as the closest living relatives of passerine birds (PDF). Galahs ( Eolophus roseicapilla ) in Victoria, Australia © David J. Ringer Suh et al. Ringer Suh et al.

Parrots 249

Parrots Falcons Indonesia Rodents 249

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 241

Albatross Penguins Dolphins Whales 241

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. ” Presumably, all readers of 10,000 Birds think that nature reserves are important – a paper tries to quantify that importance to some extent.

China 246

China Iceland Whales Whaling 246

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

JULY 16, 2013

But there is one Cape bird that stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to character – the African Penguin. But their endangered status is belied by the fact that they are one of the easiest rare birds to find in Africa. A pair of birds nested at Boulders Beach for the first time.

Penguins 250

Penguins South Africa Leopards Sharks 250

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.

New York City 200

New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 200

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. I wasn’t disappointed. And they were fighty.

Albatross 214

Albatross New Zealand Dolphins Whales 214

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 203

Albatross New Zealand Fur Seals 203

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 188

San Francisco Portland Whales Whaling 188