10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

An Ashy Drongo apparently spends approximately 71% of its time scanning (what non-scientists would probably call looking around), 9% eating (less than a typical Chinese human but much more than me), calling 7%, flying 7%, and 6% preening. The Brown Crake is not that easy to see in Shanghai even though it is breeding here.

Mountain Goats

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

A bit beyond the basics but still fundamental are chapters on bird feeding consequences and problems (squirrels and raccoons, too many blackbirds, hawks and cats, woodpecker damage, window strikes, extreme weather, and bird feeding in special situations, including retirement centers, condos, and apartments.

New York City

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

It starts with water and wading birds and ending with meadowlark, blackbird, and bobolink.^ The maps, which are positioned to the left of the text, are small and indicate primary seasonal status–whether and where the bird is a resident breeding species, seasonal breeding migrant, seasonal nonbreeding migrant, or transient migrant.

Costa Rica

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2017

Each Species Account includes one to three drawings of the bird, a range map, common and scientific names, and a one to three sentence description of the bird, which may or may not include its migratory and breeding habits, feeding behavior, plumage, habitat, and demographic status—whatever helps identify the bird quickly.

North America

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

As humans we place exceptional value in the beauty of an individual’s eyes. Eye color is even more varied in birds than it is in humans. In fact, many birds exhibit more pigment coloration in their eyes than humans (for the scientifically-minded these pigments are called pteridines, purines and carotenoids).

Birds

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2014

Spring through summer is baby season, and the human population ventures outside and finds little creatures in their backyard, their garden, their porch, the edge of the trail, the sidewalk, the train platform, etc. Aha, Georgia, so it’s too small for a Carolina Wren and there aren’t any House Wren s in your area during breeding season.”.

Wildlife Rehabilitation

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2021

The fields near the Tiaozini mudflats look very much like a lunar landscape, but this does not seem to keep a number of species from breeding there, sometimes directly on dirt roads. But now back to birds … Little Ringed Plovers also seem to like to breed directly on the road. Blandness sells.

Birds

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Chinese Blackbird s are among the most common birds in the Shanghai compound where I live (and where fortunately this year I am not actually locked in, a contrast to the situation one year ago). It was my impression that they are thriving here, and a very recent (2023) paper confirms that indeed Chinese Blackbirds do well in cities.

Blackbirds

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2024

Interestingly, the molt of the males takes about 20 days longer than that of the females – the authors speculate that this is because of the different peak time efforts in breeding, with the males being involved earlier (singing, establishing territory) than the females (incubating, nestling care).

Vietnam

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

For some reason that I do not quite understand myself – given that I really rather dislike children and am not too positive about the rest of humanity either – I recently put up a little display of bird photos inside my Shanghai compound, which I share (as the only foreigner) with about 1700 Chinese.

Birds

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

So, winter is very nearly upon us, and no, I never did find a Yellow-headed Blackbird. The Gray-crowned Rosy Finch , when she abandons her breeding grounds, prefers to forage on the ground, similar to (and sometimes in company with) Snow Buntings, Horned Larks , and Longspurs. I could hope to pick up some other birds, as well.

Badgers

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

While the conclusion seems fairly established now, the paper still puts it in the usual wordy and careful statement: “The shorter minimum stopover duration of both species in spring may indicate a faster migration than in autumn, suggesting a time-minimizing strategy in spring to reach the breeding grounds as fast as possible.”

Monkeys

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

As with Chinese male humans, having your own building is still vital to raising young. One of the established ways to evaluate self-cognition in animals (including humans) is the mirror test. There was a breeding pair at Binjiang Forest Park this June. Humanity is not very human. You should try it too.

Birds