10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2024

I saw 32 species here in my first 24 hours, some of them exciting ones. My second lifer this trip was a migratory Yellow-throated Warbler , a species I could not hope to see my previous trip, which had occurred in early summer. There is also a family of Barn Owls on the premises, and I have briefly seen the largest of them (enormous!)

Barn Owls 214

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 214

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2023

While the P-a-P Wildfowl Trust’s main thrust is the breeding and release of five duck species, the habitat encourages a number of native wetland birds to inhabit and proliferate the area. From Yellow-hooded Blackbirds to Purple and Common Gallinules , there are almost too many birds to focus on!

Trinidad 262

Trinidad Birds Ducks Fish 262

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2012

Ourselves, for instance; just consider how many sweet or gritty stories you’ve seen about Olympic athletes’ family backgrounds over the last few weeks. We’re going to look at its family tree today, at where it fits in the grand avian assemblage, at what makes it at once unique yet not so alone after all. But not all.

Family 178

Family Guatemala Stray Humane 178

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2015

A new paper out this month attempts to paint the most comprehensive picture yet of the origins and diversification of the American sparrows, wood-warblers, blackbirds, cardinals, tanagers, and their kin, an enormous group of birds more than 800 species strong.

Sparrows 257

Sparrows North America South America Blackbirds 257

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

The Latin species name is dissimilis (different, unlike), possibly because the female looks quite different from the male (though based on that explanation, dissimilis would have to be a very common species name). The male Grey-winged Blackbird is similarly attractive. A nice example is the male Black-breasted Thrush.

Horses 199

Horses Family Blackbirds Species 199

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2019

But North Coast also makes a bird-themed beer, Le Merle, an interpretation of a Belgian, farmhouse-style saison with a name borrowed from the French word for the Common (Eurasian) Blackbird ( Turdus merula ). Birds and Booze readers may remember another saison originally named for le merle that we looked at about a year ago.

Blackbirds 102

Blackbirds California Family Birds 102

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Similarly, descriptions of species repeated across volumes do not lose their accuracy with each publication. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 219

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 219

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

But the name of this beer had nothing to do with “Sixteen Tons” of coal, or “Okies” from Muskogee, but birds: merle is also the French word for “blackbird”. And, of course, by blackbirds I mean true thrushes of the family Turdidae , of which the Common (Eurasian) Blackbird ( Turdus merula ) is the most famous in European culture and folklore.

Blackbirds 113

Blackbirds Belgium Wounded Colorado 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2021

And many of these species are also strikingly beautiful. Yellow-winged Caciques , showy members of the Blackbird/New World Oriole family, are always conspicuous residents of the region. In an already endemic-rich part of the world, this is where the concentration of endemics is highest. The Hot Country is, well… hot.

Mexico 176

Mexico Blackbirds Sparrows Owls 176

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2021

Some other members of the shrike family were a bit less testosterone-driven at Nanhui – like this Bull-headed Shrike … … this rather attractive-looking Tiger Shrike … … or one of the many Brown Shrikes passing through Nanhui on migration. A juvenile Chinese Blackbird. A happier shrike. ” Hm. .”

LACS 235

LACS Birds France Japan 235

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. Eastern Whip-Poor-Will : It’s kind of amazing how rarely this species is reported in Queens. I’ll make it three!

New York City 152

New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 152

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2019

As is typical of urban birding in Costa Rica, we had small flocks of this species fly over and good looks at the White-crowned Parrot , the other most common parrot in the valley. But, they still occur, the most common species being Black Vulture , Turkey Vulture , Gray Hawk , Short-tailed Hawk , and Yellow-headed and Crested Caracaras.

Costa Rica 198

Costa Rica Parrots Birds Blackbirds 198

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2020

Over the years birding Willow Lake I had added nearly eighty eBird checklists at the preserve and netted myself 127 species, good for number two on the eBird hotspot list. Since the pandemic I’ve added one new species to my personal list for Willow Lake Preserve, a Field Sparrow.

Bald Eagle 189

Bald Eagle New York City New York Birds 189

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2015

However, there are those species which have a hard time bringing attention to themselves such as Yellow-shouldered Blackbird , Giant Nuthatch , and Vinaceous-breasted Parrot. Regardless of their popularity, these species and the threatened ecosystems they inhabit are equally spectacular. Curassows are such stately birds.

California Condor 218

California Condor Brazil Parrots Texas 218

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

But I have been sick with different kinds and forms of cold since the beginning of December with no interruption, and so has my entire family. A short summary of events described in this former blog post of mine: We are talking about the thrush called Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula , not the American Icterids. I honestly did.

Germany 160

Germany Blackbirds 2006 Denmark 160

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. The guide covers 1,433 species, the number of birds documented at the end of 2014, the cutoff point for the book.

Bolivia 176

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 176

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

It sheltered him, it haunted him, and it set his thoughts adrift, to the warmth of spring and the family he had. But something happened, and it happened many times: Something has been killing our Blackbirds. The problem is that Blackbirds are incredibly common in suburban and even urban areas of Germany. All were long gone.

Blackbirds 154

Blackbirds Germany Shelters Rodents 154

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. I remember the talking (Song?)

2017 117

2017 Portugal Rabbits Europe 117

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2013

states and thirty-seven counties, and added a whopping ninety-two species to my life list. I didn’t travel much this year, with a June family trip to California and Nevada and a four-day trip in July to Trinidad and Tobago being my only opportunities to get birds not in the northeastern United States. Red-breasted Blackbird.

2013 176

2013 New York City Nevada Trinidad 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2012

Most bird species cannot live by black oil sunflower seed alone. One of my all time favorite bird feeding moments involved a Blue Jay family. Another time to consider taking your feeders down for a limited time is if you get a blackbird takeover when their young leave the nest.

Blackbirds 230

Blackbirds Baltimore Birds Breeding 230

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2018

Out near the tidal flats that make up a good portion of this refuge, there were plenty of Red-winged Blackbirds. Today, I saw a handful of Mallards , two Common Mergansers, and a Wood Duck Family. For those of you following along on my “ Little Big Year” the numbers are as follows: Little Big Year species – 814.

New Zealand 115

New Zealand Seattle Qatar South Africa 115

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

If a list also shows the status for each species, birders on their way to Costa Rica would realize that they shouldn’t really expect vireos with white eyes nor blue heads (but would hopefully know that they should very much report those species on eBird so local birders can chase them!). Toucan species with new names.

Costa Rica 201

Costa Rica Owls Panama South America 201

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

I’ve always been rather fascinated by trans-Atlantic bird families, perhaps because of growing up with copious mentions of British birds in my children’s books.

Blackbirds 165

Blackbirds Adoptable Humane Family 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2015

An American Redstart sang half-heartedly, a Ring-necked Pheasant ran from me, and Gray Catbirds , Red-winged Blackbirds , and American Robins were everywhere. I saw a Willow Flycatcher , several Northern Mockingbirds , and a bunch of Yellow Warblers. fledgling House Wren seemingly fascinated by my digiscoping rig.

New York City 165

New York City Blackbirds New York Collecting 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

The beech forests were dense, landscapes stunning, only that wind… Birds were hiding from it, too, with mostly t**s ( Coal , Long-tailed and Great ), a few thrushes ( Mistle , Song and Eurasian Blackbird ) and numerous Common Chaffinches showing. The Greater Spotted Eagle is a threatened species. Enough of the mountains.

Greece 255

Greece Boars Woodpeckers Eagles 255

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2018

Taking advantage of my son, Desmond, having this past Friday off from school our small family decided to do a three-day trip somewhere. Great Kiskadees , White-winged Doves , and, above all, Great-tailed Grackles were the species that couldn’t be missed. Nonetheless, it was nice to see a second endemic species. …

Monkeys 100

Monkeys Family Deer Pelicans 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2013

Flocks of Bushtits made their noisy way through the bushes and a large number of Yellow-headed Blackbirds , which easily increased by ten-fold the number of Yellow-headed Blackbirds I had ever seen, flushed from one reed-bed to another. Later in the season more species show up.

Las Vegas 206

Las Vegas Nevada Birds Blackbirds 206

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2014

I spent this past weekend in Saugerties at my folks’ house in order to look for Easter eggs, let Desi enjoy time with his cousins, and generally have a good ol’ time with family. I had no luck with the rails or bitterns but I did manage to see quite a few species, including some that were very cooperative.

New York 173

New York Birds Blackbirds Ducks 173

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2017

From Florida to Maine and back again I toured urban forests, marshes, estuaries, and more, stopping along the way to visit family and friends. Osprey and Royal Terns soared on the coastal winds overhead, and Red-winged Blackbirds sounded their raspy calls just about everywhere. A strong sense of nostalgia washed over me.

Virginia 100

Virginia Blackbirds 2013 Protection 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2011

We had a blast, the family and I, and experienced some amazing natural places, to say nothing of the fine city of Seattle. To go by the numbers, I saw 79 species of bird while in Washington (150 county ticks), 21 of which were year birds and 8 of which were lifers. Here I am, back from my first ever visit to the Pacific Northwest.

Seattle 181

Seattle Washington Chickens Blackbirds 181

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2012

SUPER STARLINGS Tanzania plays host to a wide variety of Starlings, over twenty species in fact. This is the Ruppell’s Long-tailed Starling , a glimmering blue-black bird with a creamy white eye, reminiscent of the Brewers Blackbird but comparatively a little more scarce. It is a showstopper, and for many, a car-stopper.

Tanzania 179

Tanzania Chickens Blackbirds California 179

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

We saw sparrows–a total of 14 species–and we saw many other great prairie birds, and we often saw them perched on posts. Brewer’s Blackbirds often joined the hordes of Red-winged Blackbirds flitting in and out of the taller grasses and few shrubs. back to the birds.

North Dakota 142

North Dakota Sparrows Birds Blackbirds 142

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2016

I was back in Florida just last week, in Orlando as part of an annual trip with my wife’s family. In many places in Florida, you can rack up 50 species without too much trouble and Orlando Wetlands Park is no exception. I have yet to see a Short-tailed Hawk. It’s not a thing you need to worry about here though.

Florida 127

Florida ALA Blackbirds Family 127

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

After writing this last sentence, I looked up the species in the HBW and found the sentence “Song poorly documented” in the appropriate section, while with regard to calls, the description is that “call is a two-note raspy nasal ‘ryeeh-reh’”. These birds have too much taste.

Mountain Goats 147

Mountain Goats Singapore Giraffes Birds 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

The Black-crowned Night Heron is a member of the heron family. The Chinese Blackbird is among the most common birds in our compound. This is often the case in birds – for the young birds, it is more important to be invisible than to impress the other birds of the same species. The juveniles look spottier and are mostly brown.

Birds 162

Birds Fish Germany China 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2011

For 13 years now, friends and family have been gathering in an undisclosed corner of Potter County, Pennsylvania during the third weekend of July to create a glorious giant chicken of wood, straw, and gunpowder only to burn it. See why we keep the location undisclosed?

Chickens 175

Chickens 2011 Pennsylvania Birds 175

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2015

However, there are a few stand out sites here and there that are significantly better for species like Jabiru, Lance-tailed Manakin, and Nicaraguan Grackle to name a few. BUT, we did see lots of other nice birds, most of them bonus species tough to see elsewhere in Costa Rica. We had several Least Bitterns. This ain’t the wren.

Costa Rica 176

Costa Rica Chile Nicaragua San Jose 176