10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2012

Skimming through the myriad of posts in my blog reader yesterday I came across a post from the ever-watchful guys at the Raptor Persecution Scotland blog that left me cold with anger. Over the last 25 years they have recovered to the extent that they may now be Britain’s commonest raptor and breed in most of their former areas.

Killing 248

Killing Raised Industry Research 248

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2021

What I enjoy–almost more than any other moment of my birding year–is that special spring day when White-Crowned Sparrows deign to visit my humble home en route to their boreal breeding grounds. Of all the species he saw he had one that was easily his Best Bird of the Weekend, as it was a new bird for him in New York State.

New York 264

New York Sparrows Birds Breeding 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2012

Warbling Vireos are found breeding in open deciduous woods, often riparian, across Mexico, the United States, and southern Canada. Their fondness for open woods means that they often adapt well to breeding in parks and it was Van Saun Park in New Jersey’s Bergen County that I found the individual shown in this blog post.

New Jersey 244

New Jersey Philadelphia United States Canada 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2012

Editor’s Note : Though he is a very nice guy and a great blogger Clare Kines, the author of this blog post, might have lived in the far north for too long. Apparently the lack of birds and the abundance of cold has led to him thinking that writing a blog post about bunnies is an acceptable topic for Bird Love Week.

Rabbits 252

Rabbits Breeding Litter Raised 252

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

The message she relayed made me blurt out a string of words that cannot be repeated on this blog – let’s just say that my priorities immediately shifted. Typical of the species. Both species seemed content to observe each other though. I was washing the dishes at the time, so my wife took the call.

Trinidad 263

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

Bird blogging in May always gives me the creeps. In its natural old-world range, the House Sparrow offers an interesting identification challenge and has vagrant potential since it is a polytypic species with a highly complex taxonomy. Anyway, this current taxonomic classification has interesting implications to German birders.

Sparrows 258

Sparrows Italy Asia Kyrgyzstan 258

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2013

But, to paraphrase Monty Python, every species is sacred. Conservation of migratory species must be an international affair. No matter how much we do to protect the breeding grounds of Neotropical migrants, we can’t assure the safety of those species that lose essential wintering habitat.

Dominican Republic 207

Dominican Republic Haiti Pythons illegal 207

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Over the next few days, the Alpine Accentors ( Prunella collaris ) will arrive on their high-Alpine breeding grounds – it is time to start singing, despite that the treeless Alpine landscape is still under metres of snow. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes.

2011 235

2011 Breeders Deer Breeding 235

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Also, our winter visitor species are starting to arrive. So, while I have my doubts about the complete end of our three-year drought here, the bird blog situation is looking up. They are always extremely handsome birds; one of my favorite local species, and surprisingly easy to see around Morelia. and Canada.

Colombia 264

Colombia ALA Canada Mexico 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

February 12 is Darwin Day , the birthday of the brilliant author of On The Origin of Species. We find reasons to praise Darwin on this blog all the time and explain why in this post, first published in 2009. 10,000 is the approximate number of bird species in the world but certainly not the actual number.

Groups 236

Groups 2009 Parrots Branding 236

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2013

I write a lot about climate change on my other blog , and so I don’t really feel a strong need to touch on this topic very often here. “The birds” as a whole will be “fine” but many individual species will not. Break just one link of the chain and the entire species is in trouble.

Maryland 270

Maryland Penguins Birds Wildlife 270

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2021

I pointed at the bird shown below but he insisted it could not be that species – no long tail … For people of a certain age, gender and background, at some point The Smiths were the most important band in the world. Other species, such as this juvenile Light-vented Bulbul , seem to have more ambiguous feelings about molting.

LACS 264

LACS Birds France Japan 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

Insects and a host of other invertebrate life have evolved with these plant species, and thus depend on them. The latter figure very significant when you remember that many breeding passerines depend on the humble caterpillar to feed themselves and their offspring. Locally native plants are the base part of the local ecology.

North America 264

North America Wildlife Mammals Breeding 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

China 264

China Birds Pythons Eagles 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2012

Lepidopterists, botanists, and herpetologists, that is, those who like butterflies, plants, and reptiles and amphibians, are drawn to the pine barrens by a host of species that either can be found only there or are found in great numbers there because of the huge areas of good habitat.

New Jersey 234

New Jersey New York City Leopards New York 234

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Long-time readers of this blog probably also know Tai Haku, the scuba-diving, tree-planting, bird photographing nature blogger at Earth, Wind, and Water. That species is the Antillean Cave Rail or DeBooy’s Rail Nesotrochis debooyi , and the reason none of us will ever add it to our lists? It is extinct.

Puerto Rico 242

Puerto Rico Guam Virgin Islands Feral 242

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2020

In fact, the very first post I wrote for this blog centered around the search for a particular shorebird. Last weekend I wasn’t on the hunt for any species in particular though. While seated hidden among some corn plants, a Spotted Sandpiper in gorgeous breeding plumage landed about 15′ away. Greater Yellowlegs.

Trinidad 251

Trinidad South America Blackbirds Game 251

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. Extinction is what befalls the species that fails to adapt, to survive, to thrive. Most species go extinct.

California Condor 253

California Condor Guam Whales Whaling 253

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2024

The proximity to the Myanmar border is reflected in the presence of Burmese Shrikes here – on the wrong side of the border, but it is well known that this species has never been particularly good at geography. This photo explains the scientific species name haemacephalus (bloodheaded).

Myanmar 243

Myanmar Sri Lanka Nepal Niger 243

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2012

It is one of several species in the Mallard -complex of ducks, along with American Black Duck , Mexican Duck , and quite a few others. Now, what I found interesting is the idea that at least some of the birds in this blog post likely have at least some Mallard genes in them. I hope you liked this blog post of questionable quality.

Ducks 213

Ducks Illinois Florida Mississippi 213

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Heermann’s Gulls form large breeding colonies on arid islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from March through July. The largest colony exists on Isla Raza, where an estimated 90–95% of the total world population breeds 1. This photo by Basar from Wikipedia Commons shows the adult in breeding plumage.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 168

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2020

In his blog, Birds and Nature North America, the peripatetic Bruce Beehler professes to cover not just what the title says, but also American culture, American history, and “stories of back-roads travel and camping.” It’s a blog well worth visitation.

New Hampshire 264

New Hampshire Washington Virginia Montana 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2012

The current header image of my own blog is another Barn Owl, this one a ringed individual I found daylight hunting, and unconcerned by the presence of my car as it hunted from posts presumably feeding young in early summer last year. Above our fireplace is a large painting of a Barn Owl.

Barn Owls 235

Barn Owls Finland Owls Portugal 235

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Most of these birds are small, finch-like species with thick, conical bills for cracking seeds or eating insects. They include the seedeaters ; the grassquits and other “quits”; the yellow-finches, warbling-finches , and mountain-finches ; and the wonderful assemblage of Galápagos finches (“Darwin’s finches”)!

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2003 Sparrows South America Family 260

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Barn Swallows and Sand and House Martins left us in September, together with most heron species. Literally, at my bird blog, I invited interested people to a coffee with a view of the Danube and the Veliko Ratno Island Reserve at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube rivers in, almost, downtown Belgrade. We met at 10.00

Serbia 244

Serbia Europe Netherlands Eagles 244

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

Apparently, Longcanggou is a great place to see a variety of parrotbill species. I can only partly confirm this, with my sightings restricted to two species. Like many of the largest species within bird families, the Great Parrotbill looks somewhat plain, at least in the weather I encountered it. Yes, there were.

Pandas 264

Pandas Birds Mammals China 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2015

This excerpt comes from a blog of one such Serbian pigeon fancier (the entries had to be translated first): “11 April: first kamikazes flew off and clearly brought a hawk to the ground. APRIL 12: Second flight of a b h and then she hunts.

Switzerland 248

Switzerland Serbia Feral Falcons 248

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

As soon as I looked at it more closely it was quite clear that it wasn’t a scaup of any species, despite its resemblance to a North American Lesser Scaup. I hadn’t considered the possible parentage more than the two probable species involved, but intriguingly a Pochard drake x Tufted duck looks quite different.

Geese 246

Geese Falcons Latvia Ducks 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2012

There has been a Little Owl living in this hollow branch for at least 3 years as documented in Simon’s Mote Park Blog and it is assumed to be the same individual though I am not sure whether it is a she or a he. They have more recently been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand, where they are known as the German Owl.

Owls 226

Owls New Zealand Europe Mammals 226

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2013

Phaetusa simplex is the only species in its genus and it seems very unlikely that it will be confused with another tern species. BirdLife International considers the Large-billed Tern a Species of Least Concern because of its large range and large and apparently stable population.

Trinidad 218

Trinidad Nevada Illinois New Jersey 218

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. Common Murres on Gull island.

Puffins 209

Puffins Whales Whaling Bald Eagle 209

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2012

Have you ever enjoyed one of those brilliant birding expeditions, the outing where every target species takes its cue with machine precision? The lush pastures of the Aripo Livestock Station sustained herds of happy Buffalypso , a special breed of T&T beef cattle named for their Water Buffalo heritage and Calypso-happy country.

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Trinidad Cattle Fast Food Blackbirds 229

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2023

Why tediously write blog posts when ChatGPT can do it for me? So, I asked ChatGPT: “Please write a 500-word blog post about birding in Shanghai in the style of Kai Pflug for the website 10,000 birds” This is the result: Greetings, fellow birding enthusiasts!

China 237

China Endangered Species Sanctuary Protection 237

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2021

High up at almost 4500 meters, some Alpine Accentors were posing in the sunshine, justifying the description in the HBW as “large, attractive accentor” (though eBird seems to disagree, instead characterizing the species as a “stocky, stout, and unobtrusive bird”). I side with the HBW on this issue.

China 258

China Birds Sheep Monkeys 258

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

I am exhilarated – I have had only a handful of chances to observe this species! These falcons mostly feed on insects, but in the breeding season they catch migrating passerines – they even time their breeding to coincide with Autumn migration of passerines in late summer! Such a fascinating species.

Greece 252

Greece Falcons Madagascar Africa 252

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2012

Not how many bird species , but how many bird individuals. I reckon that this will keep me busy for at least a year, but one of the project’s most critical aspects has recently led to an interesting insight, which I feel is worth blogging about. I want to know – just roughly – how many birds I have seen in my life.

Germany 236

Germany Birds Ducks Feral 236

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Have you read my blogs on birding Greece ? Other species of interest include the southernmost breeding population of Greylag Goose in Europe, Goosander (at bigger and deeper Megali Prespa), Hazel Grouse (at Mt. The local bird list is impressive at 273 species and my September daily averages were around 50 bird species.

Greece 199

Greece Albania Macedonia Europe 199