10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

Life Along the Delaware Bay: Cape May, Gateway to a Million Shorebirds , by Lawrence Niles, Joanna Burger, and Amanda Dey, is a book with a mission. The numbers, as detailed in this book, are alarming: the horseshoe crab harvest grew from less than 100,000 in 1992 to over 2.5 million in the late 1990’s.

Delaware 222

Delaware New Jersey Eggs Research 222

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Producing a book about birds and nesting is a dangerous business. Some people love books like that. I’m happy to say that Laura Erickson and Marie Read have written a book, Into the Nest: Intimate Views of the Courting, Parenting, and Family Lives of Familiar Birds , that is not too cute and that does not anthropomorphize.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

His second book on migration is a tale of many birds and many research studies all connected by the theme of migration and by his thoughtful narrative voice. The book is organized into ten chapters, framed by a Prologue and Epilogue focused on Weidensaul’s banding experience in Denali National Park.

Cyprus 264

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

” The book in question is Birds of Bolivia: Field Guide , edited and written by Sebastian K. 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. ″ x 9.5″x

Bolivia 239

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 239

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

And, to give his dream year a little more oomph, he created a grand once-in-a-lifetime goal: to track down and see every pitta species in the world in one year. This is the birding adventure book supreme. I’m reading a book about a man who is doing a Pitta Big Year,” I say. And mosquitos. And leeches.

Hunters 245

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 245

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

Or, Pygmy leaf-folding frogs, Afrixalus brachycnemis, from Tanzania, tiny climbing frogs who lay their eggs in leaves and then fold the leaves over them for protection, sealing the nest with secretions. This is what happens when you read a book like Frogs and Toads of the World , by Chris Mattison.

Reptiles 231

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 231

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

The Nature of The Meadowlands , a photographic book by Jim Wright, presents the tale, and though you may be thinking that you live in Ohio, so this book is not for you, it is worth paying attention. Fortunately, the book starts with an introduction to the places that comprise the 30.4 square mile area along the Hackensack River.

New Jersey 199

New Jersey Legislation Mammals Pigs 199

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

The book is chiefly about how people have conceptualized and studied birds, but there is an underlying theme, the changing ways in which our Western culture has viewed animals, nature and God. It’s a huge scope for a 338-page book. Common Guillemot research at Skomer Island, Wales.

Dissection 264

Dissection Birds Europe Eggs 264

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. The temptation will be to jump to the Wildlife sections.

Georgia 189

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whaling 189

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a hefty book, 560 pages long and dimensions of 6.3 Over 3,200 photographs have been used, most showing species in their habitats. British birders are very serious about birding and their birds.

Ireland 195

Ireland Birds Falcons Turtles 195

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2014

Nearly wiped out by human heedlessness, development, and pesticide use, under the protection of the Endangered Species Act this handsome fish eagle has made a stunning comeback, rebounding in numbers and recolonizing areas where many thought they were gone forever. As an experiment, I also ran this book by a non-birding friend.

Bald Eagle 252

Bald Eagle Eagles Endangered Species Washington 252

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

Every now and then you read a book which you believe should be read by everyone on the planet. Nature’s Best Hope by American entomologist and conservationist, Doug Tallamy, is such a book. Insects and a host of other invertebrate life have evolved with these plant species, and thus depend on them.

North America 264

North America Wildlife Mammals Breeding 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2018

Fun fact: only three species in the lower 48 states are not protected by that statute – the House Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, and Common Starling.). The book, handsome and hefty, is meant to “commemorate and amplify” the Year of the Bird initiative –but it’s a self-celebration of sorts, too. As happy as, well, larks.

Minnesota 156

Minnesota Protesters Protest Protesting 156

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

The first twenty-nine pages of the book, after the acknowledgements, table of contents, and other prefatory materials, are devoted to the Pantanal and Cerrado and the need to conserve these two endangered biomes. Talk about a win-win!

Brazil 251

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Deer 251

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2024

Several where-to-find-birds books have been published, including ones by Steve Mills, Dave Gosney (both covering northern Greece), Steve Dudley (Lesvos), etc., Several where-to-find-birds books have been published, including ones by Steve Mills, Dave Gosney (both covering northern Greece), Steve Dudley (Lesvos), etc.,

Greece 279

Greece Spain India Europe 279

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2021

No, Madagascar is the most famous for an endemic group of mammals: lemurs, sifakas, indri, aye-aye – in total, 112 endemic species and subspecies of lemurs alone! Still, there should be no problem with larger species that allow for longer observation time (e.g. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales.

Madagascar 264

Madagascar Mammals Lemurs Seychelles 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2015

I haven’t increased my life or country list, only my city list for one species (I don’t even know which one). Still, six years ago I nominated that central Belgrade zone for an Important Bird Area – some parts of it should become protected any time soon and all the data that can further strengthen that protection is welcome.

Serbia 250

Serbia ALA Protection Collecting 250

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2022

Even so, we do have some sandpipers and plovers around; there have been recent reports of Surfbirds and various other wading species. Their local guide excitedly confirmed the bird as a Harpy Eagle (only the most dearly wanted species for every birder in Costa Rica), took photos and video, and spread the news.

Costa Rica 258

Costa Rica Eagles West Virginia Albatross 258

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2017

Once again thanks to the good folks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt we here at 10,000 Birds are giving away books! Carrie reviewed the book here and, like me, she has a soft spot for Pete Dunne’s prose. But enough about the book! One of our email subscribers chosen at random will win one of the copies of the book.

North America 189

North America Falcons Eagles Birds 189

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2020

Having more than 1300 bird species, including over 75 endemics, it is hard to resist the lure of India – something I know from personal experience. Bikram Grewal is the author of over ten books on birds of the subcontinent and also acts as a consultant on eco-tourism. Yet, with larger protected areas things get more complicated.

India 264

India Lions 2020 Groups 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2019

From the Amazon basin through the towering Andes to the endemic-rich Choco, it is possible to observe 600 species in two weeks and even 800 in three weeks – they could all find themselves on your life list. Birds of Ecuador” is a heavy book, but only marginally more than e.g. Helm Birds of East Africa. Still, is it hefty?

Ecuador 199

Ecuador South America 2006 Venezuela 199

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

BOC has 95 colour plates illustrating more than 400 species (three country endemics, Cyprus Wheatear , Cyprus Scops Owl and Cyprus Warbler , among them), with text and distribution maps on facing pages. Following the IOC taxonomy (Gill and Donsker 2018), Birds of Cyprus deals with 405 species. winter, 1st-w and the wing pattern.

Cyprus 264

Cyprus Saudi Arabia Europe Birds 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2019

Focusing on an often under-appreciated portion of the continent, the book showcases forty species found in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio – but perhaps not for long. The result is a book that invites and doesn’t exhaust the reader. I honestly found it in many ways quite hopeful.

Indiana 174

Indiana Downers Iowa Illinois 174

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

These vestiges of forgotten species, some solitary, others joined in sad little troupes, are the work of sculptor Todd McGrain. “After reading his captivating story of the Labrador Duck ,” McGrain tells 10,000 Birds , “I returned to the studio with the ambition to direct that work toward the the memory of that lost species.”

Birds 257

Birds Ducks DC Jordan 257

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2019

But I insisted he try the blood and violence guy, and he humored me, only to send me, later, a longish email, pointing out the flaws in my judgment and in the book and the author, and closing with this: “Since I didn’t care for any of his characters, I really didn’t care who killed whom.”. Fair enough.

2018 185

2018 Humane Laws Suffering 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. There are large avian handbooks and small ‘how-to bird’ guides, and quite a few excellent books of both types have been published. And, each essay tells a story.

North America 123

North America Birds Prairie Dogs Barn Owls 123

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

The (Big) Year that Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record – which is the book’s full title, or Arjan Dwarshuis’s Big Year, as I prefer to call it shortly, is a highly anticipated and a long awaited travelogue of the author’s 2016 race against time across 40 countries in his attempt to break the world birding record.

Papua New Guinea 264

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname Brazil 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2017

He has recorded over 20 new bird records for Honduras, dozens of new butterflies, new orchid records and even new species for science. If there was a bird book available for that country I’ll bet that it was, in fact, written only in English. You can help this effort by donating toward the printing of books.

Honduras 187

Honduras Missouri Panama Birds 187

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2021

I developed a new idea of a sustainable tourism company which rather than complaining about unsustainable practices in the industry, could promote education and research in the field, contributing positively to the protection and conservation of the cultural and biological diversity in Colombia.

Colombia 264

Colombia Industry 2000 Birds 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Betty’s Bay was also a great place to see all of South Africa’s cormorant species, including the endangered Bank Cormorant. We observed far fewer Lesser Flamingos, a near-threatened species. It was the first of six bustard species I would see over the course of both trips. And then there were the Flamingos.

South Africa 255

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 255

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2012

BirdLife International lists them as a Species of Least Concern because of their enormous range and population of approximately 13,000,000 individuals, though the population does seem to be decreasing slightly. This is no mere functional protection of the nesting area from injurious invasion.

Kittens 245

Kittens Hunting South America United States 245

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Even among the protected areas of Serbia, the Iron Gates National Park (in Serbian: Djerdap) stands out as better preserved. Keep in mind that the special nature reserves (dark green on the park map) enjoy the highest level of protection and are off limits to visitors (possible only with research permits issued by the park authorities).

Serbia 241

Serbia Turtles Romania Eagles 241

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2021

In birding circles, Costa Rica is better known for protected areas, quetzal tours, and glittering displays of hummingbirds than the things that fly in urban spots. Those books talked about the small, cool looking quail as being a bird of scrubby fields and weedy habitats but Niagara seemed to be just a bit too far north of their range.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Falcons Farming Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

The species was named after John P. I suspect there is little opposition to changing the names of species with particularly sordid namesakes. That said, it seems obvious that the central purpose of a common name is to have a uniform and well-known identifier for a particular species. The Sibley app, however, is updated.)

Birds 264

Birds Laws 2020 Jordan 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2021

Geographic patterns of species richness for birds (1,558 species) in East Africa at 0.25° resolution (blue indicates low species richness, while brown indicates high species richness). At the time of writing, Uganda has 16 hotspots with 400+ so far eBirded species, of which one has almost 600 species.

Africa 262

Africa Kenya Uganda Tanzania 262

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

In all that swirling of swallows, I am not certain was there a third species, so I keep watching. Supposedly, in Spring this area is teeming with migrating passerines, but in September, I recorded a mere dozen species, including very numerous Red-backed Shrikes (9 in this area alone). eBird hotspots of Prespa lakes. Practicalities.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Albania 252

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2015

The tropical dry deciduous jungle, or “jungle”, however you see it, covers almost 90% of 600 km2 (230 mi2) of this protected area. Other species I can recognize are colloquially called crocodile bark tree, due to the bark pattern, and paper bark. It is dominated by Burmese Teak , interspersed by thickets of Calcutta Bamboo.

Tigers 255

Tigers Boars India Chickens 255