Remove Breeding Remove Cattle Remove Hunting
article thumbnail

Critically Endangered: Sociable Lapwing

10,000 Birds

Sociable Lapwings breed in several areas along the Kazakhstani – Russian border and overwinter in Iraq, Sudan and northwest India. That can be traced back in time to 1875, when Alfred Brehm wrote that he had found Sociable Lapwings only alongside the domestic cattle. Locals being vegetarians, why are there no birds?

Sudan 252
article thumbnail

Hawking for Nighthawks

10,000 Birds

Striated Heron in breeding plumage – extra plumes and blue lores. Scores of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks circled overhead, these vocal ducks are often hunted illegally here so it was refreshing to see so many. Especially as we were at the time about to experience a rapidly advancing tropical storm.

Livestock 264
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

The Great Bustard Search is On (1)

10,000 Birds

Habitat destruction combined with hunting has pushed them away from their former breeding grounds. In breeding season grazing cattle may walk through the nest, breaking the eggs, while wild and domestic pigs may eat both eggs and chicks. Bustards are being counted in February because their breeding season starts in March.

Serbia 150
article thumbnail

The Domestic Turkey and the First Thanksgiving

10,000 Birds

Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. The chance that this was a real Turkey are not great, and the chance that Columbus actually brought breeding stock from Honduras to Spain is not great, so maybe, maybe not.

Turkey 260
article thumbnail

A Pennine Challenge 

10,000 Birds

Meadow Pipits are abundant breeding birds on the moors Romaldkirk produced most of the village birds we could expect: there were House Martins and Swifts, Chaffinches and House Sparrows, plus Jackdaws on the church (which dates from Saxon times, more than a thousand years ago).

Sheep 246
article thumbnail

Birding Inirida, Colombia, or river dolphins and hoatzins, part 2

10,000 Birds

One of this species’ many peculiarities is that it has a digestive system unique amongst birds: Hoatzins use bacterial fermentation in the front part of the gut to break down the vegetable material they consume, much as cattle and other ruminants do. We found Black-collared Swallows breeding in cracks among the lower riverside rocks.

Dolphins 264
article thumbnail

Which Bird Species Have Gone Extinct in Costa Rica?

10,000 Birds

Not that long ago, Costa Rica had one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, rainforests were razed to make way for hot and chiggery cattle pasture, and bot flies probably became more numerous than some bird populations.