10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2021

Of course, I also go there several other times each year; I have, after all, seen 160 species at this endemic-rich site. All sightings southeast of the species’ Puerto Vallarta-to-Los Mochis breeding area are of migrating birds. Not that I measured him, of course. But I never, ever miss a February and July in Paso Ancho.

Nicaragua 262

Nicaragua 2015 2016 Mexico 262

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2020

The best laid plans… Last week, I had hoped to get permission to get onto the campus of one or Morelia’s many universities, to look for a family of Wood Ducks that apparently have arrived to spend the winter in its unusual habitat of marshy forest. Mexican Whip-poor-wills , of course, have a Spanish accent! (As

Mexico 278

Mexico Family Laws Ducks 278

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2021

Of course, plenty of non-endemics also turned up to have their picture taken. And breeding season allows me to notice certain details that I might miss during the rest of the year. I had never seen the orange legs that this breeding adult is showing, as opposed to the yellow-green legs of the immature one below it.

Woodpeckers 217

Woodpeckers Hunters Falcons Breeding 217

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Feel free to insert your own French joke here (though of course in the US, restaurants now serve Freedom Frogs rather than French Frogs). The breeding ecology of the Yellow-bellied Warbler was actually studied exactly here at Nonggang in 2019 by 3 Chinese researchers. This included recording a total of 77,760 minutes of video.

China 224

China Birds Pythons Eagles 224

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2023

As I sit at my desk writing this post about the latest attempt at breeding for one of our pairs of Pied Oystercatchers I realise I have written 677 posts now for this website. I could observe where the family had come down to the ocean at night on the big tides. One large Pied Oystercatcher family !

Eggs 130

Eggs Australia Protection 2000 130

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

The Sinaloa Martin is a large swallow, which seems to breed only along a narrow band of the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, and Jalisco. Of course, Paso Ancho is also a hotspot for many other beautiful species and endemics. Western Mexico offers only one, the endemic Russet-crowned Motmot.

Mexico 209

Mexico South America 2020 America 209

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Citrine Wagtails are rare in Shanghai but apparently quite common around Chaka, though unfortunately most of the ones we saw were not in breeding plumage. The Brown Accento r certainly ranks among the less attractive accentors, though of course, some species in this family set a rather high bar. I blame this on covid-19.

China 245

China Austria Birds ALA 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2022

Of course, a land of beefeaters needs butchers. In fact, the family name Lanius derives from a Latin word for “butcher”, though the “butcherbird” was a butcher long before humans even developed the language to describe these activities.

2019 216

2019 Butcher Livestock 2006 216

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

Of course, being a proud German, I prefer this thrush as its Latin species name is heinei for the German Jakob Gottlieb Ferdinand Heine (time was not precious in the olden days, and there were fewer forms to fill out, so people could afford to have much longer names). Female below.

Australia 184

Australia Koalas Parrots Birds 184

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. Then, I was not sure whether this was the right thing to do. ” Hm.

LACS 225

LACS Birds France Japan 225

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

While reading the book I kept muttering, “Of course”; indeed, there was little to surprise or disagree with. The latter figure very significant when you remember that many breeding passerines depend on the humble caterpillar to feed themselves and their offspring. POST SCRIPT.

North America 263

North America Wildlife Mammals Breeding 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2023

Here goes: Paradise Flycatchers are a genus in the broader (and rather large) family of Monarchidae. Of course, for countries with mostly moderate climates such as the US, China, Japan, or Germany, it is always easier to claim that the winter range is the problem (i.e., not their own). Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16

Japan 130

Japan China Guinea Germany 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2022

Readers with a pornographic mindset will enjoy the following information about the Dusky Moorhen: “Simultaneously promiscuous, forming breeding groups of 2–7 apparently unrelated birds; individuals sometimes switch groups between seasons. Honeyeaters are a large bird family (190 species) with a strong presence in Australia.

Australia 192

Australia Birds Feral Cats Kangaroos 192

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

Wood-Wrens , birds of the family Henicorhina , are very small wrens of Central and South America that like to live very close to the ground, in dense forest underbrush or elfin forests. But, of course, the Wood-Wren was not one of them, as I had already seen it in El Temazcal. So eventually, the pilgrimage must be made.

Mexico 188

Mexico South America America Species 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Fortunately, other spots in the same area offer similar birds, which of course I would not have known without our guides. Similarly, the Alpine Leaf Warbler is one of the more attractive species in an otherwise almost indistinguishable family of identical leaf warblers. (“But the difference in wing bars, Kai!”).

North Korea 236

North Korea China Birds Woodpeckers 236

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2022

Over the course of the next ten days we visited many locations with which those who have already visited Trinidad for birding would already be familiar. A number of families exist on Trinidad but not Tobago. Most notably the family of New World Vultures. No bitterns have ever been seen on Tobago, but Trinidad has three.

Trinidad 252

Trinidad Turkey Squirrels Cows 252

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

This book is essentially about those birds that breed on the continent south of the Sahara, a topic few birders are familiar with. The rest of the 216 pages long book is devoted to various African bird families and half a dozen individual species. He has authored several other books and many articles, largely on natural history.

Congo 264

Congo Africa Madagascar Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2019

There’s a King Penguin ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) on the label, a very first appearance for the Spheniscidae family here at Birds and Booze. Of course, it’s now summer in the Southern Hemisphere, where King Penguins are found. Our wine this week is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Tussock Jumper Wines. Except birders.

2017 113

2017 Penguins Argentina Chile 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. And of course, I would have been wrong. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump. This post shows some of them.

San Diego 204

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 204

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2023

May is a busy month for birds migrating through Shanghai – and of course, last May was completely missed due to the lockdown. During the breeding season, some Cattle Egrets look like teenage girls who have just discovered the existence of make-up, and consequently massively overdo it. It is probably all downhill from here.

Birds 130

Birds Cattle Raised Mammals 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2020

A more perceptive idea might have been the call of Nutting’s Flycatchers , but, of course, that species would never congregate in such numbers. In case you are wondering, Blue-throated Mountain-Gem and Rivoli’s Hummingbird have been known to occasionally breed in the southwestern U.S., just north of the Mexican border.

Mexico 221

Mexico Species Breeding Family 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2020

Hey, in 1959 Walt Disney set up a studio on the island and filmed Swiss Family Robinson there! The seabirds are of course, the main attraction. Both Brown and Red-footed Boobies actively breed on Little Tobago as well as Saint Giles. The island of Tobago in the southern Caribbean is much wilder than one could imagine.

Fish 211

Fish Rights Breeding Species 211

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Third, observing and photographing breeding birds and their young have become acts of ethical confusion as birders, photographers, and organizational representatives debate the impact of our human presence on the nesting process. Some people love books like that. Yellow Warbler fledgling. But special. Familiar is not necessarily common.

Eggs 263

Eggs 2006 Family New York 263

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2013

They migrate down from alpine and arctic tundra to lower latitudes in the non-breeding season (click on photos for full sized images). I shot this video this last Thanksgiving weekend from the Sacramento NWR on my way back from visiting the family. They walk briskly while foraging and are known to bob their tails. I hope you enjoy it!

Sacramento 162

Sacramento Wildlife California Sparrows 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2023

Not a cover species The Black Kite is not actually black, but of course, misleading bird names are not exactly rare. Of course, he is talking about an American species, the Evening Grosbeak, but I assume the etymology is the same. ’ “ This has absolutely nothing to do with the Pale Thrush , of course.

Iraq 130

Iraq Birds China Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2022

For some reason, the largest member of the heron family is not called the Great Heron nor the Giant Heron but rather the Goliath Heron. Of course, out of spite, I am only showing you a male. The shrike family (Laniidae) has two genera, one (Lanius) with 32 species and one (Eurocephalus) with 2 species. Consistency is overrated.

Africa 147

Africa Eagles Birds Barn Owls 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

Of course Africa could not to be left out of the pink weekend so I have researched all African species whose official or alternative names include the word “pink”. Its mostly found on the ground in thickets or the edges of dense vegetation and usually in small family parties. There are certainly some stunners involved.

Africa 207

Africa Somalia Mozambique Pelicans 207

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

The wonderful family Meropidae contains 27 dazzling species, of which Africa is endowed with no less than 20 species, the balance occurring across Asia and with one as far afield as Australia. Carmine bee-eaters occur throughout most of Subsaharan Africa, and many populations migrate widely post breeding.

Africa 263

Africa Gabon Uganda South Africa 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

This is also why you very rarely find a photo of a giraffe on top of one of these posts – the other reason of course being that a giraffe photo would be relatively pointless in a birding blog. The Brown Crake is not that easy to see in Shanghai even though it is breeding here. ” ( source ).

Mountain Goats 147

Mountain Goats Singapore Giraffes Birds 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2019

Of course it involved subterfuge, and bribery, and Jonathan Franzen at a crossroads at midnight. ” Glancing at the man who’d interrupted, I remembered exactly how his family first made their money and decided to move ahead quickly. But the details must remain nebulous. “I’ve never even heard of this McCown jerk.

Branding 157

Branding Falcons California Condor Broker 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2012

There are few families of birds as bewitching as the birds-of-paradise. They are feathered jewels with extraordinary breeding dances almost unrivalled in the bird world. There are, however, two species that are more accesible than the rest of the family. Of course, now I want to see the rest of them. …

Indonesia 188

Indonesia Guinea Australia Cooking 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

This is, of course the Lesser Roadrunner. It is not that close of a relative of the Northern Mockingbird , being in the same family, but a different genus. Slate-throated Redstart : This lovely little bird is our most common resident (breeding) warbler, and in certain places you will hear it EVERYWHERE.

Trinidad 178

Trinidad Transported Emotional Mexico 178

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

You don’t really know a bird until you’ve studied it on its breeding grounds. Getting intimate with a species over the course of the breeding cycle is one of the more rewarding aspects of birding, and field research too. The clutch hatches out very asynchronously due to the female’s constant incubation over the course of laying.

Eggs 268

Eggs Venezuela Porcupines 2008 268

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

The authors trace the creation of swamps, wetlands, and meadows by farmers, and then the destruction of wetlands by the building of golf courses, the loss of meadows by the construction of train tracks. Because, as this book demonstrates so well, it is sometimes important to look back in order to move forward. It’s a very mixed chapter.

New York City 148

New York City New York Birds Breeding 148

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

I tried to get a better idea of what exactly the definition of cuckoo-dove is but am still not very clear about it – Wikipedia only offers the rather formal definition “any of several species of bird in the genera Macropygia , Reinwardtoena, and Turacoena of the pigeon family.” But I may well be wrong.

Geese 147

Geese Birds Fish Sparrows 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

Hannah Buschert was first exposed to birds and birding during a required ornithology course at Oregon State University and she quickly caught the birding bug. About half of all breeding Wandering Albatross nest on the Prince Edward Islands. Which makes it a haven for seabirds….and and seabirders.

South Africa 263

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2014

Twelve family accounts have been added. It is 72 pages longer than the first edition. An undisclosed number of family and species accounts have been updated. Nine photographers contributed most of the photographs used to illustrate the family sections, including Richard Crossley, Kevin T. Over 70 range maps were updated.

North America 177

North America America Family Falcons 177