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Shearwater Chase in Costa Rica

10,000 Birds

I strained to see them, could only see an occasional booby escape our bow, watch some of the hundreds of Wedge-tailed and Pink-footed Shearwaters zip by and hold on as our boat tested its speed. As we approached and drew nearly alongside the small seabirds, we also tested the limits of our optics, our balance, and our focus.

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The Beautiful and Colorful Mourning Dove

10,000 Birds

Even though the female lays only two eggs per nest attempt, they enjoy a protracted breeding season in which multiple nesting attempts can occur every 30 days, and in Southern locations, nearly year round. military, with all their ballistics and performance testing, it should be good enough for hunters.”

Hunters 175
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Tri-colored Egret or Snowy Heron?

10,000 Birds

Suspected hybrids between heron species, whilst extremely rare, have been documented for some time. Since then, there have been a handful of records of this rare breeding occurrence. . But they do spark an interesting and somewhat controversial debate that inevitably leads back to the same old question of what constitutes a species.

Arizona 170
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Drones: The Next Thing Birders Will Be Arguing About

10,000 Birds

I was chatting with Gordon about this and we discussed how drones could be a safer way to get photos of birds or document birds for breeding surveys, but he was quick to point out, “You and I already have an idea of what a safe distance would be to test that out with an active bald eagle nest. How close is too close?

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Urban Ornithology: 150 Years of Birds in New York City–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

The authors’ detailed delineation of problems with the accuracy of NYC breeding bird surveys or with the limits of historical writings may test a reader’s patience. 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.

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Do birds avoid predators because of culture?

10,000 Birds

Part of that research was to document human avoidance by ground mammals, and that was stark and apparent. But, if you capture wild birds (to make them pets) then breed them through one generation and they get out, they are bad at avoiding predators. I suspect social learning, well documented in birds.)

Birds 119
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Gulls Simplified: A Gull Book Review

10,000 Birds

Even more than warbler, shorebird, and sparrow identification, this is a field that tests our endurance (gull watching is too often done in bitter cold, windy conditions), patience (even getting one good photo can take hours as you try to separate the ‘interesting gull’ from the flock), observational skills (so many plumages!)