10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

But for some poorly (or not-at-all) understood reason, its spread across North America has shown a very northwesterly orientation, so while birders as far away from the epicenter of the North American introduction in Florida as British Columbia get to see Eurasian Collared-Doves regularly we New Yorkers and other northeasterners are deprived.

New York 167

New York New York City North America Bahamas 167

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. Corey did just this in this 2011 posting about Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus in New York State. The project planning team worked with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology to develop a new type of Internet data atlassing application, based on eBird.

Pennsylvania 258

Pennsylvania Breeding Sparrows Birds 258

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

Unfortunately for me and other New York City birders, Bobolinks are hard to come by in our marvelous metropolis. In The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State one can see that only the southern tip of our southernmost borough, Staten Island, had breeding Bobolinks between 2000 and 2005.

Breeding 157

Breeding New York City New York 2000 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2015

New York, I can say with certainty that you have chosen the perfect bird to represent your state. Still, the bill passed in 1970 with only one voice in opposition: Assemblyman Posner of the Bronx, who pointed out that most New York City inhabitants had never seen an Eastern Bluebird, and probably never will.

New York 160

New York New York City United States 2010 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2013

The next day many New York birders celebrated Independence Day by mobbing the flats where they all dipped. It is a bird of the Pacific coast of North and South America, breeding in western Mexico and southern California. The fact that I was obsessing over seeing one in New York State shows how absurd some of we listers are.

New York 150

New York South America New Jersey 2013 150

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2014

Don’t get me wrong, they are nice to see, mostly because in winter we have so few shorebirds around in New York, but they are definitely not going to be the red-letter bird of an outing. But when spring comes and they get into high breeding plumage, wow! Birds never cease to amaze me. How do they do it?

Breeding 162

Breeding Eggs New York Birds 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2014

Every spring they totally steal the show in the northeast and you really can’t blame birders for abandoning their jobs, their families, and their sanity as they rush to New York City’s abundant and amazing parks to see the show live and in technicolor. … Birds migration New York City wood-warblers'

New York City 172

New York City New York Kentucky Abandonment 172

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Our campsite was gorgeous North Lake State Park in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, where the air is crisp, the forests are largely intact, and the bears force you to be careful about leaving food out when you go to sleep. In other words, it is an awesome place. Mom has a bug! Nom nom nom nom nom. I am adorable!

New York 184

New York Cooking Chipmunks Whales 184

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

Amazingly, it was a visiting birder from New York who discovered Neotropic Cormorants breeding in the Wakodahatchee Wetlands. Congratulations to Ardith Bondi for the great find !

Breeding 162

Breeding Florida New York 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2013

Now that passerine migration has largely wound down the attention of this New York birder has shifted to seabirds, shorebirds, and the occasional trip looking for breeding birds. Dunlin in breeding plumage are sexy beasts.

Eggs 164

Eggs New York Wounded Jamaica 164

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2014

All we do is complain about the lack of migrating birds so far and in New York City if southeast winds are blowing we are nearly despondent because southeast winds mean that the birds are moving north but the easterly component of the winds keep usually keep the bulk of birds to our west. … Birds migration wood-warblers'

New York 262

New York United States New York City Louisiana 262

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2014

On Saturday I awakened at 3:30 AM, tiptoed out of the house as quietly as I could, and headed north and west to Sullivan County, the first of three counties I planned to visit in a series of surgical birding strikes to see (or hear) the birds I had thus far missed this year as they migrated through New York City.

Breeding 162

Breeding New York Downers Breeders 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2012

Nassau County, New York, March 2009 After having fully explored the trail around the West Pond at Jamaica Bay , we four bird bloggers agreed to load up Patrick’s car and head over to Jones Beach to see what kind of birds we could find there and some other locations in Nassau County. And what a look at a life bird!

New York 160

New York Butcher Geese 2009 160

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

The Red-winged Blackbirds that were busy staking claims to breeding territory by singing from bushes, trees, and marsh plants were not groggy at all. , John from A DC Birding Blog , and Patrick from The Hawk Owl’s Nest at Jamaica Bay at 8 AM Saturday morning for some birding. Needless to say, I was a bit groggy when I met up with them.

New York 181

New York Honduras Jamaica Geese 181

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

You want to find a Cave Swallow in New York, huh? But what’s the big deal about seeing Cave Swallows in New York anyway? fulva , the nominate subspecies, which is much more orange-rufous than the birds from the “Mexican” population that we see in New York.

New York 124

New York Florida Texas Breeding 124

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Ring-billed Gulls in Breeding Plumage Ring-billed Gulls in Breeding Plumage By Corey • March 8, 2011 • 3 comments Tweet Share It should come as no surprise to readers of 10,000 Birds that I do not love gulls.

Breeding 145

Breeding 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Snowy Owl in Queens, New York, 1 December 2013. Here in New York State Snowy Owls have been reported in more than ten counties, with most of those counties having birds being seen in multiple locations. Snowy Owl in Queens, New York, 1 December 2013. Why the irruption of owls from the north?

Owls 278

Owls Rhode Island North Carolina New Hampshire 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2016

On Sunday, 5 June, word of Jay McGowan finding a Gargeney at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in western New York State hit the listservs. The long ride back to New York City was uneventful but much more upbeat than it was after the Gray Kingbird dip. We asked and word was the bird was seen.

New York 100

New York Bald Eagle New York City Kazakhstan 100

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 4, 2012

Queens, New York, May 2009 May is the month of migration in North America. Just take a look at some of the pictures I digiscoped in the first two days of May to get an idea of how great a month May is in the Borough of Queens, New York City.

New York City 166

New York City New York Litter 2009 166

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2014

Yellow-throated Warblers are a rarity in New York State and as I mentioned earlier this year they are usually considered an “overshoot,” that is, a bird that usually breeds further south that occasionally flies past its breeding grounds during migration before realizing what it has done and turning around to go back to where it belongs.

New York City 226

New York City New York Breeders Breeding 226

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2012

The Orange County / Rockland County border by the Hudson River, where Bear Mountain State Park, Harriman State Park, and the United States Military Academy all come together has the best variety of woodland breeding birds to be found within an hour of New York City.

New York City 221

New York City Kentucky United States Bears 221

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

The Eastern Kingbirds I knew from the fields of upstate New York were smartly dressed birds that perched on fences and chased Red-tailed Hawks. This being an uncommon species in upstate New York, I appreciate having an abundance of Cliff Swallows to look at. Eastern Kingbirds Form Flocks. Swallows Everywhere.

Costa Rica 338

Costa Rica West Virginia New York South America 338

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2013

We New York birders should be awash in migrating wood-warblers, flycatchers, vireos, tanagers, and a host of other birds right now. Sure, the expected wood-warblers that overshoot their breeding range are showing up and even the occasional rarity has appeared, but this spring has largely been dreadful for we northeasterners.

New York City 221

New York City New York Breeders 2013 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2018

To get there we would need to get out of New York, through New Jersey into Delaware, and then on through Maryland and Virginia until finally reaching our destination. We broke the drive down into two segments: from New York to Delaware on 31 March and from Delaware to North Carolina on 1 April.

North Carolina 100

North Carolina New York Delaware Puerto Rico 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2013

Three of those — the Black-chinned , Calliope , and Rufous Hummingbirds — breed in the Missoula area. That is, in extremely precise mathematical terms, three times more species of hummingbirds than breed near the Olde Homestead. It breeds into Alaska. My yard is nicer than Alaska (sorry Claire.)

Montana 251

Montana Alaska Stray Cats 251

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

” The fact that they are monogamous and pair up by November, 4 to 5 months before breeding, probably endears them to some. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. I found this pair among the Northern Shovelers at Delevan National Wildlife Refuge and watched as they perched atop a log for awhile, preening and scratching.

2006 254

2006 Ducks Wildlife New York 254

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

Small numbers of migrant wood-warblers were around, with Magnolia Warbler , Wilson’s Warbler , and Ovenbird being the highlights, though perhaps Ovenbird breeds there. And then there were the birds that made me remember for sure that I was in Delaware and not in New York. I wish we got more of them in New York.

Delaware 209

Delaware New York North Carolina Birds 209

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2011

Whether they are drakes in breeding finery or hens in muted shades of brown and white I can’t resist watching them, scoping them, photographing them. American Black Duck Anas rubripes All of the photos in this post were digiscoped at Mill Pond Park in Nassau County on New York’s Long Island.

Ducks 230

Ducks New York Breeding Birds 230

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Red-breasted Nuthatch at Jones Beach State Park, New York Ron Pittaway’s famous winter finch forecast includes some some non-finch irruptives, including Red-breasted Nuthatch. Remember that friend of mine that saw 17 breeding pairs of Snowy Owls in a single valley? Thank a pine cone. Or a spruce cone. Or a larch cone.

United States 275

United States Owls Atlanta North Carolina 275

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

Even better, many of them, adorned in fresh breeding plumage, are at peak pulchritude. Corey and I are covering different parts of New York State. The first weekend of May is not a time to ask if one will be birding; that avian observation will ensue is a foregone conclusion. Birds are on the wing AT THIS VERY MOMENT.

2014 199

2014 New York Birds Breeding 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2020

Our featured spirit this week is Neversink Spirits Gin, the flagship product of Neversink Spirits , a craft distillery in Port Chester, New York. Being located in a great apple-growing state like New York, Neversink uses 100 percent state-grown fruit to produce their apple-based gin. Good birding and happy drinking!

New York 198

New York Connecticut Mississippi North America 198

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2021

Spring in western New York was and is a time of melting snow, of ice chunks being rushed along the Niagara River, of when you wondered if this year, would it maybe stay warm in April and not snow again? Wilson’s Plovers are in Breeding Plumage. More Birds are Singing. All the way to Alaska maybe?

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica West Virginia Baltimore Virginia 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

The Yellow-throated Warbler is a wood-warbler that breeds almost exclusively in the southeastern United States. In New York City we get them as migratory overshoots though they do stick around and attempt to find a mate on occasion (and there has been documented breeding of the species in the state).

Florida 202

Florida New York City Dominica United States 202

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2011

The first time I saw a Western Tanager , it was in New York. Moreover, at the time I had no inkling that I’d be moving to Montana in two and a half years – in fact, it would be nearly a year before I decided to go to grad school and entertained the notion of leaving New York at all.

New York 184

New York Montana Breeding Fish 184

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Its population actually fluctuates in response to the availability of Spruce Budworm and though it nests on the ground it is entirely inseparable from the forests of the north during breeding season. I hope you enjoy the digiscoped shots in this post that were taken at Jacob Riis Park in Queens, New York. … a.

Tennessee 238

Tennessee Ecuador South America United States 238

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

Here in New York we have breeding harriers along the coast and in open country upstate but we get more in migration and quite a few wintering wherever there is habitat to support them. The easiest field marks for the harrier are its bright white rump; long, wide wings; and short tail. Northern Harrier coming in for a landing.

Sparrows 257

Sparrows Mammals New York Owls 257