10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2012

There cannot be many ABA area breeding birds harder to get than those that only breed on the remotest tips of the north of North America and then fly off to places that aren’t on the major continental flyways. They do turn up on the coast of North America, but not often.

North America 206

North America Fiji Hawaii America 206

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2012

Most of the Osprey breeding in North America are migratory, only Florida, the Caribbean and Baja California host non-migratory breeders 1. In migratory populations males usually arrive to breeding grounds a few days before the females and look for nest sites. This pair copulated several times while I was observing.

California 235

California North America Sacramento Breeders 235

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2015

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest North American breeding bird 1. The males arrive on breeding grounds before the females and, according to their range map, they probably breed here in Shasta County. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. Click on photos for full sized images.

North America 248

North America 2010 Breeding America 248

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

The classic book Shorebirds very thoroughly describes Black-necked Stilt legs as “Pinkish-red in adults, brighter when breeding, dull fleshy-pink or greyish-pink in juveniles.”* I read all this and I still can’t help but think of bubble-gum when I look at these elongated bright pink legs. If anyone knows, I would appreciate a comment.

North America 228

North America America 2011 Jordan 228

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

This didn’t detract from the pleasure of finding one of North America’s most strikingly marked wablers. I was thrilled to be seing warblers so early in March, until I remembered that Townsend’s Warblers can be seen along the west coast during the cold months. It was almost as if the species had been forgotten.

San Francisco 243

San Francisco North America Owls America 243

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2012

When they are not getting ready to breed they are a pretty bland brown-and-white bird. Actitus macularius , as spotties are known to the scientific set, are widespread across North America and winter across Central and South America, even as far south as Chile. They are, of course, spotted, but only in alternate plumage.

New Jersey 201

New Jersey North America Chile South America 201

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2014

Green-tailed Towhee s breed in species-rich shrub communities within shrub-steppe habitats, and disturbed and open areas of montane forest, often created by forest fires 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. Click on photos for full sized images. Up in Ashland we found them on the outskirts of Howard Prairie Lake.

Oregon 232

Oregon North America Birds Owls 232

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

They leave their breeding grounds in early summer to move down the coast, some travelling as far south as the Gulf of California. This beautiful shorebird is on Audubon’s Watchlist because of its susceptibility to catastrophes on its limited breeding grounds. Of course, all birds in these photos are in non-breeding plumage.

Sanctuary 234

Sanctuary Breeders Alaska North America 234

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

Unlike North America, Germany has never had naturally occurring psittacines that went extinct, and the one we have is a true and complete invasive alien introduction. and the White Storks are also wild and countable despite breeding at the zoo. Yes, Germany has parrots, or parakeets to be more precise.

Germany 255

Germany Netherlands Zoos Costa Rica 255

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2011

Eagle Lake, Lake Almanor and Clear Lake have all been identified as Audubon California Important Bird Areas (IBA), meaning that they provide essential habitat for breeding, wintering, and migrating birds. Like the breeding activity of many species this spring, the grebes were late, probably due to the unseasonable weather.

California 250

California Eagles North America Blackbirds 250

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2011

According to Birds of North America Online , the Great-tailed Grackle’s ( Quiscalus mexicanus ) breeding range has been expanding northward for several years. Far north of where the current range maps show this species breeding. You can listen to some of their incredible calls, courtesy of Xeno-canto here.

California 212

California North America Breeding America 212

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2012

Common Merganser female by John Borg There are six living species of mergansers, three of which are commonly spotted in North America: The Common Merganser ( Mergus merganser ) ranges widely throughout the northern hemisphere. Anyway, the hoodie is the only merganser endemic to North America. Notice the sawbill?

North America 246

North America Thailand Russia Ducks 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2013

The Pygmy Nuthatch ( Sitta pygmaea ) is a non-migratory bird that lives primarily in Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine forests in western North America. They are one of the few cooperatively breeding passerines in North America and a third of the breeding pairs have 1–3 male helpers, usually progeny or other relatives.

North America 167

North America America California Collecting 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2013

Of all migratory birds breeding in North America, Swallow-tailed Kites are among the first to leave for the wintering grounds. The local kites at this time of the year are about to start breeding. Swallow-tailed Kites are also among the first migratory bird arriving to breed in the U.S.

Florida 259

Florida Cuba Colombia 2004 259

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The Bank Swallow ( Riparia riparia ) is North America’s smallest swallow. These birds have lost more than half their global population, and the 33 species combined have lost hundreds of millions of breeding individuals in just the past 40 years. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

North America 201

North America 2014 California America 201

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2015

They fly from extreme northern North America to the southern tip of South America and are seldom seen perched during migration. Another cool fact was learning that the Barn Swallows has started to breed in South America since the 80s. What prompted this amazing change is still unknown. Photo: Alfredo Begazo.

South Dakota 177

South Dakota South America North America Wyoming 177

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2012

If you see shorebirds on a coastal beach in North America they are most likely Sanderlings ( Calidris alba ). ” They appear on all the continents except Antarctica and migrate anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 miles from breeding grounds on the tundra to temperate and tropical beaches.

North America 230

North America 2008 Birds Sparrows 230

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2015

The distribution of color morphs is unequal in the Snow Goose population, with the maximum number of blue-morph geese occurring in mid-continent breeding and wintering areas 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYNb-0vYTE8. v=DYNb-0vYTE8.

Sacramento 214

Sacramento Geese North America Wildlife 214

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2013

Nearly every species of heron and egret in North America forage only feet away, some of them in their dazzling breeding displays. This is a bird that is becoming increasingly hard to see anywhere in North America so we passed over the dozens of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks to get a look at this pretty rarity.

Factory 247

Factory North America Alligators Trafficking 247

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2014

Let’s say you’re a bird wrapping up your breeding season in the north of Scotland—where do your thoughts turn when winter beckons? The researchers theorize that these birds might not be strays from the Scandinavian Phalarope population, but instead perhaps originally from North America. Photo by Adam Rowlands/HEMEDIA.

Iceland 221

Iceland Stray Ecuador South America 221

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2013

Our latest nester, these birds don’t start their breeding season until July and are frantically feeding young right now. I’m fascinated how some birds stretch our their stay in North America for breeding and some like orioles are in and out relatively quickly. This is such a weird time of year at bird feeders.

Baltimore 189

Baltimore North America Breeding Raised 189

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Heermann’s Gulls form large breeding colonies on arid islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from March through July. The largest colony exists on Isla Raza, where an estimated 90–95% of the total world population breeds 1. This photo by Basar from Wikipedia Commons shows the adult in breeding plumage. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUBX_tlHySc.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 161

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2011

I found these beauties at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, one of the many locations the Black-necked Stilt breeds in the California Central Valley (map courtesy of Terry Sohl at South Dakota Birds ). References: 1 Birds of North America Online a.

South Dakota 217

South Dakota Sacramento Jordan North America 217

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

Across the world’s northern oceans, 24 species of auklets, murres, puffins, guillemots, and related seabirds make a living catching food beneath the waves and breeding, often in large colonies, on coastlines and islands. Alcids are thought to have originated along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean during the Eocene or even the Paleocene.

Penguins 256

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 256

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

Many species that are currently common may stay that way, and some species will likely increase…and hopefully species besides House Sparrows , European Starlings , Rock Pigeons and Eurasian Collared-Doves , which those in North America know as the four avian horsemen of the apocalypse. Whats in it for birds?

North America 250

North America San Francisco California Suffering 250

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2013

Bushtits ( Psaltriparus minimus ) are the only New World representative of the long-tailed t**s ( Aegithalidae ) and they are primarily limited to the western parts of North America and the highlands of Central America. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. Birds Bushtit chickadees and tits West Coast

North America 213

North America Breeders America Breeding 213

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2013

The entire Golden-crowned Sparrow population migrates within North America between winter and summer ranges… arriving in California in September and October, often foraging with White-crowned Sparrows. Resources: 1 Birds of North America Online.

Sparrows 167

Sparrows Alabama North America New Jersey 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2020

May migration in many parts of eastern North America was and is an amazing natural celebration. Yes, the birding is truly exciting but we just don’t have the annual parade of breeding plumaged, singing warblers, grosbeaks, and orioles. I please guilty to being bedazzle-warbled. In Costa Rica, well…not so much.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Panama Nashville Baltimore 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2013

Perhaps because of threats to the ecosystems of the many places the Arctic Tern visits (Europe, Africa, South America, and North America), it may be on the decline. Some of those once-popular breeding spots now produce no chicks at all.

Bald Eagle 209

Bald Eagle Pandas Puffins Bears 209

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2012

They may also breed outside their normal breeding range following major winter irruptions 1. A small flock arrived in mid-March not quite in full breeding plumage. The grosbeaks were gone for a couple of months and returned at the end of May in full breeding plumage. References: 1 Birds of North America Online a.

Jordan 179

Jordan North America Breeding Birds 179

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I think most of us in North America have come to the somewhat disappointing conclusion that fall migration is pretty much finished for the year. We get to see a lot of them around here, and familiarity breeds, not contempt certainly, but perhaps apathy. You’re done. Look at those bright legs!

North America 229

North America North Carolina South America Tennessee 229

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2012

In North America, the Greater White-fronted Goose breeds in open tundra areas of the low Arctic from Point Barrow, Alaska to northeastern Keewatin, Northwest Territories, and it winters south to Chiapas, Mexico, thus having the broadest latitudinal range of any arctic-nesting goose 1. I was not disappointed! Great birding!

Geese 177

Geese Wildlife Sacramento South Dakota 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2011

While I often tease Corey about how many albatrosses we have down here in New Zealand, the fact is that the United States has three species of Albatross that breed within its boundaries, albeit one of them only very rarely, and visit the western shores of North America.

Albatross 193

Albatross Hawaii New Zealand Japan 193

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2011

They occur mainly in western and southern portions of North America, breeding inland in colonies on remote islands and wintering along warm southern coasts 1. In breeding plumage, adult American White Pelicans have a distinct “centerboard&# or “horn&# on the ridge of their bill. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEWUbe7ec4E

Pelicans 165

Pelicans Fish California Condor North America 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2013

Unlike the more common American Goldfinch, the Lesser Goldfinch’s ( Spinus psaltria ) plumage does not change color during breeding season. The female Lesser Goldfinch can sometimes be confused with the female American Goldfinch in breeding plumage. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

California 182

California Species Oregon North America 182

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Bank and Barn Swallows also migrate through in huge numbers, maybe even the majority of the individuals of these common species that breed in North America. Although some of the warblers do call, I have this impression that it’s much less than in the north, that they really keep quiet while they do their migration thing.

Costa Rica 338

Costa Rica West Virginia New York South America 338

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2016

The Mew Gull is the smallest of the “white-headed” gulls in North America, where it was formerly known as the Short-billed Gull. Maybe because there are 27 species, some of which take four years to attain adulthood and then some of the larger gulls cross breed! Click on photos for full sized images.

California 177

California Alaska North America Breeding 177