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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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Black-footed Albatrosses Rock!

10,000 Birds

For the most part the Black-footed Albatross is an all-American bird, with 97% of their population breeding in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (in the District of Hawaii), and a few others breeding in islands owned by Mexico and Japan. Learning to fly involves testing the wings. The Black-footed Albatross.

Albatross 157
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Great Egrets and the reliability of field marks

10,000 Birds

This is particularly interesting for birders in North America and Europe (duh!), since both species/forms may very well show up as vagrants on the wrong side of the Atlantic, and indeed there have already been reports of egretta from Atlantic islands off the coast of Europe (not sure if alba’s been claimed for North America).

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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!) Range Maps.

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I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

I’m focusing on Turkey Vultures here because they are undoubtedly the species most birders in North America (the home of 10kB) are most familiar with, but the name vulture applies to birds found around the globe. It’s worthy of admiration , if not respect, for this most disrespected of birds. millions years ago.

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Mitochondrial mysteries and splitting-lumping Yellow-rumped Warblers

10,000 Birds

The Yellow-rumped Warbler ( Setophaga coronata ) complex is one of the most abundant and widespread representatives of the New World warbler family in North America, present in many parts of the United States even through the winter months, when the birds feed on small fruits and other foods, including sap. So Toews et al.