10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2015

This is partly because it leaves at such high elevations (11,811 – 15,090 feet above sea level) along the high Andes of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. American Avocet in breeding plumage. The Andean Avocet breeds in small groups in loose colonies scattered along the shallow saline lagoons at high elevation.

Bolivia 165

Bolivia Chile Argentina North America 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2019

So, it just might be that pisco – the beloved South American grape brandy contentiously claimed by both Peru and Chile – is the only spirit named after birds. The name of the liquor is likely borrowed from the city of Pisco on Peru’s central coast, an important port for the pisco trade in the early days of the Spanish viceroyalty.

Peru 156

Peru San Francisco Parrots Chile 156

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Over the next few days, the Alpine Accentors ( Prunella collaris ) will arrive on their high-Alpine breeding grounds – it is time to start singing, despite that the treeless Alpine landscape is still under metres of snow. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes.

2011 235

2011 Breeders Deer Breeding 235

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2013

The current situation with exotic bird species in Florida is in a state of flux, particularly southeast Florida where the bulk of exotic bird diversity in the United States resides — and much of it “uncountable.” Egyptian Goose, looking for handouts at Kendall-Baptist Hospital, by Carlos Sanchez.

Florida 235

Florida Miami Bolivia Alligators 235

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2011

Undisturbed through thousands of generations by man or land predators, the birds accumulated piles of poop several meters thick and sat atop them with a proprietorial pride in huge colonies, breeding, feeding and creating even more guano. Now where have I heard that before? That’s when the strain was felt and Chile began to push.

Bolivia 240

Bolivia Chile Spain America 240

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Covering 1,261 species with data and taxonomy current up to August 2017, the field guide is an exciting achievement. And, then there are the more familiar birds–Wood-warblers, sandpipers, hawks–some species migrants, some species with a wide range. Can you guess which of the species cited above are endemic?

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

Getting to know the subtleties in differences between closely related species takes years of dedication and practice. Thirdly, many species of shorebirds display such vast differences in their summer and winter plumages that it is always interesting to note how some birds in the same flock are in contrasting stages of plumage.

Florida 237

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 237

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Pelagic birding off the Atlantic coast of Florida can be a frustrating experience, usually involving long waits of up to an hour or more interspersed with brief flurries of activity — a far cry from pelagic birding off of coasts blessed with cold water currents and nutrient rich upwelling such as California, southeast Australia, and Peru.

Florida 184

Florida United States Fish 2005 184

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America covers 827 species, including resident, migratory, and common vagrant birds. The end result is that the whole “biographic” area (NCA plus southern Mexico and northern Nicaragua) is home to 41 endemic bird species.

El Salvador 235

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2013

Trinidad is the northern limit of the range of the Red-breasted Blackbird , though it is unclear if the occasional birds that show up in Tobago are wanderers from Trinidad or northern South America or are breeding there. You can also find Red-breasted Blackbirds in Costa Rica and Panama and south to Peru and Brazil.

Blackbirds 173

Blackbirds Trinidad Costa Rica Nicaragua 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2011

As part of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil giveaway we asked readers of 10,000 Birds to name the bird in Brazil that they would like to see more than any other species. What follows are the responses that readers offered, a veritable aviary of sought after species. It is a really neat bird that I have not seen before.

Brazil 246

Brazil 2011 Birds Penguins 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2015

Three White-faced Whistling Ducks showed up in Villa Marshes in Lima-Peru. Villa Marshes is an Ebird hot spot and popular site among Peru’s fast growing birding community. Is this the first record of this species in the region in over a 100 years?, Ducks at Villa Marshes. Photo: Courtesy of Victor Bustinza.

Ducks 157

Ducks South America Peru Adoptable 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Similarly, descriptions of species repeated across volumes do not lose their accuracy with each publication. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 246

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. Frigatebirds (Fregatidae) Five species of frigatebird ply the planet’s tropical skies and seas. Ringer Gannets and Boobies (Sulidae) Black-and-white gannets breed on the cold, rocky coasts of the northern and southern oceans.

2011 181

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea California 181

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Birders who have been to California might be familiar with the latter two, indeed we would be close to the Poor Knights Islands later in the day, the site of the only breeding colony of Buller’s Shearwaters in the whole world. The final large petrel species is another gadfly petrel, albeit a much larger one than the Cook’s Petrel.

New Zealand 188

New Zealand Albatross 2011 Cooking 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

The little stiff-tails are almost year-round at Jamaica Bay though almost all leave to breed in the summer and in the depths of winter, when the ponds are almost completely frozen, they tend to head for open water. I can see why you thought you had found a new breed with this one. Do you think it is the female?

Ducks 177

Ducks 2011 Jamaica Deer 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2015

In February of 2013, I wrote a piece outlining my thoughts on which exotic bird species should be added to the American Bird Association (ABA) checklist. In 2014, the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee (FOSRC) voted to add this species to the Florida state list. The ABA Checklist Committee quickly followed suit.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Miami San Francisco San Antonio 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Being winter, this bird is in non-breeding plumage with more brown upper parts and lacking the white face it acquires in its aternate (breeding) plumage. On the way out I spotted a lone White-faced Ibis ( Plegadis chihi ) engaged in behavior I had not seen before. It was foraging in breast deep water.

Wildlife 162

Wildlife Sacramento 2011 Jordan 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. The guide covers 1,433 species, the number of birds documented at the end of 2014, the cutoff point for the book.

Bolivia 236

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

Outside of the breeding season a few birds may join together in a loose flock if the feeding is good. Very interesting species. To describe the back as grey makes it sound very drab, but in good light it takes on a bluish hue. Informed literature bears out my experience that most birds are seen singly or in pairs. Married to a Canon?

2011 233

2011 Deer India New York 233

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2016

But when you can’t get to Peru, sometimes you just have to make do closer to home — for instance, at the Muttontown Preserve. Today the Muttontown Preserve is a combination of tangled second-growth forest and open fields, suitable breeding habitat for a wide variety of beloved bird species.

Albania 100

Albania Kentucky Baltimore Birds 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

I had a beautifull view on 5 horned grebe here (one in breeding plumage), in Ann Arbor Michigan, for the 3 seconds it lasted, until I heard a huge “CRRACK&# , and I fell through the ice. On Sunday at Kissena Park I saw five species of sparrows. And my first Killdeer of year! I see why people sometimes call them gray ghosts.

2011 174

2011 New York Deer Philadelphia 174

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

They breed across Canada and Alaska’s boreal forest near ponds and lakes, using nest holes made by woodpeckers, almost exclusively flickers. Because of is huge range and large and growing population it is classified as a Species of Least Concern , great news for those who like to feel the gaze of the Bufflehead upon them.

2011 150

2011 Ducks Deer Portland 150

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

The most common species we see are the Stoke’s Sea Snake Astrotia stokesii , Dubois’ Sea Snake Aipysurus duboisii and the Olive Sea Snake Aipysurus laevis. She also monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of beach by bicycle and on foot. She is actively involved in fieldwork and maintaining the database.

Australia 174

Australia Sharks 2011 Deer 174

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

My best bird of the year is based on the sighting rather than the species. Obviously my best bird of the year is going to come during this trip, what with several species of endemic pitta and broadbill possible, not to mention 8 species of hornbill and numerous babblers, storks, kingfishers, trogons and even the endemic Bornean Bristlehead.

2013 171

2013 Costa Rica Birds India 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2011

The vast majority of Baltimore Orioles that breed in North America return to the tropics between Mexico and northern South America for the cold half of the year. A trip to the coastal plain may net you up to seven species of warblers, from the omnipresent Yellow-rumps to Chats and Cape Mays. Instead I saw a flash of orange.

North Carolina 140

North Carolina 2011 St. Louis Baltimore 140

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2013

Alfredo Begazo grew up with Peruvian Meadowlarks and Marvelous Spatuletails, and was used to waking up to the morning choruses of Pacific Doves in Lima, Peru. Alfredo, an experienced birder in Peru and well-rounded naturalist, founded a birding and nature eco-travel company , known as Surbound Expeditions (Sur=Spanish for south).

Chile 235

Chile Peru South America Florida 235

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And a mere 120 bird species would be a good reason not to take Polynesia as an option. So, the perfect country to move to needs to have at least twice as many species as Serbia.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2022

It is a relatively small hornbill, and not very shy – some photos below were taken on the campgrounds of Kruger Park, which more or less seem to be the species’ natural habitat by now. While I write this, the vessel is on a trip from Shekou, China to Callao, Peru, presumably to pick up some ore, most likely copper ore.

South Africa 246

South Africa Africa Seals China 246

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2020

The book offers numerous facts about many species, findings of hundreds of research projects, notes on trends and exceptions from the norm, but little that captures the poetry of winter bird behavior or ignites a passion for change.

Hoarding 228

Hoarding Birds Research Sweden 228

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

In southern Africa, there are two species. Outside of the tropics, nesting would usually take place in the spring (in the southern hemisphere, spring and the height of the breeding season occurs before Christmas); these pictures were taken in March as the weather in Cape Town is beginning to cool. How do we know this?

2011 211

2011 Deer Africa Peru 211

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Hunting sandhill cranes in Kentucky is a bad idea from a public relations standpoint, considering the growing cadre of birders and nature enthusiasts for whom cranes are a touchstone species. Initiating a hunting season on a large, charismatic species like a crane is no way to resuscitate hunting.

2011 263

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

Among these white-headed/dark-winged gulls formerly lumped into the genus Larus , there were 18+ recognized species the last time I checked, sharing similarities that make telling them apart for the amateur birdwatcher very difficult. 1998), then the proper name for this species is L. fuscus – should be separated as species.

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Deer Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2015

The Brown Pelican and the Peruvian Pelican are closely related and once were considered the same species. Brown Pelicans in non-breeding plumage. The Peruvian Pelican is restricted to the cold water of the Humboldt Current along the coast of Peru and Chile. Both are the only Pelican in their non-overlapping breeding grounds.

Pelicans 157

Pelicans North America Peru Chile 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

Here’s some data from the famous research project of Manu, Peru, giving biomass in kilograms per hectare. The clifftop habitats along rocky shores of the North Atlantic (on both sides of the pond) abound in bird biomass during breeding bouts, for instance. The data here are from the site of Manaus: All animals: 200 Mammals: 8.4

Mammals 214

Mammals Rodents Reptiles Birds 214

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. 2012 has certainly been a bumper year for me with an estimated year list of around 3,000 species after extensive travels to South Africa, Ethiopia, South Korea, Indonesia, the Russian Far East, United Kingdom, Peru, Guatemala and Panama.

2012 198

2012 Guatemala Birds Florida 198

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

In the right season, with a little luck, we often find it, and sometimes it perches high and long enough that we can admire its scimitar of a bill, its stern face pattern, and even the patch of rusty red on the undertail that gives the species its English and its scientific names. Jochen Mar 8th, 2011 at 6:53 pm Haaaaa! Thanks for visiting!

Tucson 140

Tucson 2011 Arizona Deer 140