10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

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.

New York City 227

New York City New York Birds Breeding 227

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2013

The story of the cahow, a “Lazurus species” that was thought to be extinct for over 300 years and then discovered to be breeding on a tiny remote island in Bermuda, is part of modern birding legend. In 1951, there were 18 breeding pairs of cahows discovered on three tiny islands.

Rats 226

Rats Breeding Birds 2012 226

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

Oil begins to wash up on the beaches throughout May and June of 2010 May 6, 2010 Oil washes ashore on the Chandeleur Islands off the Louisiana coast, an important nesting and breeding area for many bird species. Officials reported 48 marine mammals, mostly dolphins, and 87 dead sea turtles during the first two months alone.

2010 269

2010 Louisiana 2012 2011 269

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

We tried yesterday to visit the Nekromanteio of Afyra , the very entrance of ancient Greek’s Hades, but the world of the dead was locked up (well, not really for renovation, but for further research and digging at this archeological site). There cannot possibly be any birds left at the canal by the road. Circaetus gallicus.

Greece 244

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 244

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2012

This email was flagging up the activities of a ‘sporting agency’ in Britain who were offering trips/holidays to Morocco to shoot Turtle Doves. Further research revealed two more companies in Britain and several others across Europe all engaged in the same shooting tourism.

Morocco 221

Morocco Turtles Protest Protesting 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

They will feed up there and then head north to Siberia to breed. The shorebirds are starting to get their breeding plumage and the first to show some colour are the male Bar-tailed Godwit. For a researcher to get from Broome to Beijing it would take over 30 hours, as you would be required to fly south first!

2011 190

2011 Deer Australia New York 190

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2023

At some point, a Chinese researcher had a brilliant idea: Let’s prepare a paper on the complete mitochondrial genome of the Grey-backed Shrike! Ditto Oriental Turtle Dove. I still like the short species descriptions of eBird much better than the longer ones of the HBW or the dry ones of Wikipedia. Force of habit, I guess.

Hamburgers 246

Hamburgers China Science Birds 246

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2023

For example, a researcher and presumed ornithologist set out with two hypotheses related to the Ashy Drongo (and another drongo species) and wrote a paper about it. ” I wonder if the rules of the European Song Contest could also be adapted, with the worst performers being turned into birds or maybe turtles.

China 257

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 257

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2021

Of the dozen gifts mentioned in the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” seven are birds: the seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and – of course – a partridge in a pear tree. This is a book that will be read with pleasure and amazement by both birders and nonbirders.

Colombia 246

Colombia Birds Bald Eagle Guyana 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Given the complexity of the research, the result feels like a bit of a letdown – “northern populations start migration earlier than southern populations, especially in autumn” The species name of the Chestnut-eared Bunting is fucata , from the Latin “fucare”, to paint red. No wonder no species are named after me.

Eggs 264

Eggs Birds Bangladesh China 264