10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2013

At first glance you might not recognize this bird as a Golden-crowned Sparrow ( Zonotrichia atricapilla ). 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.

Sparrows 173

Sparrows Alabama North America New Jersey 173

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

. “By examining the genetics, we have shown conclusively that the Italian sparrow is of mixed origin – it is a hybrid of the house sparrow and the Spanish sparrow,&# Dr Saetre told BBC Nature.

Sparrows 154

Sparrows Science Breeding Species 154

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

Sparrows, on the other hand, seem to make the most of the lamb-like weather left over from the end of March and make their move northward while wistful, wood-warbler-wishing birders have seen few of their quarry. In the New York City area the number and variety of sparrows a birder can see in mid-April is astounding.

Sparrows 145

Sparrows New York City Fox New York 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 16, 2012

Then, while walking along a phragmite-lined ditch, a small sparrow flushed, flew a few feet, and dropped back down. I immediately knew it wasn’t one of the usual Savannah Sparrows that populate the old landfill. Did I have a Le Conte’s Sparrow ? But would it give me a look? Could I report the bird?

Sparrows 164

Sparrows Dogs Geese Rights 164

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2014

In addition to the Veery I saw or heard a pair of Yellow-billed Cuckoos , some cooperative Eastern Kingbirds , Swamp Sparrows , Warbling Vireos , Wood Thrush , Cedar Waxwings , a Worm-eating Warbler , and, well, you get the idea: it was awesome! Grasshopper Sparrows don’t seem to sing terribly loudly but their song carries a long way.

Breeding 162

Breeding New York Downers Breeders 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2020

That still leaves 11 Warblers that breed in Michoacán. Like the Common Yellowthroat , the Yellow Warbler breeds no further south than the central Mexican highlands. I must admit that I had the idea the Grace’s Warbler , common in our pine forests, were also at the southern edge of their breeding range here.

Honduras 359

Honduras Mexico South America America 359

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

APRIL 3, 2012

The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. Superficially, it resembled the Black-chinned Sparrow of the southwestern United States with its gray chest and chestnut streaked with black back.

New Jersey 254

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 254

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. Happily, the sparrows finally arrived this weekend and have strutted around my feeders enough for me to fully admire their beauty.

New York 264

New York Sparrows Birds Breeding 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2024

One of my ornithologist friends appears to be happy counting House Sparrows and Eurasian Collared Doves for his lists; he also claims that the eBird name stands for “e(very)Bird counts” I doubt that is really where the name came from, but hey, the sentiment sounds so darned noble. But this was clearly an immature bird.

Sparrows 246

Sparrows Livestock Birds North America 246

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. On Sunday morning I was working my way through a flock of sparrows at Edgemere Landfill in Queens, one of my favorite birding locales. Northern Harrier.

Sparrows 257

Sparrows Mammals New York Owls 257

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2014

What we don’t get to hear is them singing, as they seem to only sing once they reach their breeding grounds. Just don’t embarrass yourself by hearing a Chipping Sparrow and confidently declaring that you just got your first Pine Warbler of the year. I hope you all found this post informative and entertaining.

New York 263

New York United States New York City Louisiana 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

Pygmy Cormorant – winter (it breeds in Serbia, but overwinters in Belgrade). Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser – Belgrade in winter; otherwise, the first one breeds in Serbia. White-tailed Eagle – year round (breeds inside the city). Spanish Sparrow – still ill-numbered but, since recently, breeding near the city.

Serbia 221

Serbia Eagles Sparrows Birds 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2012

I know I will be carefully tracking the arrivals and getting excited about them but, like Nate, it is unlikely that I will notice when I see my last Dark-eyed Junco before it disappears to head back to its breeding grounds.

Sparrows 225

Sparrows Birds Breeding 225

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2013

Proposal 2013-A-6 would split the shearwater taxon baroli , which breeds on several Atlantic island groups (the Azores, Canaries, Selvages, and Madeira) and strays to North American waters, from its current position as part of the Little Shearwater ( Puffinus assimilis ) complex. Sage Sparrow split. Shearwater split.

2013 229

2013 Sparrows Stray Owls 229

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2022

In July 2011 a Henslow’s Sparrow was found in Ames, N.Y., Although Henslow’s had been reliably found in nearby Sharon Springs for many years, the last documented sighting was in 2008, and the sighting startled longtime birders, waking them up to the fact that breeding sites in the state were rapidly being lost.

Connecticut 264

Connecticut Sparrows Birds New York 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2011

Every spring the wood-warblers come north bedecked in breeding finery and every autumn they head back south again in more muted colors. Now that it is October and the wood-warblers are mostly replaced by sparrows it seemed like a good time to share the fruits of my labors.

Tennessee 253

Tennessee 2011 Sparrows Breeding 253

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2022

Snowy Plovers also breed half an hour north of my home, so we have those in common. Las Mesas is the only place I’ve found for which the Black-chinned Sparrow is a reliable species, but this adorable bird, perhaps my favorite local sparrow, always seemed to position himself with some severe backlighting… until this trip.

San Diego 264

San Diego Turtles Mexico Sparrows 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2024

True, most of our migrant breeding birds start to return in April, but in May even the late arrivals – Turtle Doves, Swifts, Spotted Flycatchers and Nightjars – finally appear. Perhaps most spectacular of all were two fine Grey Plovers in full breeding finery, living up to their American name of Black-bellied Plover.

Greece 246

Greece Turtles Breeding Europe 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

With the proliferation of those erstwhile invaders, House Sparrow , European Starling , and Rock Pigeon , there a lot of homogeneity among these species, which is a shame because what parking lot birds generally lack in beauty they more than make up for in charisma. Quiscalus major , the Boat-tailed Grackle.

North Carolina 222

North Carolina Fast Food Sparrows Birds 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2022

Rufous-collared Sparrow. We have House Sparrows too but this bird is much more common. This is our usual sparrow, the one that sings a cheery song from a roadside wire, the ones that forages on the ground. Hedgerows seem to provide important breeding spots for this smart looking bird. Chestnut-capped Warbler.

Costa Rica 279

Costa Rica Birds Sparrows Woodpeckers 279

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2020

Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrows and Stripe-headed Sparrows are also fond of this brushy grass habitat. Stripe-headed Sparrows , when they sing, sound like someone squeezing a rubber ducky as fast as they can. And they sing a lot! Among the birds contributed by the lowland Thorn Forest habitat is the Thick-billed Kingbird.

Mexico 264

Mexico Nicaragua Lamb Sparrows 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2024

By Leslie Kinrys Leslie Kinrys has loved birds since her father put a House Sparrow fledgling in her young hands. A Palm Warbler , in breeding plumage, hopped onto the end of our table. She lives and birds in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with some trips farther afield. We decided to have a picnic lunch there.

Alligators 235

Alligators Woodpeckers Turkey Florida 235

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2012

The Boreal Owl breeds in high Spruce-Fir/Douglas-Fir forest which lie above 9,000 feet. Northern Pygmy-Owls tend to breed in the foothills from 5,000-8,500 feet above sea level but prefer steeper slopes amidst canyons which don’t often receive too much sunlight. Believe me, the snow pack is still remarkably deep up there.

Owls 248

Owls Colorado Breeding Sparrows 248

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

These are neither sparrows, nor finches, but tanagers. Most of these birds are small, finch-like species with thick, conical bills for cracking seeds or eating insects. Odd little grassquits singing from power lines in South America’s great cities. Iconic and amazing Galápagos finches, some of which even learned how to use tools.

2003 256

2003 Sparrows South America Family 256

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Add more than 350 pairs of White Pelicans to that picture, numerous herons and up to 700 pairs of Pygmy Cormorants breeding in the same reedbeds (cover photo)… It must be bursting with activity in spring, but I was there in mid-September. Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Albania 252

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2012

” 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. I was hoping to find a host of sparrows, and did see some, but the Sanderlings definitely stole the show. They are far and away my favorite shorebird.

North America 242

North America 2008 Birds Sparrows 242

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

We have House Sparrow , Rock Pigeon , and European Starling like almost everyone else along with the usual Ring-billed Gulls that join them in winter. However, they do not settle down and setup breeding territories at my local inland locations until the latter half of April.

Dominican Republic 254

Dominican Republic Puerto Rico Miami Florida 254

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

MARCH 20, 2012

The species I refer to is, of course, the House Sparrow Passer domesticus. But the lowly House Sparrow does not need to stay in the realm of the hated, the persecuted, the vilified. If Philip Morris can become Altria and if Blackwater can become Xe, then why can’t the House Sparrow be rebranded as well?

Sparrows 180

Sparrows 2010 Campaign America 180

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

The burgeoning number of waders in the fall reminds locals that many herons and egrets disperse northward during the late spring and early summer to breed and feed, returning in the late summer and fall to seek refuge from the oncoming cold and lack of food. Why do Lark Sparrows always show up in September in Miami and then vanish?

Florida 264

Florida Miami Falcons Birds 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Of olde, it was known as the Hedge Sparrow to separate it from the House and Tree Sparrows. Confusion with the sparrows is understandable, given the plumage and their tendency to feed from the ground. Familiarity makes them easy to separate from the sparrows, even at a distance. Now it is classified with the Accentors.

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Sparrows Eggs Raised Breeding 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2020

The Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher is one of the relatively few birds that winter in South America, but fly no further north than Mexico for the breeding season. So was this Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow. The Rusty Sparrow can be seen in much of Mexico and Central America. Black-headed Siskin.

Squirrels 216

Squirrels Sparrows South America Mexico 216

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

I love birding in the fall because of the sheer number of birds that come through after breeding season and because with molting birds and juvenile birds things can sometimes get a bit challenging. There is something about a Savannah Sparrow in dawn light. And this weekend was a gorgeous weekend to be out looking for birds.

Birds 259

Birds Fish Sparrows Breeding 259

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

Southern Florida offers many unique wintering birds, but perhaps none more so then the sparrows that call different parts of Florida their winter homes. Their population is currently stable among the arctic regions where they breed. The song is very much like other Ammodramus sparrows in that it is buzzy, wheezy and high pitched.

South Dakota 191

South Dakota Florida Sparrows Wildlife 191

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2021

The first words describing this species in Wikipedia are “poorly-documented” Before 2015, when I first saw it in Paso Ancho, it had only been reported twice on eBird outside of its Sierra Madre Occidental breeding range: once from Taxco, Mexico, and another report from Nicaragua. Black-chested Sparrow. Rose-throated Becard.

Nicaragua 264

Nicaragua 2015 2016 Mexico 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Above them, on limestone cliffs, Alpine Swift and Crag Martin breed. Forest covers 70% of the area (hornbeam, beech and oak). Along the creeks, search for White-throated Dipper (cover photo), Grey Wagtail and Common Kingfisher.

Serbia 264

Serbia Woodpeckers Owls Eagles 264