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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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How The Bird Got Its Beak

10,000 Birds

The feature distinguishes birds from other species; All birds have them, no other species do. Beaks vary across different kinds of birds, and this great diversity in beaks is part of the great diversity of the 10,000+ species of birds that exist today; Beaks thus facilitated the diversification of birds. Here’s the thing.

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Saving the Drowning Cormorant, or the Kerkini Lake, Greece

10,000 Birds

Several Ferruginous Duck and one surprising male Goosander , four Glossy Ibises , Common Kingfishers , Eurasian Hopooes , a high note of a Penduline Tit somewhere from the willows along the canal, Eurasian Spoonbills , European Turtle Doves gently purrring …. Five years ago, I observed Dalmatian Pelicans breeding on purpose-built platforms.

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I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. New World Vultures.

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Urban Ornithology: 150 Years of Birds in New York City–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

The book is divided into three parts: “Introduction,” “Avifaunal Overview,” and “Species Accounts.” 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. Most birders will go straight to the “Species Accounts.”

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Best* Bird Books, Binoculars, Bottles** of Booze, and Backpacks of the Bygone Year

10,000 Birds

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. No matter how big your avian-related library is, this would be a terrific addition to it.

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