10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

After all, California Audubon’s site states that “This is a conservation award. These Burrowing Owl photos were taken at a rare breeding site in Vacaville California. One way we can do that is by voting for the Burrowing Owl as the California Audubon Bird of the Year in 2013. How does that sound for a headline?

California 262

California Owls 2013 Factory 262

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

As of 27 August 2013 the California Bird Records Committee has voted to add the introduced Nutmeg Mannikin to the state checklist. Or, as Seagull Steve puts it : The dreaded Nutmeg Mannikin has been added to California’s official state list by the California Bird Records Committee (aka Bird Police).

California 248

California Los Angeles 2013 Eggs 248

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

The coastal subspecies of California Gnatcatcher ( Polioptila californica californica ) can be found in sage scrub that was once abundant from Ventura County to northern Baja California. Because the coastal California Gnatcatcher lives on such valuable land, its “threatened” status creates economic conflicts. But its U.S.

California 214

California District of Columbia Los Angeles San Diego 214

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2014

In October of 2012, the Institute for Bird Populations released “ A Conservation Strategy for the Black-Backed Woodpecker in California 3.” ” The purpose of this Conservation Strategy is to provide a roadmap for conserving Black-backed Woodpeckers in California through informed management. Siegel and, D. Version 1.0.

Woodpeckers 225

Woodpeckers California South Dakota Chad 225

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2013

The male (seen below) has a black cap and, in Washington, Oregon, California, and Baja California, nearly all males have green backs. Unlike the more common American Goldfinch, the Lesser Goldfinch’s ( Spinus psaltria ) plumage does not change color during breeding season.

California 223

California Species North America Oregon 223

AVMA News

JANUARY 29, 2025

Veterinarians have stepped up to support pets and colleagues impacted by the devastating wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area since early January.

Los Angeles 304

Los Angeles California Pets 304

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2019

The reserve at San Joaquin had already been very generous to me, so I was delighted to add to my California list in such style. New to California, indeed new to my North America list, was a Red-necked Phalarope , Phalaropus lobatus. The post A couple of California firsts. But even better was to come.

California 171

California Japan Arizona North America 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2017

As many birders know, the last wild California Condors were captured by the U.S. Both parties — FWS and Audubon — wanted the same thing: preservation of the California Condor. On December 16, 1985, FWS executed an abrupt about-face and issued a permit authorizing the capture and removal of all surviving wild California Condors.

California Condor 157

California Condor California District of Columbia Utah 157

AVMA News

JUNE 17, 2024

Most recently, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced May 7 that it had been detected in the state’s deer and elk.

Free Range 400

Free Range Deer California Fish 400

AVMA News

AUGUST 20, 2024

Janis Shinkawa, a multi-practice owner in Ventura, California, was recently installed as chair of the National Association of Women Business Owners’ board of directors. The organization has been advocating for and training women entrepreneurs since 1975.

California 387

California 387

AVMA News

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

The effort comes thanks to a task force that has combined expertise from AVMA staff members and librarians from Cornell University, Texas Tech University, the University of California, Davis, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania 428

Pennsylvania Texas California 428

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

The Vermilion Flycatcher ( Pyrocephalus rubinus ) is usually found near the US – Mexican border but we were fortunate this year to find an adult male in northern California! Click on photos for full sized images.

California 165

California Sacramento Wildlife Groups 165

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

We conduct four Christmas Bird Counts in our part of Northern California, the first of which is the Fall River Christmas Bird Count coming up in just about two weeks. Did I forget to mention seeing California Quail ( Callipepla californica ) … and Black-billed Magpie ( Pica pica ) on the way into the lake?

California 145

California Sparrows Rats Philadelphia 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2024

Still in California! And if you recall my previous post, I couldn’t shut up about how much I loved the Sierras of California:) So, yeah. And yet ANOTHER couple of days that I can dedicate for chasing birds around the Golden State. You can guess whereabouts I went.

California 246

California Birds 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

I am a big fan of all things Nuthatch , and White-breasted Nuthatches (of which I spoke last week) are common in both Michoacán and California. One house had a stand of California Redwoods that was crawling with them. California Towhee. But I do know that Westerns can be observed in California. Canyon Towhee.

San Francisco 262

San Francisco Mexico California United States 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2024

While in California on this trip, I saw 75 species. Of the 112 species on my current California life list, 59 are also common around Morelia. In fact, those 35 species I mentioned, only the Cooper’s Hawk and Warbling Vireo summer in California and winter in the highlands of central Mexico. Please let it be so.

San Francisco 242

San Francisco California Mexico Advocacy 242

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2024

On Tuesday, my wife and I travelled 1750 miles (2,800 km) from our home of thirty years in Morelia, to the region in which I grew up, the San Mateo Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. 11 were new for my California lifelist. Two other species also warmed my California-boy heart. But will I bird?

San Francisco 246

San Francisco California Woodpeckers Turkey 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2021

Corey is loving the California birds but his Best Bird of the Weekend was a bird that doesn’t really belong in southern California. He chased a Ruff on the Santa Ana River in Anaheim and such a cool vagrant automatically beat out other great birds like California Gnatcatcher to take his top spot for the weekend. Good times!

California 264

California New York Birds Experience 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2024

Back when I was a kid growing up in California’s San Mateo County in the 60s and 70s, my family would occasionally drive 45 minutes west and south to Bean Hollow State Beach. California Gulls are also large, but have somewhat lighter wings with barely noticeable mirrors. The much rarer Glaucous-winged Gulls (lifer!)

California 246

California Sea Lions Marine Life Puffins 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2021

In October of 2017, I took what was my first trip to California as a birder. We’d arrived in San Francisco just in time for the very beginning of the record-breaking 2017 Northern California wildfires. The view of Tomales Bay from the picnic tables at Hog Island Oyster Company in Marshall, California.

San Francisco 264

San Francisco 2020 California Blackbirds 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2013

All photos by Keiller Kyle, courtesy of Audubon California. After all, there are only a few hundred thousand left of these birds to gaze at, in a range that’s based mainly in California. federal level, and a Species of Special Concern in California. (For For a birder, a sighting of a Tricolored Blackbird is a treat.

Blackbirds 245

Blackbirds California Cattle Eggs 245

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2021

I spent Saturday recovering from my red eye back from California but I did get out to coastal Queens on Sunday morning, though I didn’t see much. Fortunately, we have an expansive view of weekends here at 10,000 Birds so I can choose one of the birds I saw in California on Friday before I flew out as my Best Bird of the Weekend.

Alaska 264

Alaska California New York Birds 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

California is big. I only had a few days in California while visiting my brother at Berkeley, but we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to visit one of the most famous birding sites in the country: Point Reyes National Seashore. Trips Birding California lighthouse point reyes' Migrating Gray Whales.

Seals 242

Seals Elephants Whales Whaling 242

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2021

One, the Steller’s Jay , was already an old friend — from my California youth — when I saw it there in 2014. Like many birds, this sea-level bird in California is a very high-altitude bird down here. In our coastal California garden, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee was a regular visitor.

California 260

California 2014 Mexico Rights 260

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

Leaving aside the fact that an urban park in San Diego is anything resembling an “natural” environment in the first place (though there were Wrentits, a California near-endemic, around). And why not make a trip, even if it’s undeniably less exciting than a California Thrasher or a Heerman’s Gull.

San Diego 237

San Diego Unwanted California Texas 237

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Alexander Brown of California, a winemaking project by the musician better known as Zac Brown. So, for now, here’s just a quick review of this lovely and accessible California pinot noir. It is, however, our first wine from Z. The 2017 Z.

2017 207

2017 Barn Owls California Owls 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

Though we have already covered the addition of the Nutmeg Mannikin to the official California state checklist we neglected to let you know that the ABA Checklist Committee quickly followed suit. This had bad results for Adolf Hitler, as the video above proves. Birding listing video'

Neglecting 247

Neglecting California Birds 247

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2012

It seems likely that the squirrels we saw are of the nominate subspecies, seeing as Merriam described the species from a specimen taken in Riverside County, California, not far from Joshua Tree National Park.* The other subspecies range from the southern end of Baja California north into Idaho and Oregon but never east of the Colorado River.

Squirrels 262

Squirrels Chipmunks Idaho Mammals 262

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2013

Corey was very pleased to finally find a Bell’s Vireo this weekend in Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Orange County, California. One of three lifers in his first two days in California and one that he was proud to identify by voice before he tracked down a visual. It mostly made up for this disaster. How about you?

2013 228

2013 California Birds Experience 228

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2013

A large number of people I talk to believe the island to be next to the city of Santa Cruz, California. It is sometimes hard to think Santa Cruz Island is sitting just offshore from paved, congested, smoggy southern California. Destinations California I Am Birder Island Scrub Jay Santa Cruz Island' This is not true.

California 223

California Sea Lions Whales Whaling 223

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2013

The Cascade Range, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, extends from Northern California to Southern British Columbia. Undoubtedly one of the most interesting aspects of Burney Falls for birders is that it is one of the few locations in California where nesting Black Swifts ( Cypseloides niger ) can be found.

California 240

California Costa Rica North America Niger 240

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

Out of over 30 respondents, almost everyone wanted money for better facilities, paid staff, on-call veterinarians, emergency vehicles, food, and protected land – from Terry and Lindsay in California to Cindy in Michigan, from Sally in Kentucky to Mickie in South Dakota, and Lisa and Lia in New York. wrote Veronica in California. “I

Wildlife 255

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma Michigan 255

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2012

Anna’s Hummingbird is resident in California, up through Oregon and into Washington and during the colder months will certainly be the most frequently seen hummer in the area. Often it is the only one likely to be seen then.

San Francisco 253

San Francisco Oregon Washington California 253

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2022

The life list rises by 2 , to 4,126 species : 4,125: Townsend’s Storm-Petrel (California, US). 4,126: Cook’s Petrel (California, US). September: 82 checklists and 259 species. The 2022 year list is up to 1,188 species. Both of these birds were seen on my pelagic tour out of San Diego. Good Birding!

San Diego 202

San Diego Costa Rica United States Cooking 202

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

First, you get to tour one of their California centers , you get a special opportunity to see a Pelican getting its final medical exam and numbered leg band, plus you get the honor of releasing one, or in my case, two of their rehabilitated pelicans! There are advantages to being a “Pelican Partner” for International Bird Rescue

Bird Rescue 250

Bird Rescue Pelicans Rescue California 250

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2022

Just as lighthearted but equally grown-inducing is the “pair of ducks/paradox” pun at work in this week’s featured wine, Paraduxx, a red wine blend from Duckhorn Vineyards from Napa, California.

2018 264

2018 Ducks France California 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The Bank Swallow was listed as a threatened species in California in 1989 by the California Fish and Game Commission and the number of breeding pairs has declined steadily since then. In California, much of the Bank Swallow’s nesting habitat in the southern and central areas has been eliminated by flood and erosion-control projects.

North America 243

North America 2014 California America 243