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When you think of invasives, you think of the birds that have been helped by human beings to get where they are, such as House Sparrow or European Starling. Other species have certainly expanded their ranges, but never in such a rapid and global scale. Cattle Egret has been introduced by humans to Hawaii and the Seychelles.
This species loves to sing while high up in pine trees. There was the Botteri’s Sparrow giving a larger Canyon Towhee a piece of its mind, on my way into town: The reservoir itself was underwhelming, only offering me a collection of white Egrets (Cattle, Snowy and Great) and a single Great Blue Heron.
Still, the outing did not produce any new species for the year, or enough good photos for a post here. Instead, I have chosen to write about an idea I’ve had percolating for a while: to tell you what the most common species are down here. Cattle Egrets are very common outside of the most urbanized areas.
Like my two previous visits I spent one day that I didn’t have to lead any field trips doing a run through central Florida looking for some of the specialty species of the region. The list includes Bachmann’s Sparrow , Red-cockaded Woodpecker , Crested Caracara , Snail Kite , and, oddly, Whooping Crane. He likes it there.
That honor goes to the Gray-crowned Crane , a very sexy species in its own right. Our satisfied group then moved on the other treasures to be found at Mabamba, a slew of kingfishers, waders, raptors, and assorted songbirds that quickly grew to a list of over 70 species in just a few blissful hours.
On the northern birding calendar, October is a time for sparrows, cool weather, and tired fall leaves. It’s when Orange-crowned Warblers share the Goldenrod with lisping and chirping sparrows, when hardy Yellow-rumped Warblers dominate the Parulid scene. In Costa Rica, the tenth month is when birds pass through in droves.
Some 320 species have been recorded here, and in springtime it is possible to observe more than 150 bird species in a week. We also observed nests of Pygmy Cormorants , Dalmatian Pelicans , Little Egrets , Cattle Egret (with a chick), Squacco Heron , and Spoonbills. The lake lies at a mere 35 m / 115 ft a.s.l.
White-crowned Sparrow. The road was lined with scrub and short trees, and I spotted not one but two new sparrowspecies. White-crowned Sparrows are possible winter sightings where I live in North Carolina, but not at all common, while Savannah Sparrows has been one of my nemesis birds for quite some time.
In an unhurried half-day of birding, we racked up over 90 species, including killers like Denham’s Bustard , Northern Carmine-throated Bee-eater , and Shelley’s Rufous Sparrow. How is birding in Murchison Falls, you ask? Mind boggling, I answer!
The Feral Pigeon and the House Sparrow came the day after, when in the lush green oasis of the Sanitas nursery tea garden I noticed the announcement of the next meeting of the Botswana Bird Club. Under that impossibly blue sky of Africa.
There was a large raft of hundreds of American Coot , an American White Pelican and lots of duck species. We spotted a Black-throated Sparrow … … and then our guides heard Cassin’s Sparrow calling. We then checked the Presa El Nogalito for one bird species in particular. The birds warmed us too. We stopped.
Yet, 79 checklists were submitted by 8 beats, accounting for 366 species in 5 countries. Yet, 79 checklists were submitted by 8 beats, accounting for 366 species in 5 countries. Yet, 79 checklists were submitted by 8 beats, accounting for 366 species in 5 countries.
Between them, they found 389 species in 5 countries. Insects were held back by weird spring weather, but now the warmth returns and the birds are feasting on the late stirring bugs. June saw 8 beats get their birding boots on and share 90 checklists for your pleasure.
The warm, sunny climate beckons a wide variety of passerines, raptors, and shorebirds to spend the winter, inflating the species diversity to the extent that Miami-Dade can go toe-to-toe with counties in Texas and Arizona during this season. Song Sparrow is a genuine rarity in Miami-Dade. Cattle Egret: 133. Brown Pelican: 53.
I’m only supposed to document one specific species, but I also note the other birds because in a 4 hour period, I’m lucky if I see the target species for 15 minutes. Savannah Sparrows are the most common and I do enjoy their territory song. Each week a new species tried to test the patch for nesting territory.
I love sparrows, so seeing a feather-worn Vesper Sparrow this past July filled my heart with joy. We saw sparrows–a total of 14 species–and we saw many other great prairie birds, and we often saw them perched on posts. Baird’s Sparrow was one of those elusive creatures.
While we continue to decimate our short and tall grass prairies many species reach their inevitable peril. Furthermore, with the rapid expansion of oil and gas development in the norther tier states like North Dakota, birds like Sprague’s Pipit and Baird’s Sparrow become more at risk.
The prospect of identifying a certain number of species in a given amount of time pushes us to pay more attention to birds no matter what the circumstances (although I suggest keeping the exclamations about species identifications to yourself during such solemn situations as funerals, graduations, and watching episodes of The Sopranos).
They birded 7 countries during August and recorded 542 species. The year list remains sluggish at 1489 , but the life list received a boost from the eBird taxonomy reshuffle and now includes 4076 species. Stay vigilant and safe. 10 of the beats have submitted 124 checklists which are collated below for your perusal.
They belong to the same species like those found back in Europe, Sus scrofa – which inhabits a belt stretching from northern Africa and Europe all the way to Indonesia, but a different subspecies, S.s. The next two species are the Southern Grey Shrike and the Tawny Pipit , also characteristic for this habitat type. ceylonensis.
Seeing 50 species of birds on an early summer day in lowland England isn’t difficult, but on the moors of the Pennines – the rugged hills that form the spine of northern England – it’s not so easy. Though they remain a legal quarry species, they are rarely shot. Scoping from the road for Black Grouse.
Wild birds other than the usual sparrows, starlings, and pigeons find better places to be far from the tourist traps of this well-traveled city. BIRDING SEA WORLD One would expect a marine-themed attraction to deliver some sweet bird species. In this, I was absolutely wrong. Orlando, Florida is an ecological blight. Not Sea World.
I am also very susceptible to that once-a-year thrill of a House Sparrow or a Eurasian Collared Dove actually meaning something. So on January 1st, or as close to it as I can get, I always head a half hour north to the one site of mine that offers more species than any other: Lago de Cuitzeo (Cuitzeo Lake). The view at sunrise.
Nowhere else in Africa do the preconceived ideas of the continent really exist in such living detail; tall, red-robed Maasai herding their skinny cattle, endless grasslands studded with flat-topped Acacia trees and grazed by herds of zebras and wildebeest, and dramatic volcanic calderas brimming with big game and fierce predators!
It didn’t take much imagination to name Cowbirds or Cattle Egrets or Cattle Tyrants , but there’s more fantasy, even more wit, involved in the naming of other bovine birds. The genus Bucephala includes three familiar ducks with big heads. The tertium comparationis between birds and cows isn’t always visual.
We remember starlings not skylarks, House Sparrows not Eurasian Tree Sparrows , Cattle Egrets not… well, whatever we’ve forgotten because it didn’t do as well as the Cattle Egrets. Especially of all the species that had been introduced to the US. So, tentatively, welcome spring and new life.
9 beats from 8 countries (Australia, USA, UK, Serbia, Costa Rica, China, Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico), shared 138 checklists for 703 species. The year list to date is 1015 species and 7 have been added to the life list ( 4059 ) from Costa Rica, China and Trinidad and Tobago. 201 Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis.
Between them they shared 63 checklists, spanning 5 countries and noted 231 species of birds. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis). House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus). Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis).
All species are from the ABA area, and all groups must meet at least one of these criteria: (1) the group “represented a good opportunity to build core birding skills,” (2) the authors thought it was a group that needed “a refreshed treatment,” (3) the authors were intrigued by the group and wanted to present it using their unique format.
We have nearly 930 species on the official list and with some effort, 700 in a year is a feasible goal. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis; San Joaquin de Heredia, 1-Jan. House Sparrow – Passer domesticus; San Joaquin de Heredia, 1-Jan. White-eared Ground-Sparrow – Melozone leucotis; San Joaquin de Heredia, 1-Jan.
In early August this year, I saw 77 species here (69 on the lake, plus 8 more in the surrounding areas) but barely more than a thousand individuals. A few Lesser Kestrels by the dyke wall, then a Black-eared Wheatear at some cattle fencing. Spring (migrants and breeding species) and winter (wintering waterbirds). Practicalities.
It is a good place to come down to from the city and look for Ostrich, Cape Gannets , Cape Cormorants , Cape Sparrows , Cape Buntings, Cape Sugarbirds, Cape Grassbirds and presumably lots of other birds with cape in the name. Cattle Egret in spring flowers. Greater Flamingos. Strandfontein. Rondevlei Nature Reserve.
The birding is not exceptional, but you can easily see some of Singapore’s and South-east Asia’s more common species and it does throw up the occasional jewel. My personal list for Paser Ris runs to 75 birds over 15 visits that average out at around 25 species per outing. My favourite site in Singapore is Paser Ris. Spotted Wood-owl.
The field site I am assigned to is located in one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and home to a particularly rich avifauna that numbers well over 500 species. Hundreds of riotously colored birds representing 14 species of macaws and parrots flock and frolic together in less than fifty meters of forest canopy.
This refuge offers such a wide variety of species, that I wrote a post awhile back showing several species of wading birds in the same location on the auto tour route. Check out this image of a Great Egret ( Ardea alba ), Snowy Egret ( Egretta thula ) and Cattle Egret ( Bubulcus ibis ) together.
I’m one of those people who thinks all birds are beautiful, from the drab House Sparrow to the pink Roseate Spoonbill. Mountain Bluebird populations initially benefited from clearing land for timber and cattle crazing in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as this led to the open habitat that they prefer.
This leaves Shanghai in June with basically just the year-round species and the summer breeders, maybe with a few added ultra-lazy individuals of migratory species. Fortunately, there are a few more such breeding species than most Shanghainese are aware of. Such as the Black-winged Cuckooshrike.
The pressure is on if you can only get certain species during the first month of the year but if you just want to add any old birds to the year list, everything is fresh! Since I’m in no big hurry to reach any number of species in 2018, my year birding is going to be a fresh one hopefully touched with a good dose of Zen.
We started our Singapore bird list at Pasir Ris and leaving the train station we were delighted to see several Cattle Egrets on the grass and several photographers. We encountered several bird species there including a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and a nesting Red-breasted Parakeet. Oriental Pied Hornbill. Yellow-rumped Flycatcher.
In the time we spent on Culebra I saw 49 species of birds, not bad for an island outside of the wintering grounds for most neotropical migrants and only measuring eleven miles square. I spotted eight species in my time on Culebra. Of herons and egrets I only saw two species.
It was a gift to be reacquainted with trusty birds of winter like American Tree Sparrow , Dark-eyed Junco , Black-capped Chickadee , along with less reliable ones like Wild Turkey , a Red-necked Grebe bobbing up and down on the harsh waters of Lake Ontario, and a trio of Harlequin Ducks riding the rapids above the falls. White-eyed Vireo!
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