10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2022

It was an undeniably dank morning at the top of this island watershed, and even though we were able to discern some other species like Rufous-tailed Jacamar and the endemic Trinidad Motmot , activity was a bit slow. We were hoping for some of the more secretive species, however. From hidden perches, Blue-backed Manakins vocalized.

Trinidad 235

Trinidad Woodpeckers Ducks Abandoning 235

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

It didn’t occur to me till I started reading The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird that there was also a possible threat to the eagle herself: poachers, who steal raptor eggs and chicks. McWilliam realizes he’s dealing someone special, a career falcon egg-thief.

Falcons 206

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 206

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2024

The island is teeming with so many birds that their eggs and young chicks were once harvested for food. The Scottish Seabird Centre supports hundreds of volunteers in the effort to eradicate this species when it was first noticed that the number of puffins was declining. Here more about this adventure on Hannah and Erik Go Birding.

Puffins 162

Puffins Sanctuary Lamb Investigation 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2023

This area offers Mexico’s greatest concentration of endemics, as well as very few species an American birder might have already seen up north. And for the first time, I saw a Bronzed Cowbird (which lays its eggs in other birds’ nests) checking out one of these nests. This Bronzed Cowbird definitely is not.

Mexico 147

Mexico Oregon Squirrels Falcons 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Pough “with illustrations in color of every species” by Don Eckelberry, Doubleday, 1946. The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. The press material says it covers over 800 species, so you know I had to do a count.

North America 278

North America America California Condor Birds 278

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2014

Birds hatch out of eggs, like some species of snakes, who also have no boobs, although with a snake the fact is more readily apparent. While snakes protect their eggs, and may protect their young for a short period of time after they hatch, baby snakes are very soon on their own. Call a wildlife rehabilitator!

Wildlife Rehabilitation 255

Wildlife Rehabilitation Wildlife Eggs Squirrels 255

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

When you monitor a species of birds over many years you learn a lot from your observations and you soon become aware of the fact that some birds are just better at parenting than others. There is egg predation, chick loss and sometimes possibly just some “bad parenting”! Three eggs in the nest.

Eggs 165

Eggs Raised Breeding Family 165

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2014

The official definition of CR status says the species could be gone within ten years, or could lose 80 per cent of its population within three generations – whichever comes first. Trips endangered species India lapwings Sociable Lapwing' Gujarat, December 2010. Sociable Lapwing photos by Chirag Solanki.

Sudan 244

Sudan India Ukraine Camels 244

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

Another puzzling thing to me, as for me, the ideal number of people to live with would be somewhere between zero and one but definitely not above 1. According to the HBW, when breeding, male birds do most of the incubation and parenting while females often leave the nest up to one week before the eggs hatch. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandoning 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2013

Well that depends on several factors, the most important of which are the definitions of the terms “remote” and “endemic” My subjective thoughts on remoteness are that the term should be defined by two factors: 1. Does the word define a species within country terms, regional terms etc?

South Africa 202

South Africa Birds South America Feral Cats 202

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

The lengthy Introduction gives both a personal history and a global history of birds and art, including brief profiles of John James Audubon and the far lesser known Genevieve Estelle Jones, who conceived of a book eventually called Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio in the late 19th century.

Birds 147

Birds Eggs Laws Oregon 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2011

However, it would appear that during one fairly long period of time in the past there were a number of species (of dinosaur) that used feathers in a number of ways such as those just mentioned (and possibly other ways), and one subgroup of these dinosaurs would later be birds. The nature, distribution, and evolution of bird song is unclear.

Birds 269

Birds Marsupials Primates Whaling 269

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

Clicking on the map will take you to an explanation of this important biome, including its climate and its plant and animal species. About three billion birds fly north to the Boreal Forest each spring to build nests and lay eggs. There are nearly 100 species of which 50% or more of the entire population breeds in the Boreal Forest.

Obama 244

Obama 2008 United States North America 244

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

The flocks that just a fortnight ago held multiple species in varied, if subdued, hues, now overwhelmingly consist of a single species. Also in the Palm sort-of-flock, were a couple of these fantastic “Yellow” Pam Warblers, the eastern subspecies hypochrysea , definitely the less common of the two around here.

North America 193

North America North Carolina Tennessee South America 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2018

It’s not often that we have the opportunity to glimpse the home life of albatrosses, nor of any seabird species. Where does the female Emperor Penguin go after she has produced that one egg and handed it over to the male for incubation? Technology to the rescue! What about incubation shifts?

Albatross 114

Albatross Penguins Research Breeding 114

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

The island contains 80,000 breeding Sooty Terns, in addition to 4,500 breeding Brown Noddies and another 100 breeding pairs of the huge Magnificent Frigatebirds, not to mention pelicans, herons, Black Skimmers , other tern species, and so much more. If birds don’t want to be handled, then they definitely didn’t want to be weighed.

Florida 176

Florida Birds Groups North Carolina 176

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

She doesn’t know the species till it emerges, almost dreamlike, from the heavy glare of the sun. Fox encounters 69 species, some singly, some in huge feeding or migrating flocks. The opening beautifully encapsulates the essence of the book. ” There are amazing stories here.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

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. The babies that hatched from these eggs were released on Florida’s east coast. In my eyes, the future is crystal clear.

2010 231

2010 Louisiana 2012 2011 231

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

The first two questions were never definitely answered. First published in 1973 in association with the Asa Wright Center, the book focuses on species descriptions, with illustrations grouped together in plates positioned in the center of the book. (2) Which hummingbird was more beautiful—Tufted Coquette or Ruby-topaz Hummingbird? (3)

Trinidad 193

Trinidad South America Birds 2011 193

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

It’s the warbler that is often the last unchecked species on birders’ life lists and, whether you list or not, for most of us observing it is a once in a lifetime experience. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list. A nest wasn’t found until 1903, which set off a craze for Kirtland’s Warbler skins, nests, and eggs.

Michigan 226

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

This happened to me recently on a birding trip, with somewhat egg-on-the-face results. We were driving up to northwestern Michigan from our homes in Ohio (me) and West ByGod Virginia (Geoff) in search of a bird species that would be a lifer for both of us: the Bohemian Waxwing. “Definitely!&# he concurs.

2011 217

2011 Michigan Birds Ohio 217

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World states that “disturbance by local people, tourists, and egg and zoo collectors has similarly reduced the colonies, and more protection is vital”. They are early nesters, but I was unable to tell whether any pairs already had eggs, though I suspected that some might have done.

Morocco 221

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 221

Animal Ethics

MARCH 8, 2009

If a genetically engineered animal’s legs periodically fell off, would not its legs be more like a product of an animal (analogous to eggs) than a part of the animal? These people abstain from eggs and dairy products the production of which involves suffering for the animals. Would the blood be analogous to milk or eggs?

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Morals Suffering Vegan 40

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2022

Once the egg has been laid, the female is chased away and the males hatch it.” eBird seems to be critical of this species’ work ethics, stating that “it flies lazily over open fields or marshes” Maybe the owl is just sleepy, not lazy. No wonder species definitions are so problematic.

China 204

China Birds Pythons Breeding 204

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

Gisela Kaplan has written a book about the species, and how they seem unperturbed by humans: “It’s one of their most successful defense strategies. When these birds breed, this can lead to highly cringeworthy announcements, for example from Adelaide Zoo : “We have egg-citing news!” I like them a lot, though.

Australia 224

Australia Birds Mountain Goats Ducks 224

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Heinrich never answers the question definitively (but then lots of questions about bird behavior don’t have definite answers, not to us). But Heinrich uses the term to mean (probably) that a strange female has laid her egg in a nest she did not make – a la the cowbird or cuckoo.

Eggs 130

Eggs Bats Emotional 2020 130

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. For them, God probably was the one instructing the drongos to mob one species but not the other. Why show photos of species as boring as this Ashy-throated Warbler ?

China 180

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 180

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2018

The Rufous Treecreeper- Climacteris rufa is a species that is listed as a bird that you should encounter at the Porongurup National Park in Western Australia’s south-west. According to this website the Rufous Treecreeper lays two or three light purple eggs and only the female bird incubates the eggs.

Litter 101

Litter Australia Eggs Falcons 101

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

These fossils are seen as proof that some dinosaurs brooded over its eggs. “Feathery forearms would have allowed these emu-sized dinosaurs to shade their eggs from the head of the midday sun 80 million years ago” (right, Dinoguy2/Wikimedia). It’s a question for which we’ll probably never have definite answers.

Mongolia 181

Mongolia Reptiles Science Indiana 181

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2011

The Red-capped Plover chick I photographed last week is developing fast and I have discovered another nest with two eggs further north. Thankfully they do live for many years and the population is not in decline at present, despite the feral cats getting their eggs. We have never seen two survive and the success of even one is remote.

Feral Cats 166

Feral Cats Eggs Feral Cats 166

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2012

However, for a few species, things gets…weird. By bird standards it’s huge and some species go the extra mile like the Argentinian Lake Duck with its over 16 inch long member (when stretched out, is a little longer than the duck itself ). With birds, it’s generally not about quality, it’s about quantity.

Buffalo 279

Buffalo Birds Ducks Eggs 279

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

North America 146

North America Sparrows America United States 146

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2012

Although designed as a field guide, it is a hefty book, 376 pages long, covering 336 species. Many species are dimorphic, with females looking different from males. Many species also differ with age. And, there are some odonate species that include andromorphs, females which look like the males. Yes, 675 photographs.

United States 230

United States Costa Rica Massachusetts North America 230

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. 2012 has certainly been a bumper year for me with an estimated year list of around 3,000 species after extensive travels to South Africa, Ethiopia, South Korea, Indonesia, the Russian Far East, United Kingdom, Peru, Guatemala and Panama.

2012 146

2012 Guatemala Birds Florida 146

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2023

The Ashy Tailorbird is a good example of the different perspectives of describing a bird – while the English name focuses on the body of the bird, the Latin species name ruficeps refers to the rufous head. The split makes the bird one of the six species endemic to Sabah, Borneo ( source ), four of which I saw during my week at Sepilok.

Woodpeckers 205

Woodpeckers Birds Eggs India 205

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

How do I know of their Gothic moods when they have hidden them so well in an egg-white shell of conformity? And I haven’t even started to write about ageing them … What are your experiences, and what is the colour of the claws on your local gull species? And definitely take a look at gulls. Thanks, Wikipedia !

2011 161

2011 Birds Deer Europe 161

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2023

Anyway, in case you are still reading, the main attraction at this hide is Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, which perversely is not featured in this post (it is treated in a separate one, thus grudgingly acknowledging the almost disgusting flamboyance of that species). This species tends to use plenty of hair gel to get the perfect wet look.

St. Louis 147

St. Louis Mammals Birds Monkeys 147