10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

New Zealand had a widespread dabbling duck, the Grey Duck ( Pacific Black Duck if you’re an Aussie) but these were declining a in number because of changes to their habitat. Some wild Grey Ducks from the Northern Territory ( GDW45 Creative Commons ). Female Mallard, photo by Corey. The news wasn’t good.

Species 217

Species New Zealand Ducks Game 217

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2011

Common Merganser ( Mergus merganser ) photos by Larry Jordan (click to enlarge) The Common Merganser ( Mergus merganser americanus ) or Goosander ( Mergus merganser merganser ) as it’s known in Europe, is a large, cold-hardy, fish-eating duck that nests worldwide near large lakes and rivers in northern forested habitats 1.

Jordan 215

Jordan North America Abandon Abandoning 215

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2013

If you live near water, you can try some duck nesting tubes. I see them all over in marshes in Minnesota but I had never seen a duck use one. I was shocked when I saw a hen Mallard actually incubating eggs in one of these things–they do work…and how do the mallards get in there?

Minnesota 235

Minnesota Barn Owls Utah Ducks 235

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2014

I spent this past weekend in Saugerties at my folks’ house in order to look for Easter eggs, let Desi enjoy time with his cousins, and generally have a good ol’ time with family. Though the Wood Duck at the top of this post might be more gaudy the Blue-winged Teal were more cooperative.

New York 231

New York Birds Ducks Blackbirds 231

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2013

Podicipediformes, aka Grebes, are freshwater diving duckish birds that are not ducks. Nearly 90% of the nests failed during egg stage, mainly due to strong winds and depredation by American mink Neovison vison. For an order they are neither diverse nor disparate. At both breeding seasons five lakes contained near 85% of the population.

2010 261

2010 South America 2011 Argentina 261

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2011

“I just saw some kind of duck fly by, it was being chased by Ravens ” was what he told me. It was unusual that there’d be any sort of duck around, given that there was still 3 or 4 feet of ice on the ocean, and all the lakes were still solid. This is a tough place for a year round resident to find food.

Hunting 234

Hunting Killing Hunters Ducks 234

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

The most notorious effect is that their eggshells become so thin that a parent bird will crush it’s eggs while attempting to incubate them. A curious Laysan Duck takes a stroll at Midway Atoll. Laysan Ducks don’t seem to be as tied to water as other ducks, which makes sense considering the limited habitat available.

Albatross 253

Albatross Endangered Species Bald Eagle Alaska 253

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2020

Mandarin Ducks, Munich, Germany. And they aren’t nearly as famous as the vagrant/escaped Mandarin Duck of Central Park. But they were still Mandarin Ducks! But the Kentish Plover was sheltering its young under its body, and the Little Ringed Plover was incubating an egg — right in the middle of downtown Madrid!

Austria 223

Austria Spain 2019 Germany 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2012

But the honeyguides, indigobirds, and a single species of duck all do the classic cuckoo strategy (obligate interspecific brood parasitism) as well. This behavior is most common in colony nesters, since popping next door to drop off an egg is a lot easier than hunting down another nest through acres of forest or grassland.

Eggs 178

Eggs Neglecting Adoptable Hunting 178

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2022

In spite of their many species (migratory Blue-winged, Green-winged, and Cinnamon Teals, Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails, American Wigeons and Gadwalls ; as well as resident Mexican and Ruddy Ducks ), the winter ducks of Lake Cuitzeo do not present great identification challenges. Was it practicing?

Falcons 258

Falcons Abandoning Abandonment Abandon 258

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2014

Among birds the Egyptian Vulture uses rocks to crack Ostrich eggs, the New Caledonian Crow and Woodpecker Finch (one of several Darwin Finches of the Galapagos Islands), uses sticks to extract grubs from inside a branch. Egyptian Vultures raised is isolation used rocks to crack eggs presented to them. The behavior was inherent.

Fish 176

Fish Ostriches Woodpeckers Breeders 176

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2018

and a visit to Big Egg Marsh (one year bird!) I set my tripod on the ice and scanned through the birds with my binoculars, ducks, ducks, ducks, two Mute Swans , ducks, gulls, gulls, gulls, ducks, two Mute Swans , ducks. I didn’t see any of the dabbling ducks dabble. No Tundra Swan.

Jamaica 154

Jamaica Wildlife New York City Ducks 154

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2013

A large number of ground squirrels – Columbian by my best guess — would emerge in the morning and evening birdy hours, apparently not dissuaded from their business by the presence of nesting Red-Tailed Hawks nearby, and proceed to form a most welcome distraction from the tedious business of waiting for the duck to deign to appear.

Chipmunks 240

Chipmunks Squirrels Rodents Montana 240

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

In my imagination, the job of a male Australian Brush Turkey is pretty similar – removing or adding bits and pieces to his pile of rotting vegetation in order to get the right temperature to incubate the eggs buried underneath to hatch. You will not find the Australian Wood Duck in the HBW, as they prefer the name Maned Duck for it.

Australia 259

Australia Koalas Parrots Birds 259

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2015

During the 1980s, the Pacific Coast Population swans became the source of eggs for several restoration programs in Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa 2. This video was taken at the Chico Oxidation Ponds where these swans were relaxing with hundreds, if not thousands of ducks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq1bx7Ic2FY.

North America 199

North America Iowa Wisconsin Michigan 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh.

2019 171

2019 Jamaica Eggs Woodpeckers 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2024

And then there was a Green Heron , not only showing us its nest, but also an egg. Like the previous park, there were no ducks, coots, or grebes to be seen. This species is relatively common in tropical Mexico, but I certainly never expected to see it nesting in an urban park. And yet, there it was. But what could I do?

Mexico 246

Mexico Birds Raccoons Baltimore 246

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2022

At the start of this new trail we accidentally flushed a White-tailed Nightjar that was sitting on a lone pink egg. Another set of sewage ponds nearby gave us an additional duck – Black-bellied Whistling Duck. We made the executive decision to abandon that trail and try another – one which proved incredibly fruitful.

Trinidad 264

Trinidad Woodpeckers Ducks Abandoning 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

When we eat eggs we eat chicken eggs almost exclusively. Lest people read this and think that I have gone completely off of the deep end please recall that Muscovy Duck , which in Florida is entirely an escaped domestic, is on the checklist there. Americans love chicken. And will all listers laud her?

Chickens 248

Chickens Florida Feral Eating Eggs 248

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 264

Dissection Birds Europe Eggs 264

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 201

Birds Eggs Laws Oregon 201

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

So, we start with Megapodes (scrubfowl), Pheasants, and Partridges, then on to Ducks. Organization within families is oriented towards user convenience rather than a strict taxonomy; for example, Ducks are divided into Resident Ducks and Migrant Ducks, Bulbuls are divided into Bulbuls and Bulbuls of the Hills and Mountains.

Brunei 233

Brunei Asia Birds China 233

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

• Explore These Related Posts Autumn colours Tree Swallows Return, It Must Be Spring Stalking a Kiwi Icon Polygynandry and the Alpine Accentor Duck Migration.Or Speaking of pregnant snakes, do sea snakes lay their eggs ashore like sea turtles or do they keep them internally until the young are ready to hatch/ be born, like some sharks?

Australia 199

Australia Sharks 2011 Deer 199

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

This happened to me recently on a birding trip, with somewhat egg-on-the-face results. • Explore These Related Posts Tree Swallows Return, It Must Be Spring Stalking a Kiwi Icon Polygynandry and the Alpine Accentor Duck Migration Finally Saw-Whet.Or I was on a birding quest trip with my friend Geoff Heeter.

2011 244

2011 Michigan Birds Ohio 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2019

The storks begin to arrive from August and will usually be sitting on eggs by October. Eggs often fall victim to the ubiquitous House Crow. The predators have plenty of opportunities beyond the heronry with countless ducks, waders and galliformes. There can be quite a gap between the early birds and the late brooders.

2003 113

2003 India Breeders 2005 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

Magpie Geese were breeding close to the main highway south of Broome and so were the Whiskered Terns , White-winged Black Terns , Purple Swamphens , Comb-crested Jacanas , Wandering Whistling Ducks and Plumed Whistling Ducks. Australian Painted Snipe nest with four eggs. Four eggs in the Australian Painted Snipe nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Raised Ducks 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2017

This has included Magpie Geese , Wandering Whistling Ducks and some very tiny Black-winged Stilt chicks. We have normally observed Black-winged Stilt nests with four eggs in, but this may have been their second clutch for the season with the good conditions we have had with all the extra rain. Black-winged Stilt chick.

Breeding 100

Breeding Geese Australia Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2018

Flock after flock of blackbirds, ducks, geese, raptors flapping their way north. The rising alarm calls of Clay-colored Thrushes and screams of kiskadees often reveal the presence of a Brown Jay or toucans in search of eggs and nestlings. It eventually warms up but in the meantime, it’s good birding anyways.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Blackbirds Texas Geese 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Blue Ducks have been reintroduced to the streams of the mountain, and there are plenty of trails to walk along. The Centre takes kiwi eggs from the wild, when they are vulnerable to introduced predators, and rears them until they are old enough to survive in the wild.

New Zealand 157

New Zealand Penguins Sanctuary Fur 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2018

My current criteria for a dedicated birding trip are having a good probability of seeing several new birds or seeing a birding spectacle ( e.g. , Red Knots and other shorebirds feasting on horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay). I particularly enjoy birding national wildlife refuges, so I try to include at least one on each trip.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Portland United States Puerto Rico 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

There are 160 to 200 species of marine birds here, depending on your definition of “marine bird” (Fox defines it as “species traditionally considered coastal,” including birds like Sandhill Cranes with the more traditional tubenoses, gulls, and ducks). Black-footed Albatross, image courtesy of Jared Towers.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2023

I am not actually really sure whether I like the sight of the male Mandarin Duck. Or to put it differently: if an imaginary child of mine ever drew up a male Mandarin Duck out of his or her imagination, I would immediately take away most of the crayons and maybe only leave those necessary to draw the female bird. Fair this is not.

Ducks 263

Ducks Adoptable Eggs Hunting 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2011

The first few years for female ducks and geese are kind of practice rounds. Sometimes females have eggs to lay but no nest and the eggs can end up anywhere from other duck and goose nests…there was even a case in Minnesota where a Canada Goose laid an egg in an Osprey nest and the raptors incubated and hatched it !

Fox 266

Fox Birds Raised Geese 266

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2013

Wood Ducks don’t stand a chance in this yard because the wrens typically get to them first. House Wrens use this decoy system when predators arrive in their territory, they’ll defend a decoy nest rather than an actual nest in hopes that the nest raider won’t find the eggs or chicks.

Industry 208

Industry Ducks Eggs Raised 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Why can’t a baby bird just hatch out of the egg and fly away, or at least, be able to fly a little and not require weeks of constant feeding and attention? Baby ducks and chickens s are the mensches of the bird world; they don’t spend all that time sitting there uselessly and constantly demanding attention.

Mammals 246

Mammals Turtles Eggs Chickens 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2012

There is some debate on the reproductive/genetic benefits of this, although a common view is that individuals don’t want all their eggs in one genetic basket, so to speak (pun intended, zing!). After laying eggs, they have little to do with the upbringing of their chicks, leaving the male to handle things.

Albatross 245

Albatross Lifestyle Birds Raised 245

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Wood Duck ( Aix sponsa ) Female Incubating Eggs in a Nest Box “Many species of cavity-nesting birds have declined because of habitat reduction. This is the female incubating eggs in the nest box… and a couple of weeks later… then, at the ripe old age of 17 days, what’s going on out here? Talk about cute!

North America 256

North America America Barn Owls Fur 256