10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2021

What I enjoy–almost more than any other moment of my birding year–is that special spring day when White-Crowned Sparrows deign to visit my humble home en route to their boreal breeding grounds. Happily, the sparrows finally arrived this weekend and have strutted around my feeders enough for me to fully admire their beauty.

New York 264

New York Sparrows Birds Breeding 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2019

It’s a rush any new birder experiences: that of every species being a lifer. Once you’ve been around the birding block a few years, your appreciation for the lifer experience deepens greatly. But the opportunities to see new species become more difficult with each one seen. Those Snowy Egrets ? For my U.S.-only

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Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

After three attempts, I finally found this incredibly rare vagabond sandpiper spinning amongst more common local species; interestingly enough, it prefers the company of Bonaparte’s Gulls , which the phalarope happens to resemble in both winter plumage and feeding territory. A subspecies as Best Bird of the Weekend?

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2020 Sparrows Birds Experiments 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2021

While I knocked down plenty of first of spring birds this weekend, I most appreciated the appearance of a species that hangs around all winter. White-throated Sparrows don’t generally stand out unless they turn up at my feeder in sharp plumage, which they did on Sunday. At least my summers are mild.

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Birds Sparrows Experiments Experience 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Hordes of House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons are more than willing to push you around rather then let you have that choice morsel you just found. The trees are of one species and nearly devoid of insect life, the only plants are ornamental or lawn, and the amount of cover at ground level is virtually nil. And the noise! Pretty nice!

New York City 251

New York City New York Birds Sparrows 251

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In this first installment, I will focus on my impressions and experiences in the highlands portion of our tour. Many Nearctic species and families reach their southern terminus in the Northern Central American Highlands, such as Common Raven , Red Crossbill , Steller’s Jay , and even Brown Creeper. We were off to a great start.

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Honduras El Salvador Costa Rica Arizona 250

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Most of these birds are small, finch-like species with thick, conical bills for cracking seeds or eating insects. These are neither sparrows, nor finches, but tanagers. ” For these reasons, it is perhaps no surprise that bird bills have played a prominent role in their classification. (PDF:

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2003 Sparrows South America Family 250

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

I was shocked to still find a number of shorebird species up at Braddock Bay, perhaps because of how much productive mud the dropping lake levels have exposed. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Corey had a few really good birds this weekend.

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2020 Connecticut Virginia New York 247

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2021

Corey enjoyed getting out around Queens on both Saturday and Sunday morning, and managed to get his total species in the borough to an all time high for January, with 115. He added several goodies over the weekend, but none were better than a self-found Lark Sparrow at Fort Tilden, which was easily his Best Bird of the Weekend.

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Birds Sparrows Experiments Experience 242

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

The Shoebill serves as the symbol of the magnificent wildlife experiences Uganda offers visitors, which may seem a bit odd. That honor goes to the Gray-crowned Crane , a very sexy species in its own right. Having finally seen this iconic species, I can assure you that the experience wildly exceeds expectations.

Uganda 297

Uganda Africa Penguins 2019 297

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2012

Those two parks, combined with some nice birding from the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway along the edge of Bayonne Golf Course on the east side of Bayonne, have gradually increased my Hudson County bird list to 124 species, good for a tie for twelfth all-time on eBird for those keeping score at home. Nelson’s Sparrow - two of them!

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New Jersey Sparrows Birds Species 194

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2021

It was a very disorienting experience. I saw 57 species in the area, which is pretty good for the church neighborhood. Three species especially stood out. I used eBird’s species map option to confirm that in other recent years, only a few Cedar Waxwing sightings were reported in Mexico from January to May.

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Turtles Mexico Sparrows Branding 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2014

From atop a terrific sledding hill, I enjoyed watching American Tree Sparrows lend class and native charm to flocks of House Sparrows. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

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2014 Sparrows Birds Experience 192

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

As I have mentioned repeatedly over the past months, life this spring has gone topsy-turvy in central Mexico, as we experience what has certainly been one of our driest years in history. I have now seen the species in eight different years. Of course, Paso Ancho is also a hotspot for many other beautiful species and endemics.

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Mexico South America 2020 America 245

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

Corey did just this in this 2011 posting about Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus in New York State. The core of the book are the Species Accounts, 190 accounts by 52 authors, some names that readers will easily recognize, others birders and ornithologists well-known in Pennsylvania. The second page is the map page.

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Pennsylvania Breeding Sparrows Birds 257

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2014

In honor of fall, and of the Chipping Sparrow that just smacked itself (thankfully not too hard) against my balcony window, here’s a blast from the past: Oct. Or was I, like so many birders, doomed to eternal restlessness, always investing somewhere else with the glamor of new birds and new experiences? Could I go home again?

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San Diego Sparrows Breeders 2009 193

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2013

The recent American Ornithological Union (AOU) decisions to split Sage Sparrow (RIP) into Sagebrush Sparrow and Bell’s Sparrow has the Birdosphere buzzing on everything from field marks, vocalizations, status and distribution to historical records and hypothetical patterns of vagrancy. Photographed off Hatteras, NC.

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San Francisco Fox Sparrows California 203

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

Yet, I was not aware of any of Arjan’s big year updates in English, so I had no clue where he was or how many species he managed to see. After 3 months of South and Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia, Arjan’s count stood at 2,060 species. I’ve had so many incredible experiences.

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Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname Brazil 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

My first experiments involved rooting cuttings of several of Michoacán’s dozens of Salvia species. But starting a mini-forest around the edges of our church’s one-acre lot would require more than cuttings, and local reforestation nurseries only offer a few conifer species. Rusty Sparrow. A male Indigo Bunting.

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Mexico ALA Collecting Sparrows 273

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

This is my best place to pick up species that inhabit, or visit, the border between the Hot Country thorn forest and highland pine-oak forest habitats. It wasn’t the most colorful species of the day. Backlighting showed off the rusty crown of this Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow. But its rump was somewhat bright, I suppose.

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South America Sparrows Mexico Bears 244

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

If conditions are right, the Palm Beach Agricultural Area can be teaming with various shorebird species such as Spotted, Solitary, Upland, Buff-breasted, Least, Semipalmated, Western, and Pectoral Sandpiper, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Black-necked Stilt. They especially like live oaks.

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Florida Miami Falcons Birds 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2012

I really do like the short birding outings I experience at Van Saun Park in Paramus, New Jersey, once or twice a week before I head in to the office. I’ve gotten to know where to expect to find the common birds and sometimes I spot something new for me in the park, like a Vesper Sparrow or an Eastern Bluebird.

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New Jersey Sparrows Experience Experiments 191

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2024

My only other experience with an Audubon Club field trip anywhere, on a cold October morning in the American Midwest, was frankly kind of a bust. But this one was a wonderful experience. According to my list, which somehow ended up being the official group list, we saw 41 species in about four hours. This one was a Song Sparrow.

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San Francisco California Woodpeckers Turkey 244

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

An expanse of habitat as vast as Murchison Falls NP in Uganda, as excessively generous in beauty and biodiversity, permits endless ways to experience both its birds and animals. Plus, the food, service, and accommodations meet the highest standards. How is birding in Murchison Falls, you ask? Mind boggling, I answer!

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Uganda Senegal Africa Game 236

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2011

I was not only intrigued by their appearance but also astounded by the diversity that they showed, even within species. The experience served to remind me why some people devolve into Larophiles but, don’t fear, I have not sunk to that low and disturbing condition myself (at least not yet). What do you make of this one?

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New York Collecting Sparrows Family 212

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2022

In addition to providing many people with wonderful life experiences, these birding visits have helped increase our understanding of local bird distribution. In addition to discovering more vagrant sparrows and warblers, I hope we can also get more coverage for such regions and situations as these: Long Range Pelagic Trips in the Pacific.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Birds Albatross Protection 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2015

Many of these species were very high on my life bird wish list, and the country itself would be a totally new experience: a vibrant and enchanting culture, a varied and tasty cuisine, and stunning and new landscapes. Boldly patterned and full of character, this endemic sparrow was the highlight of my first day in Mexico.

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Mexico Owls Birds Sparrows 200

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2020

One of the things Corey most enjoys about a new year is the way it resets your year list, giving you an excuse to pay a little more attention to the common species as you check them off your year list. Like Corey and so many others, I took the time to really appreciate the everyday species we jaded bird chasers typically take for granted.

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2020 Feral Sparrows Birds 169

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2014

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a relatively common species though it was uncommonly cooperative. A juvenile White-crowned Sparrow is an expected bird in late fall in New York State but it is always nice when one sits still for a digiscoping session. How did you fare? What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2014 Bats New York Sparrows 182

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2012

Birding the Dry Tortugas in late April has always been high on my bucket-list of the best birding experiences in North America. Day-trips to the Dry Tortugas are of course possible but the best way to experience the islands is on an extended 3-day guided tour. That means I used to be very young. Almost infantile.

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Florida Kentucky France North America 250

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

If you read my weekly posts bookending theweekend birding experience, you know that I pay close attention to phenology. The way the ebb and flow of each season impacts out experience of the natural world must inform our efforts to observe avifauna if we want to optimize our experience. Birding best bird weekend'

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2014 New York California Birds 180

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

Southern Florida offers many unique wintering birds, but perhaps none more so then the sparrows that call different parts of Florida their winter homes. The flight shot of the male Eurasian, taken by Tom Dunkerton, shows the unique plumage that is completely diagnostic to that species. Think Grasshopper Sparrow !

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South Dakota Florida Sparrows Wildlife 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2023

Indeed, even though I just celebrated 40 years of living in Mexico, we have never been to Cabo San Lucas, and our only experience with Cancún was going though immigration in that city’s airport. Two Olive Sparrows , endemic to Mexico’s coasts, foraged in the shady brush. But now it is considered to be a separate species.

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Mexico Birds Turkey Sparrows 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

I love sparrows, so seeing a feather-worn Vesper Sparrow this past July filled my heart with joy. I wanted to see prairie birds and I wanted to experience a new state. We saw sparrows–a total of 14 species–and we saw many other great prairie birds, and we often saw them perched on posts.

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North Dakota Sparrows Birds Blackbirds 175

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2021

My first experience birding was as a teenager back in the 70s, when birding meant a pair of binoculars, a couple of bird feeders, and a smallish field guide (book). I start visiting a nearby canyon to see what other species might be around. I start visiting a nearby canyon to see what other species might be around.

Kansas 244

Kansas Wounded ALA Squirrels 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. There’s more than one song per warbler? How do they know?

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North America Birds Research America 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2011

As part of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil giveaway we asked readers of 10,000 Birds to name the bird in Brazil that they would like to see more than any other species. What follows are the responses that readers offered, a veritable aviary of sought after species. It is a really neat bird that I have not seen before.

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Brazil 2011 Birds Penguins 241