Experiments Species Turkey 
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 20, 2012
This is the time of year that we rightfully contemplate the noble Turkey. The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. And it isn’t.
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 28, 2015
That last little bit is also why we call it “Turkey Day”! In Costa Rica, although I did spend a memorable one years ago in the Osa Peninsula where flocks of parrots flew into the mangroves while we feasted on turkey, pie, and the works, we have no actual Wild Turkeys , nor an official Thanksgiving.
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10,000 Birds
MARCH 4, 2020
That trip was to take my wife and I to Turkey, Jordan, and southern Spain, with stopovers near Paris. I was soooo excited about getting to know the Middle East, as well as some of its exotic species. The Streak-backed Oriole shown at the head of this post is far from an uncommon species in Paso Ancho.
10,000 Birds
JULY 10, 2012
More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. The Gray Crowned-Crane is a new addition to the list of the world’s Endangered species, creeping up a category from Vulnerable.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 12, 2020
And while this poisonous species is usually red and spotted, older examples can lose their spots and take on an orange hue. Sometimes it is the experience that makes them memorable. My Laurelito trip was topped off by my discovery, when I walked back to my car, that it had been turned into a turkey perch.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 20, 2015
This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. I used to live in Botswana, where there are about 450 bird species in an area a few dozen miles from the capital; then somewhat naively moved back to Serbia with mere 250 species around the capital.
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 1, 2013
Now that Thanksgiving is over, we can ease up on the turkey talk. I do regret that I saw no Wild Turkeys this weekend, only subdued, succulently prepared ones. Corey had way too many birds to choose from for his Best Bird of the Weekend, with exactly 100 species for the four-day weeekend. How about you? How about you?
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