10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

” The book listed the Peregrine Falcon as a cavity nester which I thought was curious. It reads “Although the peregrine falcon is currently considered a cliff-nester, records indicate that it once nested in tree cavities. Birds Brown Pelican nesting birds Peregrine Falcon' My audience was surprised as was I.

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Falcons Pelicans Europe California 170

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

So when I mentioned the Eleonora’s Falcon in my last post , you may have assumed that the name was a mother’s day present, or an engagement gift from some impecunious ornithologist who couldn’t afford a ring. She also had an interest in ornithology – in particular, she banned the hunting of falcons.

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Falcons Game Hunting Birds 159

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2015

Macdonald is, among her many accomplishments, a falconer. White, who wrote The Once and Future King and The Sword and the Stone , and who was also a falconer – but a very, very bad one. So what’s wrong with the book? Her autobiographical story alternates with her meditations on T.H.

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Falcons Michael Vick Whaling Whales 225

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2017

The hours are ticking down to Super Bowl LI, a hotly anticipated contest between perennial contenders New England Patriots and the upstart, high-flying Atlanta Falcons. Will the Atlanta Falcons actually win the Super Bowl? Go Falcons! Of course, the team who conquered the best of the NFC can win the Super Bowl. But will they?

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Falcons Atlanta 2001 Seattle 108

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2024

However, for a long time I was even more impressed by two Peregrine Falcons. Peregrine Falcon Peregrine Falcon Another highlight was when another birder informed us of a Eurasian Eagle-Owl that roosted in a vine on the cliff. I was impressed how the bird was found it as it was incredibly well camoulaged.

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Falcons Eagles Owls Breeding 211

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2017

Falcon Wild is a new book in that long tradition, and this one features a more realistic (though still very slightly romanticized) portrait of a human/animal partnership. An aspect of Falcon Wild that really sets it apart from the books I mentioned in my first paragraph is that Karma is sometimes alone, but never unconnected from society.

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Falcons Wolves Dolphins Montana 119

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

On 11 November 2012 I was leaving Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake after a fruitless morning of trying to photograph birds in a snowstorm and poor light when a female Prairie Falcon ambushed this Northern Shoveler on the water not far from the causeway on which I was driving. Here she is making one of her very low passes over the duck.

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Falcons Ducks Utah 2003 117

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

I need your falcon posts! Hey I and the Bird fans! If you have any blog post about those sickle-winged quasi-raptors from any point in your online writing history burning a hole in your blog, send them over to me BY THE END OF THE DAY TODAY! Send those posts to naswick AT gmail.com. Make sure you put IATB in the subject line.

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Falcons Rights Birds 118

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2013

Falcons are far more numerous throughout the world, so you better start sending your best work in now for the February 14 edition. Send your most fantastic falcon submissions to to I and the Bird editor Nate Swick at naswick AT gmail DOT com with “IATB” or “I and the Bird” in the subject line.

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Falcons Atlanta Baltimore ALA 150

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

What is a falcon, really? Based on their physical attributes and lifestyle, falcons enjoyed a very long run as a founding member of the order Falconiformes, along with the rest of the diurnal raptor-y type birds like vultures and eagles and hawks and hawk-eagles. Laughing Falcon, photo by Renato Espinosa. Like falcons?

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Falcons Lifestyle Eagles Parrots 124

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2011

Here’s a prediction: Parrots , falcons , and seriemas are on their way to new positions in your checklists and, eventually, field guides. However, evidence has mounted in recent years that falcons are not closely related to other diurnal raptors and seriemas don’t belong anywhere near gruiform birds. I like this one too.)

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Parrots Falcons Costa Rica South America 232

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

Osborn, a passionate field biologist who participates to the core of her being three re-introduction projects aimed at saving three very different, endangered species: Peregrine Falcon, Hawaiian Crow (‘Alala)*, and California Condor. She never finds her long days observing her falcons, crows, and condors boring.

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California Condor Falcons California Coyotes 183

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2024

Now a common breeding bird on the island: Spurwinged Lapwing For many visiting birders, Eleonora’s Falcons are one of the biggest draws. Despite its speed, the Swift didn’t stand a chance, for these falcons are deadly hunters. They are noisy birds, and impossible to overlook.

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Cyprus Breeders Falcons Hunters 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2024

This is Eleonora’s Falcon ( Falco eleonorae ). Eleonora’s Falcon is always a possibility at Europa Point in the summer Sea-watching from the coast is great fun right now and it keeps me cool. I’m sure that many others are not so lucky and drown away from sight of land. Next week I’ll take a step further.

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Falcons Breeding Family Groups 303

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2022

A large, bulky falcon cruising overhead could only be a Peregrine Falcon. As soon as we noticed it, a Merlin appeared from nowhere and headed directly for the Peregrine, divebombing the larger falcon. As per usual falcon procedure, it all happened much too quickly for me to get a decent photograph!

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Trinidad Falcons Ducks Livestock 244

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2024

Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus also lie in wait and defend their own young, just as the gulls do. Peregrine Falcon attacks Griffon Vulture at Gibraltar The post The Changing Fortunes of Europe’s Vultures – Part 2 first appeared on 10,000 Birds. But why should we style the gull as enemy and the vulture as friend?

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Pandas Morocco Falcons Spain 198

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

Rarest among the ones we saw was the endangered Saker Falcon. According to the HBW, in mountainous regions, picas and young marmots are among its main prey, giving me a chance to show you photos of these animals as well (without straying from the birding topic). Himalayan Marmot. Himalayan Pica.

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China Falcons Stray Owls 255

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

The narrative takes place across two timelines: 1) Early in Stotts’ life, when he begins working with the Earth Conservation Corps to clean the trash-choked Anacostia River 2) Decades later, when he has become a Master Falconer and is taking on his son as a new apprentice.

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Falcons Wildlife Collecting Owls 194

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

The evening was drawing to a close and we had just checked on the roosting nighthawks and were about to check another field for shorebirds when we spotted a lone Aplomado Falcon perched on a distant tree. We observed it as it changed perch and attracted the ire of the resident Tropical Kingbirds , eventually forcing the falcon to depart.

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Falcons Experience Experiments Birds 287

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2017

Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America by Pete Dunne with Kevin T. It’s also a beautiful book, thoroughly illustrated with photos curated by Kevin T. This is one of those volumes that belongs on every birder’s shelf. Karlson, $26.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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North America Falcons America Eagles 103

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

It was Montagu who first realised that the “Ring-tail hawk” and the gray male Hen Harrier were the same species, and that the bird he called the Ash-coloured Falcon was a different species to the Hen Harrier, an impressive achievement at that time. Eleonora’s Falcons still breed on Sardinia today.

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Falcons Wounded 2003 Killing 228

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

A Peregrine Falcon launches, ready and willing to utilize the relative invisibility afforded by twilight to bring a swift end to someone’s morning. Much smaller but no less deadly, a Bat Falcon dines on a bat in the mid-morning perched comfortably on a roadside stump. It almost looks as if the bird is underwater!

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Trinidad Venezuela Bats Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2021

noticed a Eurasian Stone-curlew , which I dipped and, as we were leaving, one male Red-footed Falcon waved us goodbye. On our way south, we will see another Little Owl squatting on a road sign, and a flock of 7 Red-footed Falcons circling above the road. Red-footed Falcon by Martin Mecnarowski/Wikimedia Commons.

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Serbia Romania Eagles Falcons 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2013

Clearly the flock was being attacked by one of the local Peregrine Falcons , which is a common occurrence but it usually happens so high up in the air that I scarcely get to notice it. I would have expected this group to also get away from the falcon as quickly as possible, as the big flock had done. And the small group of five?

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Falcons Buffalo Lions Groups 215

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

A falconer and his bird from the Mosaico de Cavaleiro in Mértola, possibly the oldest depiction of falconry in Iberia. Colorful birds adorn many of the pages of the so-called Cervera Bible and several captivating miniatures portray hunting scenes with falcons.

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2016 Portugal Belgium Falcons 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2021

We only saw the first two, and in our effort to scour each broken limb for a perched raptor, we stumbled upon a Bat Falcon of all creatures. Bat Falcon in the now blazing sun. We kept our eyes peeled for any birds of prey – Savanna Hawk , Grey-lined Hawk and Common Black Hawk were all expected.

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Sea Turtles Bats Turtles Trinidad 261

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

Some people do think the Northern Goshawk is undignified, at least compared to the falcons, as I learned while reading the excellent memoir H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. Gosh-awk would be undignified. Goshawk, you see, is from Gosheafoc , Old English for Goose Hawk.

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Falcons Eagles Meat Geese 260

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2015

I am inside the city of Belgrade, checking the theoretically possible Peregrine Falcon site. Yet, not a trace of a falcon. ” Falcons do hunt pigeons, we all know that, but what is a Kamikaze pigeon? That is why Belgrade is not proud of its falcons and why I am not telling you more about them. One Feral Pigeon.

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Switzerland Serbia Feral Falcons 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2024

The kestrel colony is valued by the city of Seville: in recent years renovation work on the roof of the cathedral was suspended during the falcons’ breeding season. Watching flocks of these attractive little falcons feeding is aways a delightful sight. The post Andalucia’s City-Slicker Falcons first appeared on 10,000 Birds.

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Falcons Spain Europe Portugal 202

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

A recent paper published in the French journal Alauda (sadly, it appears not to be available in English online yet, but here’s the gist ) brings us news that Eleonora’s Falcons breeding on the archipelago of Essaouira have been caching prey during breeding season. Which, no biggie. Acorn woodpeckers cache. Bluejays cache.

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Falcons Montana Breeding Woodpeckers 154

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

Once I looked through proper glass however, all doubt was blown to smithereens – it was a Bat Falcon. When this Bat Falcon departed this perch, it made the Short-tailed Nighthawks seem like they were running on low-octane fuel. All of this to say that finally I have documented all three species of nighthawk found in T&T.

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Trinidad Bats Falcons Groups 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2024

It was impossible to not stop when we saw this absolutely gorgeous Aplomado Falcon along the road. By now, the sun began to warm the skin considerably, and I understood the urgency to arrive at our destination. The post Dawn Over the Mighty Rupununi first appeared on 10,000 Birds.

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Guyana Giraffes Brazil Trinidad 218

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

The Florida Keys Hawkwatch at Curry Hammock regularly produces spectacular numbers of Peregrine Falcon. Although the number of Broad-winged Hawk that pass through the area is no where near what you would see in Texas or Veracruz, the hawkwatch in the Florida Keys currently holds the world record for most Peregrine Falcon in a season.

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Florida Miami Falcons Birds 257

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2019

And some Falcon , most likely mixed breed, because it belonged to falconry, not the skies. Falcons – Gyrfalcon. In the 70+ episodes, I noticed only the homing Ravens (caged/domesticated) and Pigeons (domestic – in pie). Yes, there were Chicken , too (I remember the chicken soup, not the birds). Ducks (domesticated). Partridges.

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Chickens Falcons Geese Parrots 173

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2024

On the way, we saw a Peregrine Falcon , Common Buzzard , Eurasian Nuthatch , and the other typical birds of the region. We kept an eye open for the Rock Buntings that are well-known at this site but which I have yet to see, but unfortunately they didn’t show themselves.

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Reptiles Falcons Groups Species 218

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2022

The calling Collared Forest-Falcon was also cool, so was Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (the species at the top of this post), and so were the 120 other plus species we had from 4:30 to 8 just on that one road. A final check turned up a distant calling Laughing Falcon but not much else. Male White-flanked Antwren.

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Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Owls 271

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2013

In a move that’s sure to stir controversy far beyond the borders of California, federal officials have announced that h enceforth, fledgling Peregrine Falcons won’t be relocated from nests built on bridges in the state. But it also means that some baby falcons are likely to plunge into a watery grave. What do you think?

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California Endangered Species Falcons Jordan 187