10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2021

Being a bit older myself now, I have to point out that young human males usually do not look that good, at least to me. If that band had had to name themselves after a bird species rather than after a surname, they probably would have called themselves the Asian Brown Flycatchers. A juvenile male. The real thing: an adult male.

LACS 215

LACS Birds France Japan 215

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. The Hainan version is sometimes considered a separate species, in which case it is classified as Near Threatened. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump.

San Diego 196

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 196

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2019

Belonging to the family “Sulidae” , which includes both the Boobies and Gannets, in 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson introduced the genus “Sula”. In most cases, it is thought to come from the Spanish word “Bobo” referring to stupid, or ignorant. What could be wrong with a Blue-footed Gannet?

Iceland 120

Iceland Family Humane Groups 120

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

Or would be, had I encountered more of them – so far, I have seen only a very small share of the approximately 233 woodpecker species, and got decent photos of an even smaller number – not much more than 10% of all of them. So, writing a post about them is easy.

Woodpeckers 218

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 218

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 206

Dissection Birds Europe Eggs 206

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Second, reading about birds courting and parenting brings out the tendency to identify, which leads directly to anthropomorphism, the tendency to assign birds human emotions and thoughts. Think of birds too much as humans and you lose the specialness that makes them birds. Some people love books like that. Yellow Warbler fledgling.

Eggs 263

Eggs 2006 Family New York 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It’s relatively easy to classify birds into family groups based on physical characteristics. It’s very hard to organize the many ways in which human beings relate to avian beings into comprehensible text. We view them as our enemies when they eat our crops and as an extension of our family when we see them at our feeders.

Egypt 202

Egypt Birds Albania Eagles 202

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2022

I was surprised that this species is named for its vocalization – which sounds like laughter. For example, the Diamond Dove is the world’s second-smallest species of the columbidae order ( source ). The Latin species name haematonotus (“blood-backed”) sounds a bit more exciting but not necessarily more accurate.

Australia 147

Australia Birds Parrots Ostriches 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

Since we’ve covered some generalities already, once a month I’ll be exploring how a species, genus, or family of birds got its name, and how those names fit in with our larger understanding of, and relationship with, birds. At the request of blog management, I’m embarking on a series of posts on the names of birds.

Falcons 257

Falcons Eagles Meat Geese 257

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2019

Just imagine a family excursion to Yellowstone to photograph grazing herds of elephants – equally wrong. I do count, write and eBird all crow species I encounter, but, I admit, without much excitement. Such news would usually end up in tabloids with some title reference to Hitchcock’s The Birds. Something was very wrong.

Protection 143

Protection Elephants Owls Laws 143

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. The Blue Whistling Thrush is presumably named for its loud human-like whistling, and possibly for being blue.

Myanmar 147

Myanmar Birds China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

After writing this last sentence, I looked up the species in the HBW and found the sentence “Song poorly documented” in the appropriate section, while with regard to calls, the description is that “call is a two-note raspy nasal ‘ryeeh-reh’”. The Hair-crested Drongo is a bit more common here.

Mountain Goats 147

Mountain Goats Singapore Giraffes Birds 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2023

The bird on the photo is one of the estimated 3500-15,000 individuals still alive according to the HBW – a frightening thought given the (too) large number of humans, of which there are about 1 million times more (and of course, each of which weighs 5000 times more than the flycatcher).

Birds 130

Birds Cattle Raised Mammals 130

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Many species build nests of sticks or mud or spit on human-made structures , or in houses we’ve constructed specifically for their use. Even non-birders are not immune to their influence, as the term swallowtails is universally known to refer to anything with a “V” shaped fork. Sailors saw them as good luck.

Jordan 179

Jordan Iowa Birds Connecticut 179

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Meanwhile across the ditch , my useful column last week explaining how awful oxygen thief Tony Abbott could distract Australia from his flailing incompetence has sadly for him arrived too late and he has been disposed in what Australians mysteriously refer to as a spill. Progress, of a sort. This is a double edged sword for me.

Australia 155

Australia New Zealand Guinea Hunters 155

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. And, Essay #195, “Our Human Values: The Ugly,” describes the standoff between catfish loving Double-crested Cormorants and catfish farmers in the Missouri Valley.

North America 114

North America Birds Prairie Dogs Barn Owls 114

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2017

” Kricher delineates the many types of bird families and species you are likely to encounter in the Neotropics, emphasizing habitat and behavior (especially feeding behavior, and particularly fruit eaters; fruit is an important element when it comes to tropical ecology). .” Please–do not read this section only!

South America 141

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 141

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2014

Parrots captivate me more than any other bird family. For one, they are remarkably diverse with a little over 380 species spread over every continent except Europe (only introduced) and Antarctica. However, they do not occur evenly across their familial distribution. I am a self-proclaimed psittacophile. Most do not.

Parrots 167

Parrots Brazil Mauritius Dominica 167

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? Not a great place for a family vacation, though I think Duncan will disagree. The Indexes show images of the most common birds of the area against a painted background, with page references to species accounts. Now, I’m not so sure. Back to the field guide!

Brunei 172

Brunei Asia Birds China 172

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

The book is divided into three parts: “Introduction,” “Avifaunal Overview,” and “Species Accounts.” Not all habitat change is due to humans; there is Chestnut Blight destroying American Chestnuts in the early 1900s, and the more recent Dutch Elm disease. Most birders will go straight to the “Species Accounts.”

New York City 144

New York City New York Birds Breeding 144

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. Penguins are flightless, but some species locomote over long distances on antarctic ice to travel between breeding grounds and the sea.

Penguins 187

Penguins Seals Peru Sharks 187

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant. The little – the two species of black Buffalo Weavers obtain their appellation from their dark coloration that resembles their fearsome namesake.

Buffalo 193

Buffalo Rhinoceros Leopards Elephants 193

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. It is also related to Wood Stork of the Americas and Milky Stork of Asia.

Africa 231

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 231

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. Hummingbird species, on the other hand, number in the hundreds. So, when British natural history writer Jon Dunn (not to be confused with U.S.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Bolivia Ecuador 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

The Refuge is now home to nearly 200 species of birds, over 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, and a wide variety of insects, fish and plants. The refuge offers opportunities for hiking and biking trails, canoeing and kayaking on Swan Lake, bank fishing, and family friendly programs and events.”

Fish 142

Fish Wildlife Hunting Louisiana 142

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

It is a book with a careful infrastructure, however (even though it doesn’t have an index), with references to one section from another, enabling the curious reader to go down structured rabbit holes, pursuing information on nesting or skeletal systems or feather structure throughout the book. copyright @2020 by David A llen Sibley.

2020 261

2020 Birds North America Sparrows 261

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation. The species are taxonomically divided into two families: Tytonidae, Barn-Owls, and Strigidae, Owls, encompassed in one order, Strigiformes.

Owls 197

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 197

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2022

And learn that the Latin species name concinnus is more interesting than the English one – it means “elegant, neat, pleasing” (according to the HBW). These photos were taken in early March – the species looks more attractive in its summer breeding plumage. If this is what you want to read, go there.

Birds 147

Birds Germany Humane Family 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Bad developments indeed, particularly as the White-backed Vulture was found to be a good avian biomonitor species – if it does badly, most likely the environment as a whole will do badly, too. I could immediately tell them it was an Egyptian Goose – an invasive species in Germany but not at Kruger.

Elephants 147

Elephants Congo Birds Africa 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

We saw several species of this challenging family, after some time I managed to graduate with the ability to classify them as “streaked” or “unstreaked” When it came down to the actual species, however, I left it to the expert! Yellow-breasted Apalis. Northern Anteater-Chat. million years ago!

Kenya 200

Kenya Washington Groups Game 200

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2023

What most people do not know is that this common occurrence was actually the inspiration for a Johnny Cash song, “ Boy named Sue “ Of course, as this song was written for humans rather than for birds, the situation was adapted accordingly. Read it there if you want. Sexism, realism, or both? Judge for yourself. This is the female.

China 217

China Zoos India Research 217

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2022

Here in Shanghai, December is the month that a birder’s addiction cannot be satisfied by the increasingly meager assortment of species at Nanhui – we have to go to other places as well. This includes the Common Pochard , a species classified as Vulnerable despite a relatively large population that is, however, declining rapidly.

Birds 200

Birds Chickens Mammals Japan 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

Humans have always classified organisms in a variety of ways, depending on need. There are important details within that dictum that we will ignore here, but this has to do with knowing when a characteristic doesn’t really tell you about the relative position of species on a “tree of life” vs when the characteristic works for that purpose.

Monkeys 131

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 131

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Sometimes I just want to hug eBird, or more specifically, whoever writes the short species descriptions (even though I am not the typical hugging kind of person, trust me on this). The Plain Sunbird is the plain vanilla version of the otherwise often very colorful family (ok, a very low-budget sort of joke). “Dull, me?

Los Angeles 174

Los Angeles Woodpeckers Birds Wounded 174

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. ” The Australasian Swamphen used to think of itself as a subspecies of the Purple Swamphen but then started a self-improvement program and ended up as a full species.

Australia 214

Australia Birds Mountain Goats Ducks 214

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago covers 1,417 species, 601 endemics, 98 vagrants, 8 introduced and 18 undescribed species. With the advent of human development, we can now add “farmland and plantations” to various types of forest, rainforest, and swamps. Species Accounts. Co-author Frank E.

Indonesia 120

Indonesia Brunei Malaysia Papua New Guinea 120

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2017

The guide covers 520 species of birds regularly found in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, including, interestingly, a number of exotic species. There is also a traditional index to bird species, by common and scientific name. Species Accounts are arranged taxonomically, grouped by family.

North America 158

North America America Sparrows Birds 158