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I and the Bird: What is a Swallow?

10,000 Birds

Many species build nests of sticks or mud or spit on human-made structures , or in houses we’ve constructed specifically for their use. Taxonomically, swallows are one of the few families of birds that has seen little change in its ranks. The family is global in its distribution, with 83 species of around 19 genera.

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I and the Bird: What is a Grebe?

10,000 Birds

And now we enter into a family of birds more or less unknown to non-birders. And truth told, over the years they’ve been something of a square peg for ornithologists too, not fitting precisely into any of the known families of birds. I would never have believed it, but if the science says so who am I to argue otherwise?

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I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. millions years ago.

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A Bit of Birding on Lake Chapala

10,000 Birds

First, we had our five-week trip to Spain, Turkey and Jordan in September and October. Then we threw together a semi-planned family-related trip to the States in early December. There were Yellow Warblers , a species I always seem to see among willows in lakeside parks. I assured him then, and assure you now, that I am fine.

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A Few Jordanian Birds

10,000 Birds

My wife and I had the privilege of visiting Mexican friends in Jordan in early October. Even upon our departure from Jordan, I was informed that my ever-so-dangerous binoculars could not go in my carry-on bag. However, Bethany-on-the-Jordan, the site of Jesus’ baptism, was my first shot at some real habitat.

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In defense of county listing

10,000 Birds

The first, the much caricatured hard-nosed lister who stops at nothing to get just one more bird, and the second, the deep-patch birder who just wants to hang around the common species. Take, for instance, the Lesser Black-backed Gull I happened upon on the recent Jordan Lake Christmas Bird Count. 500 miles inland? County tick!

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A Most Unexpected Encounter

10,000 Birds

Some of this tourism occurred because we were supposed to visit Jordan, but recent geopolitical events have made Americans rather unwelcome in that corner of the world. Fortunately, two species of Mergansers sometimes stray to Cuba, and so my friend suggested, correctly, that ours was a female Hooded Merganser. But which one?

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