10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2012

Ourselves, for instance; just consider how many sweet or gritty stories you’ve seen about Olympic athletes’ family backgrounds over the last few weeks. We’re going to look at its family tree today, at where it fits in the grand avian assemblage, at what makes it at once unique yet not so alone after all. But not all.

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Family Guatemala Stray Humane 177

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

He was with some other birders at Jacob Riis Park, out on the barrier beaches of Queens, and they were looking at a Henslow’s Sparrow that Patricia Lindsay had found. We chatted for a bit more and then I hung up and returned to the family. She asked if I wanted to go see the sparrow. Happy Desi and happy Corey.

Sparrows 157

Sparrows New York Abandonment Abandoning 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2014

A new genus for the American Tree Sparrow. Slager and John Klicka propose the new genus name Spizelloides for American Tree Sparrow , which is not a Spizella sparrow and is instead distantly related to Fox Sparrow , Zonotrichia , and the juncos. And more sparrow shake-ups to come.

Elephants 195

Elephants New Zealand Sparrows Ostriches 195

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. Superficially, it resembled the Black-chinned Sparrow of the southwestern United States with its gray chest and chestnut streaked with black back.

New Jersey 219

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 219

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2021

My family’s walk through Rochester’s historic Mt. Hope Cemetery was much improved by a number of Chipping Sparrows and a single errant baby Snapping Turtle. As grumpy as these daily 30-degree temperature swings are making me, you have to wonder how the birds are reacting.

United States 264

United States Turtles 2010 Birds 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

He goes on to describe how early classifications of the nine-primaried oscines relied on bill shape to determine family boundaries. A new perspective on tanagers Much of the core of the tanager family remains intact. These are neither sparrows, nor finches, but tanagers.

2003 209

2003 South America Sparrows Family 209

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2017

Last weekend we had an extended family weekend at a beach house in Wildwood, New Jersey, just north of Cape May. Well, not just at a salt marsh but at the Seaside Sparrows that make their living there, at least in the warmer months. In practice, this means that I spent a lot of time in a blind staring at a salt marsh.

Sparrows 100

Sparrows New Jersey Wildlife Hunting 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

In the erstwhile sanctuary, common species like Red-billed Pigeon , Blue-black Grassquit , and Rufous-collared Sparrow abound. Recently, I was surprised to have a family of Stripe-headed Sparrows , birds typically associated with dry habitats of the North Pacific slope. It now occurs in various sites in the Central Valley.

Costa Rica 251

Costa Rica Sparrows Rodents Rats 251

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2022

Keep looking and you might see some other members of this glittering, fast-paced family. Rufous-collared Sparrow. We have House Sparrows too but this bird is much more common. This is our usual sparrow, the one that sings a cheery song from a roadside wire, the ones that forages on the ground. Crimson-fronted Parakeet.

Costa Rica 257

Costa Rica Birds Sparrows Squirrels 257

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Saturday of this weekend saw a Le Conte’s Sparrow reported from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. Somehow, I have never seen a Le Conte’s Sparrow , which leaves a gaping hole on my life list among many other fine Ammodramus sparrows. The Le Conte’s Sparrow was not refound. Mystery bird?

Sparrows 177

Sparrows Africa Family Rights 177

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. Birding autumn migration sparrows warblers' The morning is cold, and it’s damp, although not the buckets-from-the-sky affair that yesterday was. Could I go home again?

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San Diego Sparrows Breeders 2009 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2023

Then there were a few Hawfinches and two young Black Storks , Little Bittern , Great White Egret , Glossy Ibis , Common Kingfisher , Syrian Woodpecker , Peregrine Falcon , Red-backed Shrike , Lesser Grey Shrike , Collared Flycatcher and a family of Western Yellow Wagtails.

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Greece Pelicans Stray Dog Tortoises 226

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2019

But, amazingly, not all the “House Sparrows” I saw were House Sparrows ; a large group in Algeciras, in southern Spain, were Spanish Sparrows , and a smaller group in Madrid were European Tree Sparrows. (In In Rome, I saw one that turned out to be an Italian Sparrow.

Spain 192

Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 192

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

They portray the nesting cycles of Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk, and American Robin, illustrating the various ways in which birds create families. Do they have families too and do they take care of them? Some of the chapters focus on a specific bird, most are about bird families like hawks, tanagers, wrens, etc.,

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2020 Birds North America Sparrows 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2016

Blackbirds, as a family, often have those simple descriptive names that are easy to mock ( Yellow-rumped Warbler , ugh) until a non-birder comes describing such a species to you and asking for an ID. In the long run, all of this proved to signify nothing, as the sparrows were more than able to take care of themselves.

Blackbirds 190

Blackbirds Boston Science Sparrows 190

10,000 Birds

JULY 14, 2021

This elegant bird is part of a small family, unrelated to other birds called “flycatchers”, but including the Phainopepla of the American southwest. The Rusty Sparrow is a bird of Mexico and Central America that looks remarkably like the Rufous-crowned Sparrow , but is considerably larger.

Mexico 220

Mexico Sparrows United States Virginia 220

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2022

In the 1960s, Efraín Chacón constructed a dirt trail [from San Gerardo de Dota] to the Pan-American Highway, and brought his family to build a house, to farm and fish for trout. Volcano Hummingbird male, Talamanca race There is a bit of history attached to the status of the most popular birding area in Talamanca. “In

Costa Rica 233

Costa Rica Opossums Mammals 2000 233

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2020

While Long-tailed Shrikes are the second hand car dealers of the Nanhui bird world, some of the other members of the shrike family are a bit more subtle. The famous Electropop Duo, “The Eurasian Tree Sparrows” Giving us their best thoughtful look. Male and female Japanese Thrush , rather elegant members of the family.

Stray 237

Stray Asia Family Industry 237

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

I took a family trip down to rural Pennsylvania, where I can always count on seeing an abundance of Eastern Kingbirds … and I did. Instead, the Seaside Sparrows at Gardiner County Park, one of which is above, is Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend because cooperative Ammodramus sparrows are awesome. How about you?

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Pennsylvania 2015 Sparrows Birds 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2011

Perhaps this is why, when asked about the future of field guides in our Crossley ID Guide Giveaway, so many suggested the future is specialization: I believe the future of bird guides will consist of specialist guides which will focused on sparrows, gulls, etc. Future field guides have much room to grow in guides focuses on families of birds.

Sparrows 162

Sparrows America North America Birds 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2011

The best birdof my weekend was a Brown Creeper that hung around long enough for me to share with generally nature-numb friends and family; what’s more fun than pulling back the curtain and showing people the world that whirls unnoticed all around them? Corey can’t choose between three choice sparrows spotted in Queens.

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2011 Sparrows Birds Family 150

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2020

Over the years I’ve seen a variety of open-country birds there, including Bobolinks , Vesper Sparrow , and American Kestrel. Since the pandemic I’ve added one new species to my personal list for Willow Lake Preserve, a Field Sparrow. This is a great area to find Wilson’s Snipe , especially in spring.

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Bald Eagle New York City New York Birds 182

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2012

What is the best place to find a wintering Le Conte’s Sparrow ? Brewer’s Sparrow ? I have another dream that involves a beach covered with gulls and bikini-clad women but perhaps we should leave that one off this family-friendly blog. Wilson’s Plover ?

Florida 165

Florida Sparrows Wildlife Family 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2013

Though Corey originally picked a Field Sparrow at Edgemere Preserve (like the one pictured above) as his Best Bird of the Weekend, an afternoon outing with his family back to Edgemere Preserve so Desi could chase after crickets and grasshoppers led to his revised Best Bird of the Weekend, a fortuitous find. How about you?

St. Louis 166

St. Louis 2013 United States Arizona 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Striolated Bunting ( Emberiza srtriolata ) This member of the bunting family (that’s bunting, not sparrow. Sparrows are from the family Passeridae.

United Arab Emirates 160

United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia Oman Yemen 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Around this time of year, I keep an eye out for White-throated Sparrows landing around my home… they were right on time! Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a total surprise while on a family outing to Edgemere Landfill in Queens. Did you enjoy your weekend?

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2014 Sparrows Birds Family 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2022

Towhees are large, ground-hugging sparrows that occur only in North America. Just to complicate things more, four members of the Melozone genus are called Ground-Sparrows rather than Towhees.). Earlier this month, I came across a family of Spotted Towhees (Olive-backed) with a couple of other strange aspects.

Mexico 204

Mexico North America Sparrows 2015 204

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2022

One of the most interesting aspects of watching birds in Africa is to see different members of bird families that I already know from China. An information for those Indian readers of the blog who only know “Kingfisher” as a brand of beer: It is also a bird family. Different bird families, I know.

South Africa 196

South Africa Africa Saint Lucia Camels 196

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

Many Neotropical families and genera have some of their northernmost members here, such as the spinetails ( Rufous-breasted Spinetail ), Tangara tanagers ( Azure-rumped Tanager ), and guans ( Horned Guan ). This is a fascinating area of transition. In short, the mountain birding in Honduras promised a slew of cool new birds.

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Honduras El Salvador Costa Rica Arizona 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2021

Black-chested Sparrow. And we do, in fact, have some scrawny members of the family here in Morelia, but they hardly deserve the name. Are those enough Orange-breasted Buntings ? I didn’t think so. It was a good day for birds looking straight at me and my camera. Perhaps I need a disguise. Rose-throated Becard.

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Nicaragua 2015 2016 Mexico 261

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

First, I want to get the invasives out of the way: It is very easy to see House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons in urban areas. The Groove-billed Ani is an odd-looking member of the Cuckoo family. ” (Yes, that was a shameless plug!). Cattle Egrets are very common outside of the most urbanized areas. Inca Doves , in my garden.

Woodpeckers 324

Woodpeckers Mexico Cattle Turkey 324

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2021

I’m no expert, but I strongly suspect Rusty Sparrows only hunt for grubs when they are feeding babies. A very vocal (though not too visible) family of Steller’s Jays turned up, which was a shock, because here in central Mexico I had never before seen this conifer-loving species below 2900 m (9500 ft).

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Louisiana 2000 Mexico Hunting 261

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

That’s right, I, along with my family and some really good friends, was camping. It also had nesting Gray Catbirds , fledgling Chipping Sparrows , singing Red-eyed Vireos , and a patch of jewel weed that attracted Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. It was big, private, right next to the lake, and well-maintained. I like phoebes.

New York 174

New York Cooking Chipmunks Whales 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2011

For 13 years now, friends and family have been gathering in an undisclosed corner of Potter County, Pennsylvania during the third weekend of July to create a glorious giant chicken of wood, straw, and gunpowder only to burn it. See why we keep the location undisclosed?

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Chickens 2011 Pennsylvania Birds 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

But the Black-chested Sparrow is also rather handsome, for a sparrow, and has an even smaller range. Motmots definitely make up one of the bird world’s glamour families. The Orange-breasted Bunting is one of Mexico’s most beautiful endemics. Western Mexico offers only one, the endemic Russet-crowned Motmot.

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Mexico South America 2020 America 208

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

I’ll choose to say that gray is also a color, as a shout out to the gorgeous Black-chinned Sparrow at the top of this article. When I reached the woods, I once again again marvelled at how much Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Hutton’s Vireos look like each other, in spite of being from entirely different families: Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

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Eagles Falcons Sparrows Species 210

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2024

Among our highlights were 5 doves species, a full 9 hummingbirds, 6 herons/egrets, 3 hawks and 2 falcons, 4 woodpeckers, all of 12 Tyrant Flycatchers, 3 vireos, 6 New World Sparrows, 4 New World Orioles in different shades of orange, 16 New World Warblers, 2 tanagers, and 6 grosbeaks and buntings. But still beautiful.

Mexico 209

Mexico Birds Woodpeckers Sparrows 209