10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Sometimes, I feel that competing bird conservation groups are trying too hard to get my attention and give the impression that just by sitting here on my futon and breathing, I have killed several birds. I just looked over at my husband–bam 5 birds dead. I’m now petting my rabbit Dougal, 6 more birds dead.

Killing 154

Killing Rabbits Canada Farming 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2014

True, few hardy human souls are dedicated/crazy enough to go birding in these conditions (did I mention a windchill of –35?); Scientists speculate that these conditions may threaten the larvae of the Emerald Ash Borer , an invasive beetle killing ash trees around the Great Lakes region and beyond.

Polar Bears 161

Polar Bears Illinois Chicago Zoos 161

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Sometimes, I feel that competing bird conservation groups are trying too hard to get my attention and give the impression that just by sitting here on my futon and breathing, I have killed several birds. I just looked over at my husband–bam 5 birds dead. I’m now petting my rabbit Dougal, 6 more birds dead.

Killing 113

Killing Rabbits Canada Farming 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Female Imperial Woodpecker in flight, Mexico, a still from recently found film made by William Rhein, p. Eskimo Curlew, Passenger Pigeon, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Bachman’s Warbler, Carolina Parakeet—these are names that echo mightily through birding histories and even some recent field guides. The photographs were never published.

Animal 268

Animal Mammals Hawaii Dolphins 268

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Those bears live in the wild and are not used to humans. Lucky and his instructor were successful in bluffing this particular bear, yet the very next year in the same area, Hoshino was killed by a Brown Bear. Finally, the list of birds mentioned in the examples include: Acorn woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus.

Animal 115

Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 115

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

The Crested Serpent-eagle is not a vulture, but that does not keep me from mentioning a recent Economist article here, “The sudden demise of Indian vultures killed thousands of people” And while this article is behind a paywall, the original research paper is not.

Los Angeles 188

Los Angeles Birds Woodpeckers Owls 188

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Anyway, it is a very cute little woodpecker that eBird calls “unique, tiny” Its drum sound can be surprisingly loud for a bird this size. For example, this paper points out that migrating Bramblings prefer to feed in a habitat in which they are less likely to get killed. As I frequently mention, science is quite wonderful.

Birds 147

Birds China Killing Species 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

In “Birding in Traffic,” Jonathan Rosen, no stranger to making connections between birds and human elements as he did in “The Life of the Skies,” describes how he took the subway to Union Square Park to see a rare (for NYC) Scott’s Oriole. The two stories about New York City are personal favorites, of course.

New York City 189

New York City Birds Owls Fox 189

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2023

It was the same day George Floyd was killed. Eight years later, Christian Cooper birding Central Park became a very different kind of media image: the black man falsely accused by a white woman of threatening her life after asking her to leash her dog in the Ramble, an area where unleashed dogs are not allowed. I remember that day.

Birds 225

Birds Emotional Minneapolis New York 225

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

The causes were the usual reasons for island extinction—deforestation by both humans and invasive plants that crowded out native plants, hunting, and invasive rats, mongoose, monkeys, and, of course, feral cats. Is it any wonder that Pink Pigeons were on the brink of extinction when humans intervened? I know, that’s harsh.

Mauritius 102

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 102

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

So do parrots, some songbirds, humans, and a few other mammals. Humans don’t share merely a similar capacity for vocal learning with hummingbirds, we share share similar brain machinery , and that brain machinery is regulated by similar genes , genes not shared by hummingbirds’ closest relatives, nor by ours. Jarvis et al.

Family 279

Family Birds Parrots 2014 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

March 14, 2011 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Jon Gassett, Commissioner One Sportsman’s Lane Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Dear Mr. Gassett, I am a writer, naturalist and artist with a special interest in human/bird interactions. Kills in Canada, Alaska and Mexico are not included in the count. But is this for real?

2011 248

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 248

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

What could motivate gunmen (I cannot call them hunters) in two states to deliberately kill North America’s tallest and most critically endangered bird? Those who harvest are unfortunately myopic, seeing only the instant gratification of the meal or the kill. Those that are out to kill this species for their own pleasure.

2011 242

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 242

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

Last month woodpeckers, this month penguins. None fly, most are curious and social, which probably contributes to our cultural perception of penguins as one step away from human. Some are cute, some are dignified (and royal!).

Penguins 200

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Breeding 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

The definition of the word HUNT is “to chase or search for game or other wild animals for the purpose of catching or killing.” One is defined as catching or killing and the other as keeping from injury. Some people actually don’t consider human beings as animals. Why is this happening? Well, except maybe you.

Hunting 111

Hunting Hunters Gorillas Wolves 111