Sparrow Seeking Cookie
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 30, 2011
The City Birder, Rob Jett, was recently assaulted repeatedly by a thuggish House Sparrow that wanted his cookie. Oh, the humanity!
The Hidden Qualities of House Sparrows
10,000 Birds
MAY 10, 2015
I therefore decided to counter this month’s heinous wood-warbler attack on my retina by choosing the good old trusty House Sparrow as the topic of my May post. The last aspect is something I will elaborate on further below, but not before showing off a prime fine male House Sparrow, unethically photographed at its nest site.
Sparrows 
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Junco Mashup
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.
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The Thorn Birds
10,000 Birds
MARCH 24, 2021
We humans need protection from thorns, while for birds, thorns often provide protection. Which may be why the photo here shows two Clay-colored Sparrows , one Yellow-rumped Warbler , and one lovely Virginia’s Warbler , all hiding among many vicious huizache thorns. This visit, I saw two.
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Where Are You Birding This Third Weekend of March 2020?
10,000 Birds
MARCH 20, 2020
Why not make World Sparrow Day , which we celebrate on March 20, an all-weekend affair? The Old World Passer sparrows are ubiquitous all around the world, typically where humans congregate most. If you are living on the same planet the rest of us are, you surely need a diversion this weekend.
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Hot Times at the Old Watering Hole
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 17, 2021
The list starts with those species that are always present: House Sparrows (oh, so many House Sparrows !), My House Sparrows , Weaver Finches that they are, have discovered how to pull tough-but-flexible strips off my banana leaves to weave into their nests. Lincoln Sparrows have been unusually abundant this year.
Nashville 264
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Year of the Shrike
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 14, 2014
No feeder at all, in fact, no American Goldfinch , no Song Sparrows even unless I go looking for them. A Chipping Sparrow came up to see us once. I’ve always held that we need to see cities as habitats and work to embrace and enhance them, if we are to have any chance at all of maintaining the human connection with nature.
Montana 236
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The Western Screech-Owl Nests in Tree Cavities
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 4, 2012
I was able to find the Common Redpoll among the flock of Lesser Goldfinches and Savannah Sparrows. I even got a halfway decent photo of it before heading a few miles away to see the American Tree Sparrow and Red-naped Sapsucker. Personally, I’m waiting for the irruption of Snowy Owls to reach northern California!
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American Trash Bird
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 8, 2012
The kingdom of unloved avians is ruled by the trash triumvirate: House Sparrow , European Starling , and Rock Pigeon. The pigeon is a beautiful flyer, the starling has exquisite, prismatic plumage, and the sparrow seems unfazed by even the most extreme temperatures. In some parts of the U.S., Gulls can be even worse!
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Grassy Green Space in the Central Valley- Trash Habitat or Prime Real Estate for Oddball Birds?
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 4, 2021
A few spots manage to persist and welcome them in this human-dominated landscape. In the erstwhile sanctuary, common species like Red-billed Pigeon , Blue-black Grassquit , and Rufous-collared Sparrow abound. It’s exodus for survival or wilt and starve in the concrete. It now occurs in various sites in the Central Valley.
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Urban Birding in Costa Rica- Benefits of Brushy Fields and Coffee Farms
10,000 Birds
JULY 9, 2022
We might have a few small farms nearby and the gift of a narrow riparian zone out back but in general, the main habitat is that of the modern human kind; housing and streets (lamposts included). Stripe-headed Sparrow and Other Dry Forest Birds. Melodies of Yellow-green Vireos and Whispering Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow in the Coffee.
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A Guide to Parking Lot Birds of the Southeast
10,000 Birds
JULY 10, 2012
Every part of the world has it’s suite of parking lot staples, those urbanish species that seem to prefer to linger about humanity subsisting in no small amount to the magnanimity, or more likely the laziness, of humankind. Here in the non-Floridian Southeast we have sparrows and starlings and pigeons.
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The “Birds” in the Brush
10,000 Birds
MAY 24, 2013
Over the years you may have learned to know better but it’s spring and you’re hopeful and maybe this time it’s an unfamiliar sparrow of some kind… but after maneuvering carefully around to a line of sight, it’s that furry little air-raid siren the Eastern chipmunk again. You sigh and move on.
Chipmunks 240
240 Cold Oven(bird)
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 17, 2011
There are, in addition to the Ovenbird , two Yellow-breasted Chats , two Gray Catbirds , and a Lincoln’s Sparrow , all attempting to share Bryant Park with the mass of humanity that crowds the park for ice skating and Christmas shopping this time of year.
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Puddleglum, or Puddleglee?
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 4, 2020
Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia , one of the many fantastic characters is a rather human-like frog creature named Puddleglum. Once I got home and confirmed the species I had seen, I realized that my first-of-year Godwits, Black-bellied Plovers, the Vesper Sparrow, and a couple of Dunlins have brought my total species for 2020 to 301.
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Best Bird of the Weekend (Third of February 2021)
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 22, 2021
We humans, being the environmental cue-driven, chronologically constrained creatures that we are, look out a frost-rimed window at a wasteland of ice and snow and think, “I cannot WAIT for winter to end.” Though it is a common species the fact it made Corey wait until late February made it his Best Bird of the Weekend.
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What Flies Over Costa Rica in the Night?
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 10, 2020
On the northern birding calendar, October is a time for sparrows, cool weather, and tired fall leaves. It’s when Orange-crowned Warblers share the Goldenrod with lisping and chirping sparrows, when hardy Yellow-rumped Warblers dominate the Parulid scene. Us humans need that habitat too. appeared first on 10,000 Birds.
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With Ears Wide Open
10,000 Birds
MARCH 29, 2013
I pass over the bridge on my way to class and a Song Sparrow is starting to defend a clump of bushes along the river. The most unexpected thing I have heard this week, though, came from the mouth of a human. This week, the future is being heard and not seen. “But then,” she said, “I watched The Big Year.”
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Who Wants To See a Greater Prairie Chicken?
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
The human world is on the move to where the money is. Destroy the native prairies and lose Henslow’s Sparrows , Bobolinks , Upland Sandpipers , and Greater Prairie Chickens. This is a moment when birders will need to begin to pay attention to our choices if we want to have certain birds to watch.
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Vulture Follies
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
I’ll always remember the time my three bird rehabber friends and I watched Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” all of us choking with laughter as poor, delicate Tippi Hendren spends most of the movie racing away from marauding packs of crows and gulls, as well as the occasional angry sparrow. “I From my point of view, she’s having a pretty good day.”
Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 25, 2016
There is evidence that toxoplasma leads, in humans, to an elevated risk of mental illness and depression. The traditional, supposedly humane answer to the glut of feral cats has been institution of “TNR” programs – trap, neuter, return. Infected rats, for example, no longer shun cat urine but find it an aphrodiasic.
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You Will See (or Hear) These
10,000 Birds
APRIL 11, 2024
This is a species that has very much learned to cohabit with humans, causing its population to explode into new areas. I would certainly have to include the all-beige Inca Dove as a regional trash bird, and European House Sparrows are to be found wherever humans are present. But it is a true Mexican native. (In
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Birding Bryant Park
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 11, 2019
Catbirds seem very quick to adapt to the reality of foraging in busy Bryant Park, fearlessly approaching humans while foraging and often eating whatever is being fed to the House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons. My sixtieth species for Bryant Park was a young White-crowned Sparrow , and it made my morning. Mmm…mums…mmm.
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Kenyan LBJ’s (The Sequel)!
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 11, 2020
Yellow-spotted Petronia or Yellow-spotted Bush-Sparrow depending on which text you’re using. I was thrilled to see a Lesser Honeyguide – the relationship between honeyguides and humans dates back to early hominids, a whopping 1.9 Northern Anteater-Chat. million years ago!
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Huizaches, Granjenos, and Nopales
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 20, 2019
I make sure to bird here because the grasslands are my very best place to see up to 12 species of Sparrows, as well as Eastern Meadowlarks , House Finches , Lesser Goldfinches , and W hite-collared Seedeaters. Humans like me enjoy eating them, too! Sure, I will eat Granjeno fruits. Orange-crowned Warblers will not eat these fruits.
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Introducing Bluebird Man
10,000 Birds
JULY 2, 2013
Perhaps it is the striking beauty of these brilliant blue birds, or perhaps it is the unique human connection we have developed with them through the monitoring of nest boxes. There is something more. I’ve set out to explore these ideas and more in a new documentary film about bluebirds entitled Bluebird Man.
Idaho 248
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Nanhui, Shanghai in late autumn
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 10, 2020
Would probably wear heavily patterned fisherman`s wool sweaters if turned into a human. The famous Electropop Duo, “The Eurasian Tree Sparrows” Giving us their best thoughtful look. Black-faced Bunting is a slight misnomer for the male bird and a serious one for the female. Autumn also means thrushes.
Stray 264
264 Snow in the Air
10,000 Birds
MARCH 21, 2014
My Dark-eyed Juncos are trilling in preparation to retreat to quieter breeding grounds, the Black-Capped Chickadees sing their two notes, and the Song Sparrows absolutely will not shut up. It’s natural that the geese will take their fill of the smorgasbord human activity has laid in front of them.
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The 20 most common birds in Shanghai (Part 2)
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 22, 2019
Start with Eurasian Tree Sparrow , an unlikely high-ranked target for anybody watching birds in Shanghai. Still, a bird that has its moments – and I am always surprised how this sparrow really seems to enjoy human presence, however destructive it may be.
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Rambling
10,000 Birds
APRIL 13, 2012
Sure, migration was in evidence — both Kinglet species present, Hermit Thrushes everywhere, White-throated Sparrows tuning up their songs in such abundance that they provided an ongoing soundtrack, American Robins and assorted blackbirds on the move. I applaud responsibility, but please don’t litter.) Photo courtesy of the U.S.
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235 Who belongs in the Evening Grosbeak’s family tree?
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 16, 2012
We humans often understand things by exploring their relationships. Finches didn’t make it across Wallace’s Line into Australasia until humans helped them along, but they did accomplish at least one remarkable transoceanic voyage on their own. More on that in a moment. And back to finches. But not all.
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Birding Ruoergai, Sichuan, China
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 13, 2021
Europeans must use these to come and bear away in the name of civilization all these dregs of the human race. After such a mysterious bird, it is time to enjoy the simple pleasure of seeing ordinary birds such as the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. If you get the perfect shot of a Horned Lark , the bird looks very much like a cartoon devil.
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250 Seeking Out Unwelcome Guests
10,000 Birds
APRIL 15, 2014
once could conceivably make the argument about House Sparrows too, but I think they’ve worn out their welcome. We birders have a slightly skewed interpretation of “nature” anyway, compared to other outdoor enthusiasts like hikers and campers who actively seek to remove themselves from anything human.
San Diego 237
237 A Disgustingly Diabolical Quiz
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 11, 2011
But if, somehow, you manage to get all three correct then Rick Perry will agree that climate change is happening and is caused by humanity, Michele Bachmann will agree that you can’t pray away the gay, Ron Paul will acknowledge that the gold standard is a dumb idea, and Mitt Romney will worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
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My Mexican Birdbath
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 19, 2020
Unfortunately, during much of the year, most of those birds are from among the House Sparrows that nest in the vines that I planted along the three-story building next door. During the rainiest months, they may drop by only for a drink, preferring to bathe further away from humanity, in some puddle. one of our Black-vented Orioles.
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Forgotten Prairies
10,000 Birds
JULY 28, 2011
Whether I am speaking about Henslow’s Sparrows and Upland Sandpipers of the east and Midwest that occupy tall-grass prairies or birds like Ferruginous Hawks and Mountain Plovers of the western short-grass prairies; all deserve our attention. You may say this is cynical, but I consider it logical.
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I and the Bird #147: IATB SAT
10,000 Birds
MARCH 31, 2011
This passage is excerpted from a work by Douglas Coupland Mom said that people are interested in birds only in as much as they exhibit human behavior—greed and stupidity and anger—and by doing so they free us from the unique sorrow of being human.
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The Poems of the Brown-headed Cowbird
10,000 Birds
MAY 16, 2011
We have grown soft in the east with birds naive What I need is a Henslow’s Sparrow to deceive! Pronunciation of human words is difficult for cowbirds to grasp. But I miss the open land with skies never ending And the challenge of laying eggs in a nest with defending. I hope you have enjoyed this presentation of the poetry of M.
Eggs 205
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Bird Talk: An Exploration of Avian Communication–A Book Review
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 3, 2021
”* And then, my bird club friends started talking about alternate warbler songs and sparrow dialects and I thought, “Really? And, that sparrow I heard in California that sounded so different really is a Song Sparrow?” There’s more than one song per warbler? There is so much here!
North America 279
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The Cattle Egret Expansion
10,000 Birds
JULY 22, 2014
When you think of invasives, you think of the birds that have been helped by human beings to get where they are, such as House Sparrow or European Starling. Cattle Egret has been introduced by humans to Hawaii and the Seychelles. Other species have certainly expanded their ranges, but never in such a rapid and global scale.
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A Gull at the End of the World
10,000 Birds
JULY 27, 2012
Until 2007 the British Ornithologists’ Union lumped it with the Herring Gull , perhaps the classic “sea gull” of human contempt. Yellow-legged Gull The Yellow-legged Gull fits in with Fisterra in that it is not, at first glance, very romantic. Now it has cachet and even a certain Mediterranean charm.
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188 The Wildlife Rehabilitator’s Wish List
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 9, 2013
The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. That more rehab centers would accept non-natives, like pigeons house sparrows, and starlings,” wrote Charis in Oregon. It’s August, and first on the menu is: Fried Rehabber. Summer is high season.
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Coyotes in Carbon Canyon
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 30, 2012
Despite, or maybe because of the active human intervention, quite a few species can be seen in a couple hours in the morning. (I I am accustomed to seeing a Coyote or two on each visit I make to the park in the early morning before bikers, dog-walkers, joggers, and humanity in general get out and about.
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Leucistic Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis
10,000 Birds
MARCH 9, 2011
Leucism “is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals and humans.&# Central Park White-Throated Sparrow Slaty-backed Gull (?) I briefly entertained the idea that I had found a rare species never before seen in New York but quickly came to my senses and realized that I was dealing with a leucistic individual.
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