10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

Memorable encounters with Mammals: Part I Most birdwatchers enjoy seeing mammals, but the trouble with mammals is that they tend to be much more challenging to see than birds. On my 21-day Kenyan safaris we reckoned to find around 600 species of birds and around 60 mammals, both impressive totals.

Fur 181

Fur Otters Bulgaria Estonia 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

What put this once small fishing town on the map was not birds but mammals, specifically whales and dolphins. Being a convenient stop between the ferry town of Picton and the city of Christchurch didn’t hurt, but it was the chance to get up close and personal with marine mammals that turned the place into a popular tourist destination.

Whales 200

Whales Whaling Albatross New Zealand 200

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2013

” By the very next day they were calling on their mindless followers to email the National Audubon Society’s CEO, David Yarnold, and Chairman, B Holt Thrasher, to call for Williams’ dismissal because he ”just published a major newspaper editorial calling on the public to kill millions of cats by poisoning them with Tylenol.”

Feral Cats 271

Feral Cats Trap Neuter Return Tnr Extremist 271

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

The Osprey tries another hunt, finally a successful one, while Telia goes deeper into the water and lies down. In a news report from 2009, the DNA quoted a senior Forest Department official who feared that the poachers must have killed around 20 tigers in the region in just five months. Cover photo: Telia, copyright © Nitin Bhardwaj.

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Tigers India Killing 2006 242

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

Now and then individual catfish of various species hunt nearer the surface and larger catfish such as the American Channel Cat will take a duck or other water bird. So, the modal catfish is a fish that hunts from below, can take large prey, and occasionally eats a bird. As noted, the fish-like mammals do this as well.

Fish 201

Fish Whales Whaling France 201

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2019

When I reached the levee earlier that morning, I met an elderly hunter from whom I learned that there was an ongoing duck and pheasant hunt, but no one was shooting from, nor towards the embankment, hence I should be safe there. The only wildcat I found was illegally killed by hunters during closed season.

Serbia 244

Serbia Otters Boars Hunters 244

Critter News

MARCH 27, 2012

The market for Canadian seal pelts has gone dry but the federal government will still allow sealers to kill 400,000 of the marine mammals when the annual hunt opens next Monday. For the full article, go to The Globe and Mail here.

Seals 100

Seals Canada Mammals Hunting 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2016

The gamekeeper drives by, I wave my greetings but do not mention the jackals I am observing at the moment: this animal is not protected in Serbia and is allowed for killing year-round (one may say “hunting” instead, but I am having problems trying to spot the difference). All this happens less than a mile from the nearest houses.

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Sheep Serbia Eagles Mammals 127

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

That bald head, so odd and homely, is actually an adaptation for sticking one’s head deep inside the gut of a deceased mammal. They primarily prey on the large mammals of the African plains, grasslands stretching from horizon to horizon. Vulture Hunts Down and Ravages Sea Turtles – Dale Forbes, 10,000 Birds.

California Condor 179

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 179

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

The drongo perches above the flock, snatching insects that they disturb, and keeping an eye out for predators that might go unnoticed by its hunting flock-mates. The species is classified as Near Threatened for all the usual depressing reasons – pollution, drainage, hunting, and the collection of eggs and nestlings ( source ).

Sri Lanka 209

Sri Lanka Taiwan Birds Cats 209

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

Great Frigatebirds engage in “unihemispheric sleep” on hunting trips of six to ten days, never landing, sleeping less than an hour in a 24-hour cycle, often keeping one-half of their brain awake while the other slept. Pause while we all try to imagine what our lives would be like if we could do that.)

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Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 249

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Another item they feed on is hunting edible bird nest swiftlets, which are quite common in edible swiftlet houses in Sabah, Malaysia ( source ). The first attempt in hunting was made by the male hornbill which was seen snapping at a passing swiftlet, but was unsuccessful. Then she tried to feed it to the remaining chicks.

Rhinoceros 126

Rhinoceros Singapore Transported Hunting 126

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Free-roaming cats will hunt and kill birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish, resulting in wildlife mortality. If left unchecked, free-roaming cats will breed and their populations increase at locations where they find suitable shelter and food, resulting in environmental/property damage, and public nuisance.

Feral Cats 206

Feral Cats Feral Cats Minneapolis 206

Animal Person

APRIL 14, 2009

According to Reuters: Japan, which considers whaling to be a cherished cultural tradition, killed 679 minke whales despite plans to catch around 850. It caught just one fin whale compared with a target of 50 in the hunt that began in November. Of course, Mantle says, "but though they are high-level mammals, they're not humans."

Animal Liberation Front 100

Animal Liberation Front UCLA Animal Liberation Primates 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe today announced as part of Great Outdoors Month the agency is proposing to expand fishing and hunting opportunities on 21 refuges throughout the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Service is committed to strengthening and expanding hunting and fishing opportunities,” said Ashe. “The

Fish 143

Fish Wildlife Hunting Louisiana 143

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

There were Northern Harriers hunting low over what portions are as of yet unmowed, Cooper’s Hawks using some of the berms as cover for sneak attacks, and American Kestrel feasting on cold grasshoppers. It must be immensely frustrating to have food stuck on your beak when you lack hands to get it off. I don’t know.).

Opossums 172

Opossums Bald Eagle Squirrels Meat 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

There are times when acting in the conservation interest of a species or ecosystem means that the welfare of specific animals is compromised, which is a fancy way of saying that conservationists sometimes have to kill animals for the greater good. There is no solidarity among the big cats. Take the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.

Lions 182

Lions Killing Hunting Hunters 182

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

This fish hunting duck ranges from the northern tip of New Zealand to the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (after which it was first named) but is common nowhere. There aren’t many mammal ticks on this trip, but the ones you get are pretty remarkable. It certainly has no known relatives. Laughing Owl.

New Zealand 198

New Zealand Ducks Mountain Goats Australia 198

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

To be honest, both the robin and the flycatchers shown above remind me of the easter eggs I hunted for as a child – the same strong colors in front of a green background, same time of the year (feel free to insert your own Proust Madeleine reference here) … Bluethroats apparently are good at imitating other birds.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147