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The sun was setting fast as my mom and I left Council Grove, Kansas, after a delicious steak dinner and a three hour expedition across the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. We felt in high spirits after a gorgeous afternoon in the grassland, tallying up over 20 species of birds, including three lifers for me. We thought.
As of mid-November 2021, the Collaborative had submitted more than 4,200 checklists (up from 1,700 in 2018) and has observed 691 species in the United States (up from 618). Thus, there are now seven states with 200+ observed species. The state with the largest increase was Arizona , with 139 species added.
Toucans tell you that you aren’t in Kansas anymore. And while I’ve seen a number of different toucan species, every one is a thrill, even the toucanets! Aulacorhynchus species are considered the green toucanets , which suits this bird pretty well besides its blue-tinged breast and ruby-red rump.
Four moments (and species) stand out in my own personal birding renaissance: I put an improvised birdbath in my yard to see if I can get the House Sparrows to stop munching on my lettuce plants, and a stunning Black-vented Oriole arrives to bathe. I realize I’m not in Kansas (well, California) anymore. I have birding buddies!
These species are not only beautiful or charming, but have a personal resonance for me. But suffice it to say that when a Black-vented Oriole turned up for a drink, I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. (Or, I now suspect that this species is often a possibility for Lake Cuitzeo during the month of May.
The Latin species name cruentus , “blood-stained” has the same background Blood Pheasants mainly feed on mosses – not many bird species do this as mosses are not very nutritious. But an excerpt from “Train to Kansas City”, a song also covered by the Shop Assistants. This song mentions R.E.M.,
That’s because this fascinating part-Caribbean, part-south American country holds well over 800 species of avifauna making it without doubt one of my top three countries in all of the continent to visit. Ok, maybe not the vampire bat…but some of the more “cuddly” species are actually quite easy to see.
A hero of the Rip Van Winkle Rod & Gun Club is – no doubt – Bob Aronsohn, who lives in Kansas and in December 2013 celebrated killing his 150,000th crow. What I want to know is: a hundred feet away, how can these people tell the difference between a crow and a raven, which is a protected species?”
In addition to spotting exciting new species in Florida, including the rare Snail Kite, travel across the country brought me into contact with birds in Oregon, California, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, and more. With my new job, I feel privileged to work towards protecting vulnerable species each and very day.
I would add new sightings to my current year list, which has stood at 250 since the Bell’s Vireo I spotted in Kansas on September 7th. In fact, even with the tern and waterfowl species designations I only made it to 11 avian varieties. I would tick off migrating songbirds, from tanagers to vireos and everything in between.
But before we get into new predictions, let’s take a look at what I predicted would be my next ten birds way back in 2015 when Barack Obama was still president, the Kansas City Royals were working their way to a World Series victory, and I was still on the young side of forty. But eBird only has two records of the species in Queens.
As of mid-October 2018, the Collaborative had submitted more than 1,700 checklists and observed 618 species in the United States. The heat map is revealing: Unsurprisingly for a site founded and run by two New Yorkers (one of whom literally wrote the book on birding New York), the Empire State boasts the highest number of species (316).
For example, the Profile Page (mine is below) displayed state-level checklist information as a map with darker shades indicating more species observed and lighter shades indicating fewer. On eBird profile pages, size matters: tiny Delaware is barely noticeable whereas Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri are conspicuous.
That’s OK, we love all sorts of birds, I even love imaginary ones, and the ones that come to the backyard are also ideal starter species. In Costa Rica, the Blue-gray Tanager is an ideal species for opening the door to everything birds. With a big fat ten species on the trogon list, Costa Rica is one of those choice places.
Especially it is associated with dogs, which may raise kids of other species and even of scary and dangerous representatives of wildlife! Although, it is not for the first time when inter-species adoption occurs, but every single case is getting more and more exciting – animals can not only be friends, but parents and brothers as well.
There is, however, an eBird hotspot for the Geographical Center of the Continental United States , so be sure to submit a checklist next time you’re in that part of Smith County, Kansas. And yes, three of those eight species are Rock Pigeon, European Starling, and House Sparrow.).
Having that in mind, it is no small miracle that Colombia still has 1965 bird species left to be covered by this guide – more than any other country in the world. Among them are 94 endemics and 101 near-endemics, 4 introduced species and only 42 vagrants. Neither have I.)
During the decade, I submitted 1,219 checklists and observed 555 bird species, all in the U.S. After an initial period when all species are new, the lifers begin to follow a pattern. Thus, I can pinpoint my first pelagic trip, as it added 13 new species. and Canada. I’ve submitted 448 such checklists.
Others were established to protect specific bird species or subspecies. Quivira NWR (Kansas). according to eBird , including: Aransas (368 species); Bosque del Apache (360); Parker River (359); Laguna Atascosa (356); Santa Ana (342); Anahuac (329); Pea Island (326); and Edwin B. Pea Island NWR (North Carolina).
The Latin species name of the Kalij Pheasant is leucomelanos , meaning “white” (leukos) and “black” (melanos, both Greek words). As a popular game bird, the Ring-necked Pheasant seems to have such high importance in the US that there are several papers just discussing the species in individual US states.
Not only is the book reproduction cleaner and the colors brighter, it is slightly cropped so that the bird jumps off the page at you, but also cropping out the species name. As I said before, the book plates utilize the species names used in the original books and drawings. A little late, but very well done.
I think it’s a good assumption that Peter Pyle updated and wrote species descriptions, particularly for the Hawaiian birds. These are the species that immediately come to my mind, and I probably missed some. Paul Lehman and Larry Rosche updated the map, with Lehman doing the data work and Rosche on graphics.
They noted 598 species as a team, bringing the year total to 2118 and pushing the life list to 3555. Jason hoisted his colours in Kansas and claimed the state for 10,000 Birds. They are hungry, tired and don’t need to be chased. Claire and Grant went walkabout for 20 FOYs.
as to number of species). Aransas NWR (368 species and 42.7% Quivira NWR (Kansas): 99.1%. The list of NWRs from 80-90% is impressive as well: Anahuac NWR in Texas (80.0%), Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in New Jersey (84.3%), Laguna Atascosa NWR in Texas (86.3%), and Ottawa NWR in Ohio (83.8%). They include: Hotspot No. 64 Edwin B.
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