10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2023

Before my first trip to the tropics many years ago I always wondered how is it even possible that new bird species are discovered with all the deforestation and general habitat obliteration going on all over the world. I mean, we as a species are today basically everywhere. But still new species are found.

Solomon Islands 246

Solomon Islands Ecuador Colombia Brazil 246

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

Some call them trash, tours might not visit, but they can host more than the expected and common species. Some such vegetated spots can also attract oddball birds, species that wander to find a home in urban circumstances. Three species of seedeaters sing from the tall grass, one of them being the Yellow-bellied Seedeater.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Sparrows Rodents Rats 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2014

You’ve no doubt heard about birds being put at risk by nonnative cats, rats, and even goats. In the case of Midway, a National Wildlife Refuge , the offending species is Golden Crownbeard ( Verbesina enceliolides ) , an innocuous-looking flower that’s native to Mexico and the Southwestern United States. But plants?

Albatross 231

Albatross Goats Rats Japan 231

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. Mammals of South Asia follows the latest taxonomy, describes all the species recorded within the region and provides a range map for each species. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales.

Mammals 229

Mammals Asia Sri Lanka Bhutan 229

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

Both species of southern African otters are also regularly encountered ( Cape Clawless and Spot-necked.). Here one can also find pairs of very cute Sloggett’s Ice Rats , another member of Sani’s distinct fauna. The final southern African stronghold of this species is the high Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho.

Lesotho 222

Lesotho Rats Africa Woodpeckers 222

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

It was for many years the last place you’d find Stitchbirds anywhere in the world, and to this day it still has the largest population of this species and arguably the only stable and secure one. The species was lost for over a hundred years before being rediscovered in 2003.

New Zealand 158

New Zealand Rats Cooking 2003 158

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2023

Lynford also boasts an arboretum, with 200 different species of trees. Today, in southern England, we rarely have the luxury of trying to tell the two species apart, as Willow T**s have declined so severely that they are now virtually extinct in East Anglia. They were bold, too, unworried by my presence.

Barn Owls 246

Barn Owls Rats Japan Blackbirds 246

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2016

Agonizing quandaries concerning invasive species are well-known to wildlife biologists. Arriving in North America around the time of Columbus, they have become “one of the most successful invasive species on earth.”. Infected rats, for example, no longer shun cat urine but find it an aphrodiasic.

Feral Cats 268

Feral Cats Cats Tnr Trap Neuter Return 268

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2014

More reviled than perhaps any other species for the mess they make, their copious poop, and their general ubiquity, they are disliked, cursed, and stuck with monikers like “rat with wings.” Pigeons get no respect. ” But the Feral Pigeon has much about it that should be admired. Instead, enjoy the pigeon.

Rats 187

Rats Feral Farming Collecting 187

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2011

But, as with so many other species, these birds have been left to do their own whistle blowing. West Indian Whistling Ducks are the largest of the eight different whistling duck species. The whistling duck call carries with it the crimes of big business, the failures of governments and the ignorance of irresponsible hunters.

Antigua and Barbuda 247

Antigua and Barbuda Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Jamaica 247

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The section South Georgia Wildlife describes 65 species of birds, 20 species of sea mammals, nearly 60 species of insects, and more than 40 species of flowering and nonflowering plants. Thirty-six Tubenose species are covered to varying degrees, depending on their status.

Georgia 189

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whaling 189

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

Why is there no state or federal money available to care for federally protected species? Just for one day, not to be pooped or puked on and to not find rat guts hanging off my clothes,” wrote Susan in Michigan. I’d wish for respect for what we do.”. I wish time were totally under my control,” wrote Kim in Oklahoma. Just Desserts. “I’d

Wildlife 255

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma Michigan 255

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Back in 2009, Tai Haku sent us a fascinating post exploring a question that ecologists worldwide grapple with: can the translocation of rare species into niches left empty by extinction be successful or justified? How ecologically similar are the two species? It is extinct. Guam Rail Gallirallus owstoni.

Puerto Rico 240

Puerto Rico Guam Virgin Islands Feral 240

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

BirdLife International believes that this might be maximum population the species can reach, as it seems to completely saturate its range. Occasionally the Tristan Thrush Nesocichla eremita will prey upon chicks from the two-egg nest of the Inaccessible Island Rail but this not enough in any way to threaten the species.

Science 240

Science Transported Shelters South Africa 240

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

A lot of those anti-Columbidae tendencies probably stem from a certain species frequently referred to as a “flying rat” In raptor enthusiast circles, “Peregrine fodder” is also used, and when a Mourning Dove gets naturally selected by a Cooper’s Hawk , some hawk watchers can’t hide their look of glee.

Costa Rica 205

Costa Rica Bolivia Rats South America 205

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2013

In a warm Catalonian March (I was about to say Spanish, but among quite a few flags, I haven’t seen a single Spanish one), Barcelona is filled with sunlight and full of Rose-ringed and Monk Parakeets , two charming but alien and invasive species. As we enter the car, a Sardinian Warbler sings behind us, laughing out loudly.

Spain 254

Spain Terrapins Eagles Europe 254

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

Nick finds a bird-shaped protrusion at the top of the rock – Black-eared Wheatear , not exactly a species I expect to observe from a boat deck. In the IUCN Red List, it is listed as vulnerable because of the high mortality of nestlings that become victims to rats and of adults that end up as a fishery bycatch.

Greece 252

Greece Malta Croatia Italy 252

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2022

On the ground, spilled wheat attracted a pair of Dusky Rice Rats , to take mouthfuls under a particular log. It consists of a small reserve with a well maintained in site trail (over 195 species recorded, many endemic and rare birds accessible), cozy lodging and a dining room.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Panama Squirrels Nicaragua 264

Critter News

JULY 19, 2012

Invading rats with bodies up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) long have begun eating eggs and chicks, and some experts fear that unless the rats are eradicated, they could tip the Humboldt penguin toward extinction. From the Huffington Post.

Penguins 100

Penguins Chile Rats Eating Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2019

In a warm Catalonian March (I was about to say Spanish, but among quite a few flags, I haven’t seen a single Spanish one), Barcelona was filled with sunlight and full of Rose-ringed and Monk Parakeets , two charming but alien and invasive species. As we enter the car, a Sardinian Warbler sings behind us, laughing out loudly.

Terrapins 222

Terrapins Eagles Rats Europe 222

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

So: we have bird identification shorthand, which is usually the bird’s North American Ornithological Society abbreviation, but which could be just one particular rehabber’s nickname for the species. More slang?” asked Erin, who is primarily a turtle rehabber. Here’s one: ‘the turtle’s head exploded.’

Wildlife Rehabilitation 254

Wildlife Rehabilitation Turtles Turkey Rodents 254

Critter News

JUNE 5, 2009

Those patterns hint at the ancient origins of human hilarity and suggest that other social species - including apes, dogs and rats - really, truly laugh as well. I personally think that a credible laughter concept can, and already has been, extended to mammalian species as lowly as the rat.".

Apes 100

Apes Animal Rats Primates 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2015

We call it a “mouse gradation year” I was not able to find a catchy English term for “gradation year” – it’s what happens when a certain species showing population cycles reaches a peak year. If however you are a larger “mouse”-like rodent you are a rat. No “gophers” etc.

Fox 172

Fox Rodents Gophers Germany 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Not that I don’t enjoy seeing new species myself, it’s just that they are an easy target and I am nothing if not lazy and mean spirited. This particular Common Wombat ( Vombatus ursinus ), family Vombatidae, was the first I ever saw of the species and family.

Family 178

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 178

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2018

Invasive species , particularly rodents, have long been a problem on the Hawaiian archipelago. Midway, which was once a military facility, has long had mice and it once had rats, though they were eradicated in 1996. Implementing mitigation measures identified for selected species. They are also disease vectors.

Mice 118

Mice Albatross Honolulu Rats 118

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2017

Scientists ponder the feasibility of genetically engineering chickens to lay the eggs of endangered bird species. The law of unintended consequences has tragic effects at a zoo in England, as rat poison ends up killing the Rainbow Lorikeets it was intended to protect. So crazy it just might work?

Penguins 100

Penguins Argentina France Stray 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2016

South Island specifically, and in fact it was the marked difference between the young birds of this species and the North Island Saddlback that alerted scientists to the fact that they were two separate species. Jackbirds are young South Island Saddlebacks.

New Zealand 127

New Zealand Parrots Rats Bats 127

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2011

You’d think, then, that applying science to philosophy by studying the evolutionary underpinnings of thought and behavior across species would be right up my alley. That said, some of his conclusions about our duty to preserve other species are in line with my own, and maybe the topic could hardly be avoided in a book like this.

Morals 149

Morals Animal Humane Litter 149

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2018

Imported rats, Short-tailed Weasels, or Stoats as they are know as here, 0possums, and feral cats have caused the extinction of literally dozens of bird species here in New Zealand. Ulva Island is one of many New Zealand islands that the DOC has worked very hard to remove all the pests, and re-introduce many of the endangered species.

Penguins 165

Penguins New Zealand Feral Cats Albatross 165

Critter News

JUNE 4, 2009

The EU's executive Commission last year proposed a range of measures to improve the welfare of the 12 million vertebrate animals used in experiments each year, mostly mice and rats.

Medical Research 100

Medical Research Medical Research Apes 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

Among the many species seen on the lake were Common Loon ( Gavia immer ), Lesser Scaup ( Aythya affinis ), Clark’s Grebe ( Aechmorphorus clarkii ) … and Bonaparte’s Gull ( Chroicocephalus philadelphia ) – this one photographed at Don Edwards NWR.

California 122

California Sparrows Philadelphia Rats 122

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

I’ve numbered these chapter descriptions because just rereading them feels overwhelming and I need some structure (the chapters in the book are interspersed with the case study chapters described above).

Cyprus 264

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2017

An eclectic mix of endemics, specialties and oddly displaced species, it is one of the most memorable places I have ever birded… and I never visited it as a trip. As you climb you can stop to see facinating species like the Blue-winged Goose , a strange species whose closest relatives are in South America.

Ethiopia 100

Ethiopia Mammals Rats South America 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2017

Knowing that I wouldn’t yell for him to come quick if we were seeing regular species like the endangered Great Green Macaw , toucans, or even a Bare-crowned Antbird , Robert wasted no time in racing down the stairs. Must have taken a wrong turn at the nearest parking lot. But you can’t make trades with the birds.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Albuquerque Eagles Rats 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2016

Species that back here in New York either don’t occur or only occur in winter and that necessitate a drive far to the north of New York City were common in the backyard in Breckenridge. Say pigeons and we New Yorkers automatically think of the ragged sky rats that tourists love to feed. What a beautiful beast!

Fox 100

Fox New York New York City Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

What’s even more frustrating is when animal rights people learn of plans to cull nonnative species. Navy wiped out every single rat on Midway Atoll, seabirds flourished afterwards. The number of bird lives saved as a result of the rat removal operation can easily be estimated to be into the millions by now.

Animal Rights Movement 260

Animal Rights Movement Animal Rights Wildlife Rights 260

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Let me introduce my guest blogger, Lisa Owens Viani, co-founder of the California-based group RATS ( Raptors Are The Solution ), which educates people about the dangers of rat poisons. Birds Conservation Bell Labs poisons Hawk rat poison Motomco wild bird poisoning wildlife poisoning'

Mountain Lions 269

Mountain Lions Rats Rodents Lions 269