10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2013

The recent American Ornithological Union (AOU) decisions to split Sage Sparrow (RIP) into Sagebrush Sparrow and Bell’s Sparrow has the Birdosphere buzzing on everything from field marks, vocalizations, status and distribution to historical records and hypothetical patterns of vagrancy. Photographed off Hatteras, NC.

San Francisco 211

San Francisco Fox Sparrows California 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2013

Bluebird Man is about Alfred Larson, but you can be one of the film’s heroes by contributing to its production… There is something special about bluebirds, and it isn’t just because the world’s three species are only found in North America. There is something more. Preparing to band 3 Mountain Bluebird chicks.

Idaho 233

Idaho North America America Science 233

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2012

Every single species account includes at least one sentence in which gratuitous references to creation are made. The eighteen species covered are divided into five groups by color (blue or gray, brown, red, black, and yellow or orange) and each species gets an account that is a couple of minutes long.

Science 198

Science Owls Pennsylvania United States 198

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2024

Apparently, the species name rutila means “red, golden red, reddish yellow”, which sounds a bit like a contradiction in itself. It is well known that chicks of this morph immediately start having an identity crisis when combining the knowledge of their species name with the information gathered from a look in the mirror.

Killing 231

Killing Birds Breeding Breeders 231

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.

North America 279

North America Research Birds America 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

Birding by Impression is a conscious, deliberate method of identifying and recognizing birds based on the study and evaluation of “distinctive structural features and behavioral movements” and comparison with nearby and similar species. It is not a handbook, though it approaches species from a collective viewpoint. So say Kevin T.

New Jersey 191

New Jersey Birds Science New York City 191

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

Over the next few days, I found increasing numbers, goldfinches, juncos, white-throated sparrows. Dead birds are a part of the life of a birder, a feeder of birds, and of bird science. I was shocked when I found the first body, a female Towhee. I hoped it was an anomaly. Were they always there and I just never noticed?

New York City 264

New York City Illinois Science Killing 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2024

Given how far Hokkaido is from Europe, it seems a bit surprising how many bird species wintering on this Japanese island have a name starting with “Eurasian” Or how many of these species I have also seen in my parents’ garden in Germany. In science speak, this is named the optimal body mass hypothesis.

Iran 233

Iran Germany Research Humane 233

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives. His field guides are known for images that simultaneously portray notable field marks and also the ‘personality’ of a bird species.

2020 264

2020 Birds North America Sparrows 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2012

At the recent Swarovski Social Media Summit in Arizona, Nate proselytized passionately for the program that both manages your sightings and contributes them to science. Then the fun really started… The eBird interface came back saying that a whopping 251 species needed clarification. But Nate is an eBird fanatic.

Arizona 198

Arizona Belize Adoptable ALA 198

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

All species are from the ABA area, and all groups must meet at least one of these criteria: (1) the group “represented a good opportunity to build core birding skills,” (2) the authors thought it was a group that needed “a refreshed treatment,” (3) the authors were intrigued by the group and wanted to present it using their unique format.

Birds 190

Birds Groups 2015 North America 190

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2023

This area offers Mexico’s greatest concentration of endemics, as well as very few species an American birder might have already seen up north. But I knew that quite a few charismatic species had failed to turn up. Two weeks later, it was a young math and science teacher from Oregon named Brent who asked me to take him with me.

Mexico 192

Mexico Oregon Squirrels Falcons 192

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2014

The citizen science aspect is a big hit with many users, and eBirding areas with little existing data can be fun as well. Flycatcher Jen of I Used To Hate Birds has amassed close to 160 species in the last two years just walking and biking around Portland, Oregon, which is a number that deserves a toast if you ask me.

Birds 248

Birds Portland Oregon Wildlife 248

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Zamorano University may be regarded as one of the crown jewels of Latin American higher education, particularly in the areas of agriculture, environmental management, and food science, but this idyllic campus excels for more reasons than simply academics. We even missed a few easy species for this site, such as Blue-and-white Mockingbird.

Honduras 178

Honduras Birds Kentucky Owls 178

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

The book is divided into three parts: “Introduction,” “Avifaunal Overview,” and “Species Accounts.” Most birders will go straight to the “Species Accounts.” It’s important to note that the 301 species selected for this section are those of historical and current importance to the core study area, the northwest Bronx.

New York City 195

New York City New York Birds Breeding 195

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

Colorful bills and heads seem quite popular among Letaba’s bird species – see the African Jacana (blue and black) … … the Striated Heron (yellow and blue) … … and the Yellow-billed Stork (yellow and red). The Latin species name vermiculatus (worm-like) refers to the markings on the upperparts.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Benin South Africa Birds 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

I tried to get a better idea of what exactly the definition of cuckoo-dove is but am still not very clear about it – Wikipedia only offers the rather formal definition “any of several species of bird in the genera Macropygia , Reinwardtoena, and Turacoena of the pigeon family.” But I may well be wrong.

Geese 147

Geese Birds Fish Sparrows 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

This led to a correspondence with Spencer Fullerton Baird, then assistant secretary of the Smithsonian, the mentor of many naturalist/scientists of Ridgway’s generation, himself a disciple of John James Audubon, and, yes, the Baird of Baird’s Sparrow. Baird, Brewer, Cory, Bicknell, and Worthen all make appearances.

Illinois 183

Illinois Collecting Alaska United States 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2012

Before the counts, I was hoping to break 100 species, but after 21 parks reported data back to me we’re up to 183 species! found 36 species, including Killdeer (in December!), I underestimated how much the wide geographic distribution of Civil War-related parks would affect the count totals.

Mississippi 193

Mississippi Vermont Birds Maryland 193

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2018

He enjoys combining his passion for birds with computer science background to model nocturnal bird migration. Everything is new, and even the pigeons or sparrows flying around the airport make an exciting first for your country list. This phase is to familiarize with the species that can be seen. There was none in Serbia.

Serbia 178

Serbia Switzerland Farming Montenegro 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2013

Not only is it a very impressive citizen science project that manages to marshal the legions of birders around Canada and the U.S., Time will tell how much good science can be wrung from the data (due to observer bias, misidentifications, the vastly differing skillsets of contributing observers, under-birded areas, etc.),

San Diego 197

San Diego California Condor California Bald Eagle 197

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death. Birders know that the light’s not always perfect or even particularly good when you’re trying to tell one species from another. Speculation is useless in acts of vandalism. It may be as simple as trying to hit the big white one. The big white one. It flies on.

2011 244

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

The field site I am assigned to is located in one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and home to a particularly rich avifauna that numbers well over 500 species. Hundreds of riotously colored birds representing 14 species of macaws and parrots flock and frolic together in less than fifty meters of forest canopy.

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 Deer 255

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Hunting sandhill cranes in Kentucky is a bad idea from a public relations standpoint, considering the growing cadre of birders and nature enthusiasts for whom cranes are a touchstone species. Initiating a hunting season on a large, charismatic species like a crane is no way to resuscitate hunting.

2011 263

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. The guide covers 1,433 species, the number of birds documented at the end of 2014, the cutoff point for the book.

Bolivia 225

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 225

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2012

NARITA, JAPAN, DECEMBER 2012 – The art and science of layover birding deserves more rigorous study and perhaps a federal grant. Every species I mentioned appeared often throughout the day, but diversity improved considerably as we headed towards Naritasan Temple by way of the famed irrigation channel.

Japan 138

Japan Stud Birds Ducks 138

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

Among these white-headed/dark-winged gulls formerly lumped into the genus Larus , there were 18+ recognized species the last time I checked, sharing similarities that make telling them apart for the amateur birdwatcher very difficult. 1998), then the proper name for this species is L. fuscus – should be separated as species.

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Deer Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

But we won’t let science get in the way of Fremont’s claim – which is actually one of the better ones from the many places on earth that claim this distinction. And yes, three of those eight species are Rock Pigeon, European Starling, and House Sparrow.).

Seattle 113

Seattle Washington New York City Kansas 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2018

The days for me to add to my Little Big Years species count are getting fewer and fewer, and with it, my budget. Rebecca did a beautiful job, not only discussing the birds on the area, but blending in some environmental science, and the issues that can affect the local bird species. Little Big Year species count: 834.

Oregon 100

Oregon Bald Eagle Owls Washington 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2023

This leaves Shanghai in June with basically just the year-round species and the summer breeders, maybe with a few added ultra-lazy individuals of migratory species. Fortunately, there are a few more such breeding species than most Shanghainese are aware of. Such as the Black-winged Cuckooshrike.

Birds 130

Birds Eggs Breeders McDonalds 130

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2018

” Long before the science and physiology of taste were formally understood, brewers knew to avoid jarring combinations of sour and bitter flavors that signal poisons to our brains. If you can advertise beer with Clydesdale horses, bull terriers, and bullfrogs, I don’t see why you can’t use a Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

Collecting 100

Collecting St. Louis Dogs Sparrows 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2023

There, you may find the Java Sparrow. As a bird mainly feeding on seeds, it is regarded as a threat to crops (in fact, the Latin species name of oryzivora combines the words for rice, “oryza”, and eating, “vorus”). Another option is just to find some rice paddies on the outskirts and look for birds.

Zebras 245

Zebras Thailand Philippines Dissection 245

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2011

Unless you are nothing but the lowly diehard lister, for which you should feel much shame and embarrassment for, birders and biologists alike frequently want to understand birds on a deeper level than how to identify the age, sex and species of a certain individual. What seeds does a Baird’s Sparrow eat? I believe in science.

Emotional 248

Emotional Science Mammals Alaska 248

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2023

Gulls and sparrows are tough but manageable; Empids may require DNA analysis (as it actually did in the case of the non-vocalizing Western Flycatcher seen in Central Park, NYC in November 2015). That’s 18 species in one book. This is more than a collection of species accounts.

Los Angeles 261

Los Angeles North America America Mexico 261

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

For this reason, the species is evaluated as Vulnerable.” The Rufous-tailed Robin used to be called Swinhoe’s Robin but apparently, somebody decided that there were already too many bird species (6, according to the HBW) named after him. And yes, sparrows in areas with polluted air are less healthy.

Birds 255

Birds China Eggs Owls 255

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2019

This is the same history of conquest and despoliation which now puts many of these very species in danger of extinction. Let’s not, as has also been proposed, then, rename Saltmarsh Sparrow to honor Roger Tory Peterson, great though his impact on birding may have been. Wilson’s Plover ?

Birds 260

Birds Cooking North America New York 260

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2018

The Aliens Among Us: How Invasive Species Are Transforming the Planet – and Ourselves (Leslie Anthony, Yale). • Shakespeare was, supposedly , the reason starlings, house sparrows, and other non-native birds were introduced to North America. Ten thousand years ago, Thomas notes, house sparrows were unknown in Britain.

Humane 115

Humane Species North America illegal 115