Recent Posts
Recent Posts Tagged With 'birds'
Black-throated Green Warbler
At Fort Tilden on Sunday the most cooperative Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens) entertained us birders who were there in search of rarities for at least ten minutes. We could have stay...
Female Black-throated Blue Warbler at Jamaica Bay
Saturday was sunny and cool, the perfect combination for autumn birding. I spent all morning at Jamaica Bay and had a great time (more on that tomorrow). Especially great was seeing twelve species...
Virginia Rail in a Vacant Lot
When I got home from birding Jamaica Bay this morning I was greeted by an odd email off the ebirdsNYC listserv. A rail, unidentified to species, but with a link to pictures taken by the finder, had ...
Just For Fun Avian ID Quiz Answer
Jory Langner served up another challenging avian ID quiz this week. Here is his answer: The Just for Fun Avian ID Quiz (if you haven’t tried it yet, don’t proceed to the answer below!) pre...
Just For Fun Avian ID Quiz
Last week, Jory Langner gave us a truly evil Avian ID Quiz. Now, he’s back with another test of your ornithological prowess. Don’t let the title fool you… this one is tough! Last week&...
Evil Avian ID Quiz
Jory Langner has contributed some sterling guest posts in the past on 10,000 Birds, sharing how it feels to be born again as a birder and how much effort goes into a New York State Big Year. Fresh off...
Tricky (Molting) Icterid
Sometimes an easy bird can become difficult to identify. Such was the case with the molting bird below, a species that has crossed my path hundreds of times. It is an icterid, a family that includ...
I Miss Turkey Vultures
and bluebirds. The birds I can see around New York City are great but it’s a real bummer that those birds are virtually not findable in New York City. And Pileated Woodpeckers? The closest...
Alas Poor Winnie
Alas, poor Winnie! I knew her, Horatio, a Whimbrel of infinite jest… Winnie the Whimbrel, celebrated shorebird migrant, is lost and presumed to be no more. When we last left Winnie, she had jus...
Non-breeding Ruff, South Africa
Yesterday’s Southern Masked Weaver gallery depicted a common bird that is not very likely to turn up in Europe, North America, or Asia anytime soon so how about a bird that is widespread across ...
What is a Cardinal?
In all of North America, only one avian species serves as both the beloved mascot of seven states as well as the totem to two professional sports teams (and an infinity of amateur ones!) Ironically, t...
An Awesome Audouin’s Gull
Without trying to get up the nose of any serious gull-watcher out there who hasn’t had the opportunity to travel that I have, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have seen virtually every si...
Steller’s Jay
Steller’s Jay Cyanocitta stelleri California, various dates The distinctive Steller’s Jay typically lives in flocks of greater than 10 individuals and occurs in coniferous and mixed woodl...
Breeding plumaged Red-necked Stints, Hong Kong
Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis Mai Po, Hong Kong, April 2008 The Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis breeds in north-eastern Siberia and northern and western Alaska. The vast majority t...
Caspian Terns
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia Discovery Park, (north of) Seattle, Washington. August. As large and as bulky as many gulls, the Caspian Tern is the largest tern in the world. Its thick coral red bil...
When is a Larid Not a Larus?
…when it’s been renamed in the newly-released 49th Supplement to the A.O.U. Check-list of North American Birds, Seventh Edition. The new supplement includes various and sundry switches of ...
What is a Tern?
Terns have it tough. Everyone in the world seems to know about gulls, but unless you’ve spent time in the company of seabirds or seabirders, you’ve probably missed out on the more lithe ...
Black Skimmers at the Marine Nature Study Area
In my last post, about the Great Egrets at the Marine Nature Study Area, I said that I would be doing a full post about the birding adventure that we had. Well, I guess I’m a liar. Going thr...
Swedish, Crested, and Manky
During my most recent trip to California, I had a chance to drop in on Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in Los Angeles. The waterfowl there were mighty tame, with wild ducks, geese, and cormorants p...
Blue Crane, South Africa’s National Bird
Blue Crane Anthropoides paradisea Agulhas Plains, Cape Province, South Africa. April. One of the smallest of the 15 crane species worldwide the Vulnerable Blue Crane is the national bird of South Afr...
Short-eared Owl in flight, Dorset
I just came across a series of photos I mean to post earlier in the year and then add to our ever-growing collection of photo-galleries, but, what the hey, I’ll post them now. Unseasonal they ma...
Green Herons and their Groovy Necks
Last month, an interesting Clinic question came in about a bird “about the size of a small duck, much bigger than a jay… a crest similar to a jay or a roadrunner and it has a remarkably lo...
How’s About Those House Wrens
June is in full flower now and as we ease, or in some tragic cases are swept into summer, things, by which I mean birdy things, are slowing down dramatically. When visiting your favorite birding haunt...
Yet Another Diabolical Bird ID Quiz Answers
Disappointing. That is the only word I can come up with to describe the answers provided by the folks who guessed at the identities of the birds in Yet Another Diabolical Bird ID Quiz. Sure, Jason, ...
Birds Outside My Window
The other day when I woke up it was to the jumbled song of a Canada Warbler. At first I thought that it was a weird dream, the product of too much birding and not enough sleep during the month of May...
Answer to the Little Quiz
Some seriously good identification was done by the many guessers on the one-photo quiz in this post. 10,000 Birds readers know their birds! Congratulations go to Jochen, Nick, Drew, Shawn, and Natha...
It takes guts…a feeding Black Kite
I’m just back into the hotel after an excellent morning’s birding in Bangalore’s Nandi Hills with the extremely likeable and very competent Mike Prince (he of Bubo Listing). I’...
What is a Coot?
For the uninitiated, the word “coot” calls to mind nothing more than doddering old codgers and curmudgeons. Nature lovers, on the other hand, are privy to an entirely new complement of coo...
They’re Back! Palm Warblers in Central Park
On my hours-long birding excursion in Central Park yesterday one of the highlights was seeing many Palm Warblers all over the grassy areas wherever people weren’t. The bright yellow of the east...
In Search of Dupont’s Lark
Steve West is an English birder who has lived in Catalonia, Spain for the last 20 years, dedicating much of that time to finding the birds of this biodiverse region and showing them to others. Steve i...