Coming into the second weekend of this new year, we’ve all added a few birds — possibly very few birds — to our year lists. Don’t feel obliged to start a formal list if listing isn’t your style. I gave up year listing a couple of annums back even though I’ve rung up some banner [...]

This morning on Google+, I shared a charming video of an octopus stealing a diver’s camera with the comment, “This never happens to birdwatchers!” Apparently I spoke too soon. Lars Fosdal replied with a June 2011 video of a gull in Cannes stealing a camera and flying away with it.  Think either video is staged?

Happy New Year! I’m feeling pretty good about 2012 so far. Not only am I suffused with the pleasant warmth that comes with watching one’s favorite sports team clinch the playoffs, but I also managed to shake off a scant night’s sleep to chase some birds this morning. How about you? My best bird of [...]

The first day of January offers some of the most exciting birding of the year; for just a moment, every bird is new and ready to be plucked for the year list. Too bad New Year’s Day has to directly follow New Year’s Eve… many a promising year of birding has to be postponed a [...]

How are the holidays treating you? One hopes that the wheel of karma turns in your favor during this time of festivity and giving. One also hopes you’re seeing excellent birds! Everyone who lives in Rochester, NY knows about the million crows roosting within the city limits. The skies over every neighborhood stream with murder [...]

(All respectable publications should have their holiday traditions. This evergreen post, first written in 2004, has become a 10,000 Birds staple. Merry Christmas!) Everybody knows the Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Easily the most endless song this side of “99 Bottles of Beer,” this old chestnut has simultaneously delighted and horrified holiday celebrants [...]

Like it or not, the holiday season is here. Merry happy whatever it is you celebrate! And lest you overlook avifauna in the midst of your caroling and carousing, remember that the Christmas season and birds go together like latkes and sour cream (at least in my household!) Not only do we have the birds [...]

If you’re reading this, you’ve survived what may have been a very busy weekend of shopping, prepping, and partying. Hopefully you didn’t overextend yourself… the holiday season is just now beginning! I can’t recall a less birdy weekend than the one I just had. My only avian observation of note is how much easier the [...]

‘Tis, as the say, the season to be jolly. So why am I so harried and anxious? Must be because I haven’t finished my holiday shopping… it may be fair to say I haven’t even started it yet! Luckily for those of us who love birds, ’tis also the season for Christmas Bird Counts. Here’s [...]

More than 4,000 migrating Eared Grebes came to ground in Utah with calamitous consequences, apparently mistaking large parking lots for bodies of water. Thousands of these unwise waterfowl perished, but thousands more have survived and are being tended to by government workers and volunteers.  Oh, the humanity! (hat tip to Patrick O’Driscoll)

If you feel a deep antipathy towards Acridotheres tristis, otherwise known as the Common or Indian Myna, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. The Common Myna inspires such loathing that complete strangers around the world find common cause and even friendship in their collective desire to exterminate the brutes. In fact, [...]

Is it better, to paraphrase that ragged old aphorism, to have birded and dipped than never to have birded at all? What if you just don’t see anything special? I didn’t go after any particular bird this weekend, which is good since I hardly saw any. The woods were quiet, so we focused on geocaching [...]

December owns an outsize reputation among months due to its status as the Northern Hemisphere’s gateway to winter, though hosting Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, and sundry other holidays doesn’t hurt either! Ironically, as climates change and seasons shift, this month just doesn’t seem as cold as it used to be. Nonetheless, those old December poems [...]

Don’t you just love sharing your best bird of the weekend with people that actually appreciate exciting sightings? Precious few are fortunate enough to work in an office where avian observations are swapped around the water cooler. For those of us who are not in that chosen .0001% (Occupy ABA, anyone?), here’s the place to [...]

Now that American Thanksgiving has passed, we in the States can join the rest of the world in turning our full attention to the upcoming Yule celebration. The impending season of giving can trigger intense anxiety punctuated by bouts of conspicuous consumerism, but you don’t need to succumb to rampant materialism. Why don’t you take [...]

Can you believe that it hasn’t even been a year since Richard Crossley and Princeton University Press unleashed The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds on the birding public? Actually, a fair accounting of this innovative book’s already storied history must include many months of fervent speculation. I recall the words “game-changer” and “unprecedented” bandied about as enthusiasts across North [...]

Welcome to online retail heaven (or online retail hell if that’s the way you’re wired.) We hope everyone who celebrated the American observance of Thanksgiving enjoyed a delicious holiday. And to all of you, Happy Cyber Monday! You’ll find 10,000 Birds a pleasingly merchandise-light site, at least for the time being. What we’re selling right [...]

I know of no other day of the year when a larger percentage of Americans are likely to be eating the same foods, unless Halloween candy or Independence Day barbecue counts. Too many of us focus on the turkey, but bird watchers know that Meleagris gallopavo means so much more than a meal, no matter how [...]

Did you know that 10,000 Birds might, at any given moment, publish a post that could change your life?!? True, most of our commentary on birds, birding, nature, conservation, travel, and anything else on our hyperactive minds don’t qualify as truly transformative, but you’ll no doubt find it all informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Plus, we often feature killer [...]

November is normally a pretty dull month compared to some of the more extreme periods in our calendar year. The action doesn’t really heat up until right about now as we begin six or eight months of holiday preparation and celebration. I’ve enjoyed November so far, but have doubts about whether I’m ready for the [...]