There are few stories in ornithology I enjoy more than those of a Lazarus taxon, a species thought to be extinct being found alive and well in some hidden part of the world. There is a depressing finality about extinction, but knowing when for certain something is extinct is an imprecise science and on occasion we’ve gotten it spectacularly wrong. Jerdon’s [...]

Scientists at The Center for Conservation Biology have announced that Machi, a Whimbrel that they have tracked via a satellite transmitter for over two years and 44,000 kilometers (27,000 miles) was gunned down on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe (French West Indies).  This is a bird that flew over 3,400 miles in one flight from [...]

This last week I was out with a falconer that had an absolutely stunning pale form Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) and the beauty of this wonderful bird really touched me. Well, to be honest, seeing this stunning raptor with jesses on a pole in an SUV wasn’t exactly the happiest of moments, but as soon as [...]

Summer is ending, and that means the birds are migrating again. In Cyprus it also means that the hunters and trappers are active again. It starts with the trappers, who’ve been at it for weeks now. BirdLife Cyprus started their Fall monitoring program weeks ago. The trapping is particularly bad in the Cape Pyla area. [...]

Robert Gallardo is well-known to many readers of 10,000 Birds as an outstanding Neotropical nature guide, author, and manager of La Chorcha Lodge. He is also the Vice-President of the Honduran Ornithological Association. A Spanish version of the following article appeared in the 9/4/11 edition of the Honduran publication, La Tribuna. Everyone talks about human [...]

Bald Eagle image is by Francois Portmann and is used with permission You know, I’ve been thinking about this whole dustup over hunting cranes in Tennessee and now Kentucky. And my thinking has come around 180 degrees from where it was. I get it now, I really do. I think it’s time to hunt Sandhill Cranes. And while [...]

As you’ll remember, Kentucky’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources unanimously passed its sandhill crane hunting proposal. All eight hunters on the commission think it’s a good idea to shoot cranes in Kentucky. The proposal now goes to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for final approval or denial. The public comment period on the [...]

The big story of the fortnight in Cyprus isn’t about birds, but it crosses the path of birding (kinda). I’ll get to that below. But the biggest story that is about birds is the conference that took place last week. From July 6-8, there was a European conference in Larnaca about illegal bird killing, organized [...]

Continued from Birdwatching Rio Canande Reserve.. On our final day of bird watching this northern Esmeraldas Choco Endemics site, we decided to do roadside birding on the renowned Botrosa Road .  This road was constructed by Botrosa Logging Company to harvest the luscious forest which they started purchasing more than thirty years ago.  As we [...]

not compatible with the aspiration for an outstanding urban waterfront The city of Newcastle is England’s most northerly, perhaps most famous for not winning very much at football for many years as well as being a big weekend party destination for the young (and those that are still fooling themselves they are).  In recent years [...]

For those of you who’ve been following the drama unfolding in Kentucky regarding a sandhill crane hunt, there’s bad news. An eight-member commission unanimously approved the hunt proposal in early June.  Which wasn’t a surprise, since everyone on the commission is a hunter. Thousands of letters and emails of protest apparently fell on deaf ears. [...]

A few months ago I shared with the 10,000 Birds community the plight of Griffon Vultures in Cyprus, and it has only been getting worse. A census conducted on March 31 indicated that there are in fact only only 6-8 Griffon Vultures left in Cyprus. But there is cause for hope on the horizon. I [...]

As part of my effort to keep concerned wildlife enthusiasts informed about the proposal to hunt Eastern Flyway sandhill cranes, it is my duty to tell you that there’s another vote coming up. This time, it’s the full commission– nine members of the Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources—who will get together on June [...]

Unless you haven’t been paying attention, you know that this is Wood Warbler Week at 10,000 Birds. To us living here in Europe, that’s Sylvia Warblers. And boy do we got ‘em here in Cyprus. Except here they’re killed and eaten as a “delicacy.” Not cool. Because of this, I actually thought of calling my [...]

Like many birds in these days of rampant development, overconsumption, population growth, and global warming, the Cerulean Warbler faces a host of threats to its survival as a species.  BirdLife International lists the Cerulean Warbler as Vulnerable because of “a large and statistically significant decrease over the last 40 years in North America” that is equivalent to [...]

The haunting call of the West Indian Whistling Duck has long been a sound synonymous with the ever-shrinking wetlands of the Caribbean. But, as with so many other species, these birds have been left to do their own whistle blowing. The whistling duck call carries with it the crimes of big business, the failures of [...]

The most recent BirdLife Cyprus newsletter had a feature article that was just too good to pass up comment and elaboration on: Our avian forest gems… (English names emphasized by me) Cyprus, although only 16% of its land mass is covered with forest, hosts more than 34 species of forest birds, 15 all-year residents, eight [...]

The Loch of Strathbeg reserve in Aberdeenshire Scotland has begun to use eight rare ‘Konick’ horses to manage and improve it’s wetland habitats for birds. The breed is a direct descendent of the Tarpan, a wild forest horse driven to extinction in central Europe in the late 19th century. Hardier than their domestic cousins, konik [...]

Whooping crane reintroduction efforts on the Eastern Flyway involve raising young whooping cranes and accompanying them on their migratory flights with ultralight gliders. The USFWS designated the whooping cranes in this population “nonessential and experimental.”  So, one might surmise, it’s OK if they get shot by hunters thinking they’re sandhill cranes? It gives one to [...]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service desperately needs your feedback as they craft a new vision for our National Wildlife Refuge System. More important, they WANT your feedback! The USFWS and the National Wildlife Refuge Association are spearheading a public engagement effort asking we the people to share and vote on ideas that will shape [...]