10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

A mozzie bites me, so I take the “Expedition Plus Insect Repellent” from my rucksack (when I think about it now, any local brand would probably be equally efficient, but they lack the word “expedition” which immediately turns you into a proper explorer) and start spraying my hands and neck. Telia, copyright © Nitin Bhardwaj.

Tigers 238

Tigers India Killing 2012 238

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Which, naturally, got me to thinking about the newly erected order Suliformes, a development I mentioned in my December column, 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Bird Taxonomy and Systematics , but which I thought deserved further examination, for it’s one of those stories that defines the era in which we are living and birding.

2011 151

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 151

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Experiments in the field (the famed Asa Wright Nature Center veranda) involving Bananaquits and bananas came up with numbers ranging from 7 to 16, but a tanager always came along to interfere with Bananaquits’ noisy appreciation of their namesake fruit. Even during the breeding season the birds appear to be quite unwary of humans.

Trinidad 189

Trinidad Birds South America Research 189

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

The books work best when the birding is coupled with the human element. The Jewel Hunter is heavily laced with Gooddie’s particular brand of broad ironic humor, and I did enjoy that, but I would have traded about 10 percent for a little more insight into the unexpected outcomes of his experience. Forthcoming U.S.

Hunters 187

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 187