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 Breeding 130

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. I live in the southeast of Europe, for a while lived in the south of Africa and also have extensively birded western and central India. Which leaves only East Africa. And it shows.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2024

Black-tailed godwits winter in large numbers on the estuaries of both Norfolk and Suffolk, and we know that nearly all these birds breed in Iceland. They are of the race islandica , a sub species of the nominate race, limosa. In breeding plumage islandica godwits develop a deeper red plumage than their limosa cousins.

Lithuania 130

Lithuania Morocco Iceland Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

So, it sometimes comes to South Africa to relax and enjoy relative anonymity. 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).

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2013

Or else I’d be tempted to mention that the cold rainy weather has given way to a massive heat wave and drought, or that the summer doldrums this year are more boring than ever, or that it is so unfair that Corey is more than 100 species ahead of me in his year list, or that I really would enjoy some nice birds for a change!

Germany 174

Germany Russia Iceland India 174

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Cape Petrels, also known as Pintados (Spanish for painted) or in the vernacular Cape Petrels, are a common species of fulmarine petrel from the Southern Ocean. They have a circumpolar distribution, breeding in vast numbers in the islands around Antarctica, as well as on Antarctica itself.

New Zealand 158

New Zealand Albatross South Africa Brazil 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2012

There are two species in the Old World woodpecker genus that sounds like birds that birders would never be able to see. Sadly, I have never seen a Red-throated Wryneck , which is only to be expected for a bird found only in sub-Saharan Africa, considering that I have not yet set foot on that continent.

Hungary 173

Hungary Asia Woodpeckers Africa 173

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on my home patch of Cape Town, South Africa. So much so that the two species are placed within their own family, Chaetopidae. The species is insectivorous and nests amongst the scree and boulders on the steep mountain slopes.

South Africa 242

South Africa Penguins Birds Africa 242

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. I have only seen this species in the massive and beautiful Korup National Park in Cameroon.

Sierra Leone 267

Sierra Leone Ghana Cameroon Equatorial Guinea 267

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

Getting to actually see four species, in the last two weeks, and to hear two more is almost unheard of in my experience. The only owl species that were around when I was a child were the Great Horned Owls, so any other species found since then have been a huge level of special for me.

Owls 150

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 150

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

This would have allowed you to summarize your experience in sentences such as “A total of 98 boluses regurgitated by 52 chicks aged 1 day to 11 days after hatching form the sample and are shown to contain 323 food items.” It concludes that human activity influences the breeding activity of the lapwing. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Paging through a fieldguide, it’s always with a sense of dismay and sadness that I come across reference to an extinct species. Islands, for various reasons, experience more extinctions than continents (with Africa being the only continent not suffering a bird extinction!).

Madagascar 237

Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 237

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

I got to see a beautiful female and owlet on a trip to a secret nest location near Howard Prairie Lake (human-made nest structures have enhanced local breeding for these huge owls whose nest success is boosted to 83% on artificial platforms vs. 66% at natural sites). The experience, the place, and the bird combine to make this my BBOTY.

2014 187

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

Growing up within an hour of one of the world’s premier shorebird destinations -- West Coast National Park in South Africa -- helped for sure. Getting to know the subtleties in differences between closely related species takes years of dedication and practice. For me, there’s a few things that drive this fascination.

Florida 188

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2012

Great Reed Warblers breed across huge chunks of Europe and Asia and winter across large swaths of southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Many thanks to Swarovski Optik for inviting me along and letting me experience both some awesome new optics and the natural wonders of the wonderful country of Hungary. ……….

Hungary 160

Hungary Asia Europe Africa 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Come September most of the summer seabird people had left, but there were a small number of seabirds still breeding and so I stayed behind for three years to continue their monitoring and do the migrant landbird surveys, as well as the Great White Shark surveys. It was astonishing, like a game drive in the savannah of Africa.

Whales 157

Whales Whaling Sharks Bats 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. The Gray Crowned-Crane is a new addition to the list of the world’s Endangered species, creeping up a category from Vulnerable.

Endangered Species 188

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

The park is home to not one, not two, but large three colonies of breeding seabirds: the Brown Noddy , Magnificent Frigatebird , and Sooty Tern. No, that was not a typo, the Sooty Terns fly non-stop for an average of five years before they return to the Dry Tortugas to breed. Lots and lots of birds. Each took merely a minute or two.

Birds 177

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2011

We started out as a team with enthusiasm and knowledge, but little experience in book-making. reduce traffic casualties amongst Badgers , get the White-tailed Eagle back as a breeding bird, increase the number of protected plant species etc.). Any plans for further afield (USA, Asia, Africa)?

Badgers 145

Badgers Ethics Africa Spain 145

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2012

In this epic post, Patrick depicts just how dynamic the pelagic birding is off Cape Point in South Africa. Here one is close to the scenically impressive Cape of Good Hope National Park as well as the Boulder’s Coastal Park, home to hundreds of breeding African Penguins.

Albatross 181

Albatross Penguins Dolphins Whales 181

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

The book is produced by WILDGuides, Ltd, the excellent book company responsible for over a dozen photographic guides on Britain’s natural life ranging from dragonflies to plant galls as well as books on Africa, Australia and other areas we all want to visit, and was published this summer by Princeton University Press.

Ireland 143

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 143

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. Frigatebirds (Fregatidae) Five species of frigatebird ply the planet’s tropical skies and seas. Ringer Gannets and Boobies (Sulidae) Black-and-white gannets breed on the cold, rocky coasts of the northern and southern oceans.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Nowhere else in Africa do the preconceived ideas of the continent really exist in such living detail; tall, red-robed Maasai herding their skinny cattle, endless grasslands studded with flat-topped Acacia trees and grazed by herds of zebras and wildebeest, and dramatic volcanic calderas brimming with big game and fierce predators!

Tanzania 215

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 215

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version.

Turkey 201

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 201

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

But when I felt familiar with perhaps half of the species around my town, I started to feel that my field guide is now too bulky and too hefty to carry, and that was the era before smartphones and phone apps. It is not a concept for a total beginner, more of a reminder to someone with some experience. Subspecies are not included.

Birds 244

Birds Botswana Africa Ecuador 244

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 209

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 209

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

I’ve been fortunate to see two Penguin species in the wild (African and Galapagos) and have dreamed of seeing more–maybe even all!–especially The goal of Around the World For Penguins is simple: Describe the 18 species of penguin and their breeding grounds “from the perspective of a traveller.”

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 278

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

This makes it a particularly exciting time in New Zealand as the Rugby World Cup begins in two days, and the competition is being held right here in New Zealand (I would imagine they might be more excited if they hadn’t just lost two matches to Australia and South Africa, their big rivals in the Tri-Nations).

New Zealand 157

New Zealand Penguins Sanctuary Birds 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

The Kerkini Lake National Park is my favourite birding area in the whole of the Balkans and while I’ve been here in April and again (migration), September (migration), October (coffee break), December and January (wintering), this was my first time in the breeding season, in May. But nowadays, they, too, breed here, about 20 pairs this year.

Greece 193

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 193

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

My best bird of the year is based on the sighting rather than the species. Hornbills are spectacular under any circumstances, but when a pair lands in a bush beside you at eye-level and begin mutual preening , it makes for a spectacular experience. Only trouble is, which of the seven species I saw this year do I pick?

2013 167

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

There is a total of 235 different bird species in Greenland, most of them are migratory birds with approximately 60 species breeding within the land. Some of the most common breeding birds are White-tailed Eagles , Northern Fulmars , Black Guillemots , Common Eiders , Rock Ptarmigans , and Arctic Terns. Greenland’s Birds.

North America 176

North America Eagles Breeding Fish 176

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2020

Its waterproof fold-able covers bring back childhood memories… I must have had some illustrated children book with similar covers – my fingertips remember the experience. For species with more than one subspecies in the region, the separate resident/breeding ranges of the distinct subspecies are indicated on the map.

Japan 222

Japan Asia Birds 2000 222

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2019

Perhaps you don’t know it yet, but with more than 1000 bird species, palm-fringed sandy beaches, developed tourism infrastructure, moderate prices and political stability, Thailand is a country you definitively want to visit. Among them are 20 endemics and near-endemics, and 58 vagrant species. And what do you need to pack?

Thailand 188

Thailand Zambia Birds Asia 188

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

In the High Arctic we find several migrating species that break that mould. They also migrate to and from the High Arctic, crossing the Atlantic to Europe, but they keep going, down across the Mediterranean into Africa. This tiny passerine winters in Africa, places like Tanzania, Nigeria, Somalia.

Africa 195

Africa Somalia North America Nigeria 195

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2012

At breeding time, Great Crested Grebes just come alive. All winter long we have been seeing them in their rather drab non-breeding coat, peppering the lake surface as far as the eye can see, but now, in spring, they get wonderful complexes of browns, blacks and white in their plumage.

Austria 194

Austria Birds Breeding Africa 194

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

We have a selection of books that we have found over the years in bookshops and one of our favourites was published in 1949 and is The Birds of South Africa by Dr Austin Roberts. We have never been to South Africa, but it is a lovely book to look at and dream! Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

South Africa 158

South Africa United States Austin Alligators 158

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. This may sound mundane, but my Best Bird of the Year is a species we all know quite well in one form or another.

2012 147

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 147