10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to South Africa. That was easily fixed by adding a post-Safari trip to Eastern South Africa, led by dashing Rockjumper guide Clayton Burne, to my itinerary. I was not on one of those lucky groups, but I did get to see a Secretarybird on my Eastern South Africa trip.)

South Africa 254

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 254

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2024

Anyone who has enjoyed a safari in East Africa will be familiar with the pleasing song of the Laughing Dove, which is the background soundtrack to every day spent in the bush. First recorded breeding on the island in 2013, this dove is now both widespread and common. Hoopoes are common breeding birds.

Cyprus 229

Cyprus Breeders Falcons Hunters 229

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

I did that with Peacocks & Picathartes – Reflections on Africa’s birdlife (published by Penguin Random House South Africa ). In case you didn’t know, yes, there is an indigenous peacock living in Africa, the Congo Peafowl. He has authored several other books and many articles, largely on natural history.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Madagascar 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Growing up in Namibia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka provided the perfect setting for this interest. Stepping off the ferry upon arrival on the island, I was welcomed by nearly 20 Northern Wheatears that crowded the pavement right in front of the boat. before starting his MSc.

Sri Lanka 226

Sri Lanka Birds Netherlands Namibia 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

Birdlife South Africa has previously done two of these types of trips before, previously called Flock to Sea – Namibia in 2013 and Flock to Nowhere in 2017, in partnership with MSC Cruises. I learned of the trip right as it had been delayed and made a vow that I would be on that ship. Which makes it a haven for seabirds….and

South Africa 264

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

A simple, useful world map in outline shows approximate breeding ranges in yellow and wintering ranges in blue, and for some birds, permanent resident ranges in green. Some birds with populations on different breeding grounds move not to the same winter quarter but to far-distant ones – such as the Red-necked Phalarope.

Alaska 221

Alaska Breeding Kenya Africa 221

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

My response was to start looking for some portable guide to take with me into the field, and that need was fulfilled by the Birds of Southern Africa illustrated checklist by Ber van Perlo, published by HarperCollins. And the paintings are just the right thing to dream over on long winter evenings. Subspecies are not included.

Birds 255

Birds Botswana Africa Ecuador 255

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2022

The falcon breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China but winters in Southern and East Africa. And those we see constantly stop passers-by to ask for the way to either Siberia or South Africa, depending on the season. Still as impressed as before? That can get annoying. Well, the female is attractive, too.

Falcons 253

Falcons Japan China South Africa 253

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2018

In his book The Birder’s Guide to Africa (3), Michael Mills noted not only differences in plumage (has white on a folded wing), but also voice and habitat choice, suggesting that the Albertine ssp. nehrkorni spreading all the way to West Africa). Best timing here is the dry season, June to September, when most birds are breeding (3).

Rwanda 224

Rwanda Equatorial Guinea El Salvador Costa Rica 224

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

There is a thing parents know very well – how important it is to choose the right name for a child. For example, I have birded 4 continents, Europe, Southern Africa, South Asia and Central America and have seen 200-300 species in every region, yet, due to overlapping, they do not even sum up to a 10% of all bird species!

Family 297

Family Birds South America Breeding 297

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The Collins Bird Guide covers Europe, North Atlantic islands, much of North Africa and the Middle East. Left – 2nd edition, right – 3rd edition So, not much has changed since the 2nd edition? Many vagrants have been recorded again and again, giving them the right to sneak into the main plates and to get a full coverage.

Europe 261

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 261

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2020

What happens when you put a naturalist in a kayak, adrift in Africa? I have read canoeing articles from Africa and knew that the Nile Crocodile ( Crocodilus niloticus ) pays no attention to the boat and, in theory, as long as I’m inside I’m safe. There are no crocs around here,’ said a smiling bartender. Oh, my big mouth!

Botswana 200

Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 200

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

A paper on the Chestnut-vented Nuthatch titled “Nest-Site Features and Breeding Ecology of Chestnut-Vented Nuthatch Sitta nagaensis in Southwestern China” has 8 authors. The Orange-bellied Leafbird tends not to be very amused when hearing a Bronzed Drongo imitating it. But maybe this will concern some Floridians less.

Birds 188

Birds China Woodpeckers Breeding 188

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. South Africa (755 / 842).

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2024

With its striking combination of colour rings I suspected that it would be easy to find out more about this particular bird, and I was right. 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.

Lithuania 130

Lithuania Morocco Iceland Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Hopefully, the winter time in Shanghai gives the Black-faced Buntings some time to relax from the challenges of the breeding season. One Japanese study found that it arrives at its breeding grounds earlier than in the past, most likely due to increased spring temperatures. No wonder no species are named after me.

Birds 221

Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 221

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2016

He may have been looking for the best way to sabotage a power supply, right? Technically, it was a possibility, but if that was the case, he would never defend a PhD thesis on birds breeding along the high voltage powerlines in a treeless agricultural landscape. You noticed it: it doesn’t even live in Western Africa at all!

Belize 241

Belize Birds Africa Dogs 241

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

All the inhabited continents except Africa have experienced bird extinctions; however the 2012 update of the IUCN Red List shows a startling, but not altogether unexpected, trend in that more and more of our bird species are facing extinction. A pair of Hooded Vultures in Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania by Adam Riley.

Endangered Species 200

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 200

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

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.” Plantema gives highly detailed information about the weather, terrain, ownership of and access to the islands and coasts where penguins breed.

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 278

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

My home country of South Africa can only be described as a birding paradise! The Cape Rockjumper (here a female) is best sought at Rooiels, on the east coast of South Africa, north of Cape Town. Males of this species are more brightly colored in their non-breeding winter plumage.

South Africa 234

South Africa Lesotho Africa Swaziland 234

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

From one side, the reserve is under the attack of spreading arable fields, from another by numerous wind generators and it is no easy task to support the surviving breeding birds within its borders. Located in the Kutch District of Gujarat, the Naliya Grassland is the smallest reserve of India, covering only 2 square kilometers (yes – 0.77

Gazelles 261

Gazelles India 2012 Endangered Species 261

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2022

There is also a much older blog post on 10,000 Birds (by Adam Riley) specifically on Africa’s Barbets. The European Bee-eater sensibly winters in Africa … … while the White-throate d Bee-eater – even more sensibly – does not even leave there in summer. ” ( HBW ). Kind of like Dresden, I guess.

Birds 147

Birds Africa Eagles Barn Owls 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

Our first Day In South Africa, I spotted the Burchell’s Courcal, as it flew across the road in front of us we entered Kruger National Park. While visiting the Kakadu National Park, I was able to photograph this Rainbow Bee eater right after it had caught a dragonfly. I present to you, my favorite birds of 2018.

2018 171

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 171

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

The Falcon Thief is the sometimes exciting, sometimes horrifying story of Jeffrey Lendrum, an African-born adventurer who has been arrested multiple times for raptor egg and chick poaching and smuggling in southern Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. wrote a lengthy article in Outside magazine (Jan. 2019), and now this book.

Falcons 224

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 224

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

I do not get too many comments on my blog posts, but it seems that whenever I write about jacanas – whether in Africa, Australia, or Asia – there is an unusually high number of reactions (well, maybe one or two rather than the usual zero) from female readers. Sounds like clever behavior by the parrotbills, right?

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

The Great Horned Owls that live in the palm trees right above our RV have returned and brought with them a pair of fledglings. They are located in the Santa Cruz Flats just north of Tucson, and are quite honestly, living right alongside the road. That was no deterrent from landing right in the middle of the road.

Owls 161

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 161

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. Breeding groups typically occupy territories of around 8 hectares and consist of a breeding pair and one or two helpers. So I’m going to feature one of my very favorite locations, just 45 minutes drive from the city centre.

South Africa 250

South Africa Penguins Birds Africa 250

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 204

Austria Birds Breeding Africa 204

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

Of these 90, all occur in Africa bar 5 Asian and 2 Malagasy weavers. Each male builds numerous nests, most of which are rejected by the female, who will eventually select a nest she is happy with, allow the proud architect who usually hangs under his masterpiece to mate with her and then begins the breeding process.

Tanzania 232

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 232

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 200

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

You see, the Great (White) Heron/Egret is a polytypic species with four subspecies: alba in Europe, egretta in the Americas, melanorhynchos in Africa, and modesta in Asia and Oceania. But we’re far from done with the confusion. egretta : legs mostly black, plumage white, bill mostly yellow/orange, size considerable.

Asia 185

Asia Europe Germany Breeding 185

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Add more than 350 pairs of White Pelicans to that picture, numerous herons and up to 700 pairs of Pygmy Cormorants breeding in the same reedbeds (cover photo)… It must be bursting with activity in spring, but I was there in mid-September. Have you heard of it? Can you pinpoint it on a map? and dual digits. 02, G04,06,07,40 and G74.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2013

Therefore I have decided to right my wrong by providing first and foremost some avian eye candy, and not talk. It breeds in a broad and not quite coherent band from Iceland in the west through central Europe and southern Scandinavia all the way to eastern Russia, wintering in Africa, parts of India, and Southeast Asia to Australia.

Germany 179

Germany Russia Iceland India 179

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

As can be expected, maps in CBG merely notice presence and status of the species on a barely noticeable outline of Cyprus within the entire Europe and North Africa. Birds of Cyprus” (BOC – left) vs. “Collins Bird Guide” (CBG – right). Also, I am under the impression that CBG has caught the shorebird’s JIZZ better than BOC.

Cyprus 259

Cyprus Saudi Arabia Europe Birds 259

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Larry starts us off right with an owl that makes birders drool: I was able to see and photograph many great birds in 2014 but my Best Bird of the Year would have to be the Great Gray Owl , the largest Strix in North America. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours? Let us know in the comments…see you there!

2014 197

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 197

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. This is an endemic breeding bird in North America and much is now being done by various federal and non-profit groups to ensure and foster its conservation. Wicked, right?

Florida 200

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 200

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

I have to say right off that taxonomic organization is imprinted in my brain. I was happy to see the female/nonbreeding Pin-tailed Whydah male, with its short tail and little-brown-job bod —quite a contrast to the excessively long-tailed breeding plumage male, and one that astonished me when I first saw it. And, heavy.).

Ecuador 180

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Birds 180