10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

Only in Africa is it really easy to see a big variety. On my 21-day Kenyan safaris we reckoned to find around 600 species of birds and around 60 mammals, both impressive totals. Lion – much easier to see than an Aardvark In contrast to East Africa, encounters with mammals while out birding in Europe are relatively few.

Fur 176

Fur Bulgaria Otters Estonia 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2020

North America is home to many amazing bird species, including several which require a special effort to see and appreciate. These birds also invite one to sites that are unique within the United States – the climate, vegetation, and landscapes all add context and heighten the experience of seeing one’s first Elegant Trogon or Painted Bunting.

America 260

America Arizona North America Texas 260

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

He is also a serious birder (and a birding friend), and his birding observations and adventures are used throughout the book to introduce evolutionary questions and illustrate the mental interplay between personal experience and scientific curiosity. The book is smartly organized into 12 chapters. that’s three birds). ” (p.

Science 204

Science Albatross Research Birds 204

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

The Trogon family (and order, since the order only includes one family) is quite widespread, being found in all the tropical (and some subtropical) regions of the world. Honesty requires that I confess to having seen none of these species. These species are visually very similar, with subtle differences in their tail patterns.

Mexico 177

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 177

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

JUNE 12, 2012

Before self-rule it was administered by South Africa and known as South-West Africa. After a brutal colonization that included genocidal campaigns against the Herero (80% killed) and Nama (50% killed) tribes, the Germans lost control when South Africa invaded soon after the declaration of the First World War.

Namibia 243

Namibia Angola Lovebirds South Africa 243

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. Last week, a good friend, Dan Weisz gave me a tip on the location of a family of Burrowing Owls that were extremely easy to access. Here is a shot of that Northern Pygmy Owl, from Madera Canyon.

Owls 144

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 144

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. They are also believed to be related to the Rail-Babbler of Tropical Asia.

Sierra Leone 262

Sierra Leone Ghana Cameroon Equatorial Guinea 262

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

What a way to sum up what is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest birding sites and certainly my favorite in southern Africa. However, the great birding experience that is Sani starts lower down. Both species of southern African otters are also regularly encountered ( Cape Clawless and Spot-necked.). Photo by Adam Riley.

Lesotho 164

Lesotho Africa Birds Rats 164

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Africa’s famous Big Five , but do you know there is also an equally fascinating Little Five ? Africa is famous for its large, charismatic mammals, and the Big Five epitomize the most sought-after of these fantastic beasts. This blog post will discuss both the Big and Little members of these quintuplets.

Buffalo 195

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 195

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. I birded Uganda, which was my first time on the continent of Africa. I also spent a week in northwestern Costa Rica on a family vacation, a long weekend in Barbados, a week in Georgia, and two week-plus-long trips to visit relatives in southern California.

2019 137

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 137

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

Over a decade since I was last there, I am finally heading back to Africa late this year. As has been the case every time I’ve been to Africa before, I won’t be there just for play. Volunteering provides a very different experience to tourism though. Ugandan Mangabeys were part of my family once.

Uganda 160

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. © 2021 Barbara Ballentine and Jeremy Hyman & Quarto Publishing.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2020

The hapless Sooty Tern ( Onychoprion fuscatus ) is the classic hurricane bird, but other pelagic species are entrained in storms and blown ashore as well, like Bridled Terns ( Onychoprion anaethetus ), White-tailed Tropicbirds ( Phaethon lepturus ), and Magnificent Frigatebirds ( Fregata magnificens ).

India 164

India Squirrels North America America 164

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

Excellent 10,000 Birds posts have been written about Pico Bonito and Honduras by Corey and Carlos , so I’m going to focus on some of my most memorable experiences. We saw a smaller member of the potoo family, Northern Potoo , Nyctibius jamaicensis , at Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, boating and birding the Salado River.

Honduras 242

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 242

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 236

South Africa Penguins Birds Africa 236

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 183

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 183

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

Ethiopia, a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa).

Ethiopia 235

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Game 235

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

The Peru Birding Rally Challenge is a joint initiative between PromPeru and the Inkaterra Family of hotels. International teams compete for 6 days and 5 nights with the express purpose of recording the most bird species, by sight or by call, while the clock ticks down. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open.

Peru 218

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 218

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2014

There were opportunities to go to far flung places like the islands of the Pacific or the coast of Canada or the Yorkshire Dales… Anyway, as I was obsessed by Africa at the time, I leapt at the opportunity to go to Namibia to collect samples of bat DNA for a biogeography project. And then, there it was.

Bats 154

Bats Birds Vanuatu Namibia 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

The countryside too is full of signature European species like European Bee-eaters, European Rollers and Great-spotted Cuckoos … Within a shortish drive of the lodge is an unusual birding spot called Pulo do Lobo or The wolf’s Leap. This is worthwhile to pick up some rocky terrain species and the scenery is stunning.

Portugal 169

Portugal 2011 Deer Birds 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2011

By age 2 she could identify over 10 species of birds in our Johannesburg, South Africa, yard by call alone. Astounding because she picked up birding before she could speak and surprising because this ability was definitely not inherited from anyone in my family, myself included. And perhaps 20 others by sight.

Birds 276

Birds Game Wildlife Family 276

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

On the grounds, Punta Cana has preserved a 1,500 acre Ecological Park that is an excellent place to view the local endemic bird species and enjoy nature. Tags: Dominican Republic , Worldwide Birding Adventures • Camping tents - Check out our pop up tents , family tents , and more!

Dominican Republic 180

Dominican Republic 2011 Birds Deer 180

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 209

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 209

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2016

For most of the birders in our group, visiting the Taj Mahal was the fulfillment of a bucket list experience, and they left feeling ecstatic over its beauty. The species is crepuscular and nocturnal, but can sometimes be seen during the day. I also had just enough time to view the Indian Grey Hornbill in the tree next-door.

India 187

India Tigers Birds Owls 187

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

More importantly however, there used to be a time when identification guides were published that focussed entirely on the British Isles, leaving out many species of “continental” Europe, and these were labelled “of Britain and Europe” to promote sales outside the UK and Ireland. Next are the tracks of birds.

Europe 165

Europe Mammals Animal Birds 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

That larger clade is in turn sister to a clade containing the four remaining totipalmate bird families, which do still seem to be related, and which needed a new order name once pelicans were removed. But meanwhile, let’s look at the four avian families that comprise the brand new order Suliformes.

2011 151

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 151

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 140

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 140

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 236

Birds Botswana Africa Ecuador 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

This species is not only usually the earliest, but the most common. What’s remarkable about this species is what we don’t see here: the extremely long migration that this species makes, with some individuals traveling from Sub-Saharan Africa to Greenland and back every year.

Cyprus 145

Cyprus 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

processed the entire genomes of 48 bird species and compared nearly 42 million base pairs of DNA (Hackett et al. ’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. Now we move on to the Neognathae , which also has two very deep branches that lead to all the other living species of birds. Open Jarvis et al.’s

Family 279

Family Parrots Birds 2014 279

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. Hummingbird species, on the other hand, number in the hundreds. So, when British natural history writer Jon Dunn (not to be confused with U.S.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

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 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

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 277

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 277

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

Madikwe , in South Africa, wasn’t a site of importance before it came into existence. And so South Africa’s fifth largest park came to be (it’s worth remembering that its largest park, Kruger, is the size of Israel) on marginal land that no one in particular could do much with. I never get bored of Giraffes.

South Africa 141

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 141

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

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

It’s my fantasy and it’s yours: Quit the job, say good-bye to the family, and bird. And, to give his dream year a little more oomph, he created a grand once-in-a-lifetime goal: to track down and see every pitta species in the world in one year. If it were just the birds, I’d grab my bins and be on the next plane to Asia or Africa.

Hunters 187

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 187