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 213

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2012

Found patchily in sub-Saharan Africa, this large, ginger-colored owl can never be guaranteed on a trip to the continent. It is classified as threatened in South Africa – where its numbers have dwindled due to loss of habitat and pollution – and is uncommon and localized elsewhere. Consider their name for a moment.

Owls 255

Owls Fish Botswana Barn Owls 255

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2012

What this land-locked country lacks in endemic birds it more than makes up for in accessibility of tough species, numbers of birds and the overall wildlife experience. We are currently filming in Botswana. have basically focused our filming efforts on three regions of northern Botswana: The Okavango Delta, The Chobe and the Makgadigadi Pans.

Botswana 215

Botswana Zebras Lions Elephants 215

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

So, it sometimes comes to South Africa to relax and enjoy relative anonymity. Interestingly, the HBW gives different contact calls depending on the country in which the flycatcher lives: “Contact call a simple ‘zeet, zwayt’ (South Africa), ‘ti-twit tee-twit’ (Gabon), ‘zi’zk’zk’ (Tanzania).”

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

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. Around 3,000 birds summered and bred at Birecik in the 1930’s but this declined to only 400 by 1982.

Endangered Species 200

Endangered Species Species South Africa Morocco 200

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2014

It’s six weeks to the day till I go to Africa, and of late conversations about the subject have taken a reliable and predictable detour. ” I’ll sometimes add “It’s in West Africa, I’ll be in South Africa. There will be outbreaks like the one happening in Africa, we can’t control that.

Humane 163

Humane Animal Africa Ukraine 163

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. I had seen Thick-Knees in South Africa, but I was very excited to see this species, which is the only member of its family found in Central America. We may have been wrong.

Honduras 256

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 256

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. However, it’s not just the birding that makes a trip up Sani Pass such a memorable experience. Photo by Adam Riley.

Lesotho 178

Lesotho Africa Birds Rats 178

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2011

This is not a surprise as both pastimes tap into my primeval desire to hunt. I don’t need to kill something to feel the rush of the hunt. For me there are few experiences more satisfying than releasing a fish that has put up a great fight. The stuff we get in South Africa or the UK. It consumes me. But I digress.

Ecuador 150

Ecuador South Africa United States Hunting 150

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. It’s guaranteed to be the trip of a lifetime!

Sierra Leone 272

Sierra Leone Ghana Cameroon Equatorial Guinea 272

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Later, Harry Fuller, President of the Klamath Bird Observatory, led us to an open meadow where we saw a pair of Great Gray Owls hunting in a meadow. The experience, the place, and the bird combine to make this my BBOTY. Larry’s BBOTY – Great Gray Owl. Carlos’s BBOTY – the Nicobar Pigeon.

2014 197

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 197

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

The first was Lewis Binford, who noted, correctly, that if you look at actual animal bones from actual archaeological sites, you could not objectively see clear evidence that would distinguish hunting from scavenging, and if you compared these “food remains” to hyena food remains, they looked roughly the same. Hyena crazy.

Humane 165

Humane Lions Buffalo Hunting 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

Now and then individual catfish of various species hunt nearer the surface and larger catfish such as the American Channel Cat will take a duck or other water bird. So, the modal catfish is a fish that hunts from below, can take large prey, and occasionally eats a bird. My own experience at catching catfish (big ones!)

Fish 210

Fish Birds Whales Whaling 210

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

The eider is the most common bird for hunting and eating, it lives near all of Greenland’s coasts and breeds on small islands such as Kitsissunnguit. The Arctic terns are very enduring and have the longest bird migration from their way across the Atlantic Sea to western Europe and along the west coast of Africa to the Antarctic waters.

North America 180

North America Eagles Breeding Fish 180

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

The majority of wildcats live today in Africa, and virtually none of them have provided the DNA from which supposed histories of domestication have been constructed by researchers. I new him because we enlisted his Dryfus Lion and one of his tigers to carry out experiments with bones (this is something archaeologists do).

Feral Cats 256

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 256

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2013

Geladas are the sole survivors of a once abundant branch of primates that historically foraged across the grasslands of Africa, the Mediterranean and India. We were able to spend hours sitting right in amongst super-groups of 500-600 Geladas that just carried on with their daily business in total oblivion to our presence. Photo by Adam Riley.

Ethiopia 161

Ethiopia Primates Mammals Fur 161

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. A Bat Hawk hunting bats.

Bats 155

Bats Birds Vanuatu Namibia 155

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

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. It was easily one of the best birding experiences I’ve ever had, even impressing my nonbirder fiance. You can read more about his experience here.

2013 168

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 168

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 249

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Birds 249

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The believability of this is underscored by the fact that the Pilgrims and their guides listed among their possession numerous “fowling pieces” … for hunting wild birds. They may have also had hunting dogs with them as well. The Spanish Colonial Experience and Domestic Animals. Kiva 78(1):37–60. Reitz, Elizabeth. Thornton, E.,

Turkey 210

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 210

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