10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2022

Instead, they usually just describe species seen at a specific location, with the vague notion that these descriptions might be interesting to other birders. It looks quite distinct compared to some of the other recently discovered species. I guess my sympathy is more with the Plain Bunting, if such a species existed.

China 208

China Birds Vietnam Asia 208

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

Yet, I was not aware of any of Arjan’s big year updates in English, so I had no clue where he was or how many species he managed to see. After 3 months of South and Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia, Arjan’s count stood at 2,060 species. And I wanted to learn about his travels in detail.

Papua New Guinea 250

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname South America 250

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

Shimmering in the distance, Nilgais , the biggest antelopes of Asia, walk by. Hunting and disturbance, deterioration, fragmentation and destruction of habitat were the forces behind the decline of this, once widespread species, making it Critically Endangered on the IUCN Global Red List. The main tactic is diversion. Males reach 1.2

Gazelles 257

Gazelles India 2012 Pakistan 257

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2023

The somewhat shoddily edited Wikipedia entry on sunbirds states that there are 145 species in one paragraph and then talks about 146 in the next. There isn’t really a lot of interesting information on the individual sunbird species – but the photos hopefully still make this a post worth looking at.

Indonesia 179

Indonesia Asia Species Raised 179

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

The scope is worldwide; of the 24 birds depicted, five are from the Americas; five from Eurasia; three from New Zealand; two from Australasia; three from Africa; one from Africa and Asia; one from Antarctica; two worldwide, and two from Asia, introduced worldwide. of Chicago Press, 2014).

Chicago 181

Chicago Barn Owls Penguins New Zealand 181

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical description of the family is that of “a tropical African and Asian songbird that typically has a melodious voice and drab plumage”, another is “small, dull-colored passerine birds of Asia and Africa”, yet another states that they are “often rather plain” Individual species get even harsher reviews.

South Africa 227

South Africa Malaysia Africa China 227

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2020

This means that every year, millions of birds fly by the city on their way between their breeding grounds in Northern Asia and their wintering spots in Southeast Asia and Australia. In addition, some vulnerable bird species such as the Reed Parrotbill live in Shanghai year-round and rely on the reedbeds for survival.

Wildlife Reserve 167

Wildlife Reserve Asia China Birds 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2022

Every place has its common birds, the species that do very well in a given habitat. As we like to say, these are species that are “hard to miss”, birds that, if you are watching, will be seen. Bird in southern Asia and there are mynas and magpie-robins. Bird in southern Asia and there are mynas and magpie-robins.

Costa Rica 147

Costa Rica San Jose Asia Geese 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

Both the female Black-tailed Godwit and Bar-tailed Godwit are larger than the male of the species. Bar-tailed Godwits also change their plumage around the same time, so you have to be careful with your observations to work out which species of shorebird you are observing.

Mongolia 147

Mongolia Australia Breeding Asia 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

The project seems to be just as much about the process as about the product, since the coloring sessions were wonderful teachable moments that got kids enthused about saving this Critically Endangered species. With population estimates in only the triple digits, these special shorebirds need all the help they can get.

Asia 147

Asia Thailand Russia Endangered Species 147

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. Trogons and quetzals are an ancient, colorful bird family that occurs in forests and other wooded habitats from the American tropics to Africa to Southeast Asia. So let’s look at this sampler, shall we?

America 263

America Arizona North America Texas 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2014

Big news about a small bird broke earlier this month when bird researchers from several nations announced that the species formerly known as Spotted Wren-Babbler ( Spelaeornis formosus ) — a tiny, secretive bird of montane forests from the eastern Himalayas to southeast China — is not a Spelaeornis wren-babbler at all.

Family 270

Family Comoros Asia Birds 270

Reddit Animals

SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

Do these 2 species ever meet in wild? They live in the same regions of asia. submitted by /u/WingKey2112 [link] [comments]

Snow Leopard 40

Snow Leopard Leopards Asia Species 40

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2016

Due to habitat encroachment and environmental degradation in its traditional home base of Asia, the bird’s worldwide population has dropped to roughly 20,000 individuals, marking it as a Vulnerable species. The world’s biggest flying bird—the Sarus Crane , with a maximum of height of 6 feet/1.8 meters—has had a rough go of it.

Thailand 252

Thailand Asia Hunters Species 252

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2022

Being an island, Mauritius has its share of endemics, extinct endemics (the dodo again), and introduced species. The Red Fody is an introduced species, though from nearby, sort of (Madagascar). Of course, the Common Myna is not a native species either. I saw a few of each group, with the obvious exception of the second one.

Mauritius 227

Mauritius Birds 2000 South Africa 227

Critter News

DECEMBER 29, 2008

A breeding program in Malaysia will attempt to breed a rescued Borneo Sumatran rhino in order to save the endangered species. Experts cannot confirm how many Borneo Sumatran rhinos remain in the wild, but estimates range from 10 to 30 individuals, many of them isolated from others in their species.

Rhinos 100

Rhinos Malaysia Species Wildlife Reserve 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

The 2000 MacKinnon guide is showing its age while my preferred choice for the Shanghai area, Mark Brazil’s “Birds of East Asia”, covers non-Chinese locations such as Japan and Korea while excluding Western China. While there are some decent Chinese-language guides, they are of limited use for (local) illiterates like me.

China 203

China Brazil 2000 Birds 203

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

In its natural old-world range, the House Sparrow offers an interesting identification challenge and has vagrant potential since it is a polytypic species with a highly complex taxonomy. The genus Passer has several well-recognized and recognizable species in Europe, and still holds several enigmas.

Sparrows 218

Sparrows Italy Asia Austria 218

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2022

They are places where we invest most of our birding time and rightly so; mature tropical forests are where we find the highest number of species. Additional bird species prefer the sun-drenched vegetation of open fields and other edge habitats. Find a brushy field during the winter months and you might also find these colorful species.

Costa Rica 266

Costa Rica Farming Sparrows Birds 266

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

Or would be, had I encountered more of them – so far, I have seen only a very small share of the approximately 233 woodpecker species, and got decent photos of an even smaller number – not much more than 10% of all of them. So, writing a post about them is easy.

Woodpeckers 233

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 233

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

It divides countries into categories, where the next category has 200 more species. In some cases the data are outdated, e.g. Costa Rica has 900 and not 800 species, but I made no corrections, remaining faithful to the original map data. Shown as a list, it looks like this: Less than 200 bird species: Antarctica; oceanic islands.

Equatorial Guinea 197

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Guyana Central African Republic 197

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Other species probably breeding here – judging from their presence in pairs during the summer months – include Black-winged Cuckooshrike … … Black-naped Oriole … … Lesser Coucal … … And Pied Kingfisher. As a consequence, it was felt that the bird’s name needed to be changed.

Cats 220

Cats Birds Kittens Transported 220

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

The HBW even mentions the importance of Ruoergai for this species: “Key sites for migrants include the Ruoergai Plateau (China), which is also an important breeding area” Common Mergansers also seem to use these wetlands as breeding area. The raptors of Ruoergai deserve a separate post.

China 174

China Mongolia Birds Russia 174

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. In early November 2020, there were 15 countries with more than 1000 species eBirded so far. Other than that, there are barely a few hotspots with over 500 species.

Asia 272

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 272

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. It seems that this is another species for which the standard phrase of scientists anywhere, “more research needed”, applies.

Birds 147

Birds Myanmar China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Beside India, Lynx Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of South Asia covers Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales.

Asia 177

Asia Mammals Sri Lanka Bhutan 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

Just last year, 5 new bird species and 5 new subspecies were discovered in a few short weeks of fieldwork on the islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka. In recent years Indonesia has been competing with the Andes as the region giving rise to the biggest number of undescribed bird species (naturally, all of them endemics).

Indonesia 264

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2019

Based on how naturally parrots and leafbirds (the real ones in Asia, not the figments that plague birders in every country) blend into foliage, I’d imagine that most arboreal avian species would want the same advantages. Corey enjoyed a spring like outing on Sunday morning, adding eight species to his Queens year list.

2019 114

2019 Asia Turkey Parrots 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2019

The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia, edited by Yong Ding Li & Low Bing Wen. And now I am holding the “The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia” – an expanded and fully updated second edition of “The 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Southeast Asia”. As a rule, I like second editions better.

Asia 227

Asia Laos Myanmar Indonesia 227

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

Black-bellied Plover: Known as Grey Plover in Europe and Asia. Grey-tailed Tattler: I already made fun of this poor species in my last post. Cuckoo species (Common?): As this is a coastal place, there are of course lots of waders, in larger numbers, and more variety than in Shanghai. Point for American birders, I am afraid.

China 275

China Birds Fish Asia 275

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Myers, a professional birding guide in “real life,” summarizes the etymology and history of all common bird names (of bird families and groups, not all 10,000-plus species). The guide covers 265 of Maine’s 461 bird species: common nesting species, common migrants, and wintering birds.

Sri Lanka 228

Sri Lanka Malaysia Birds Suriname 228

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. The Hainan version is sometimes considered a separate species, in which case it is classified as Near Threatened. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump.

San Diego 208

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2015

While there as some very attractive members of the family (or families, scientists can’t make up their minds) in Asia, in Africa the babblers tend towards the restrained when it comes to plumage. Like others of the genus Turdoides it is also a very social species, found in often noisy groups.

Africa 162

Africa Asia Family Groups 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2016

The Azure-winged Magpie is a pretty member of the crow family found in Eastern Asia, from Siberia and Japan down to Hong Kong. It was in Hong Kong that I caught up with the species, as it is easy to find in the splendid wetlands of Mai Po. I’m back! And what a bird I have for you today. Azure-winged Magpie.

Spain 103

Spain Portugal Asia Japan 103

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2019

However, as DNA and morphological studies have indicated, despite the barbets of Asia and Africa looking quite like the ones in the Americas, they aren’t closely related to each other. A common resident of cloud forest, this species is often seen in pairs as it forages in mixed flocks or feeds at a fruiting tree.

Costa Rica 169

Costa Rica Colombia South America Ecuador 169

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2016

The species, which migrates from the Russian Arctic to Southeast Asia, is down to about 200 breeding pairs in the wild, due to habitat loss and poaching. First, wildlife officials in Louisiana announced the first successful wild Whooping Crane nest in that state since 1939. Now, it’s Spoon-billed Sandpipers’ turn.

Eggs 190

Eggs Louisiana Breeding Asia 190

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. Like the Adjutants in Asia and Jabiru of the Americas, the Marabou is our bare-headed scavenging stork.

Africa 241

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 241