Here`s another entry in the category “Rejected topics for bird-related coffee table books”, following my recent “Blue Birds” post. With remarkable accuracy, each of the photos below shows exactly two birds.

African Penguin (Cape Town, South Africa, Nov 2018). Walking back to their beach towels.

African Pygmy Kingfisher (Mkuze, South Africa, Nov 2018)

Black-and-red Broadbill (Taman Negara, Malaysia, Nov 2019)

Black-tailed Godwit (Nanhui, China, May 2020)

Black-throated Tit (Tianmushan, China, Jun 2019). Hiking up a tree.

Black-winged Stilt (Nanhui, China, May 2019). Almost abstract bird patterns.

Blue Tit (Visselhoevede, Germany, Jul 2018). “You`re so juvenile!”

Budgerigar (Ayers Rock, Australia, Dec 2016)

Collared Finchbill (Zhenjiang, China, Oct 2015)

European Bee-eater (Hluluwe, South Africa, Nov 2018). I wonder if they think of themselves as European or as African birds.

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Tiaozini, China, Sep 2019)

Ground Woodpecker (Drakensberg, South Africa, Nov 2018)

Hair-crested Drongo (Nanhui, China, Nov 2019). Discussing US politics, probably.

Long-tailed Broadbill (Nabang, China, Mar 2017). I always think of these guys as the cartoon birds.

Oriental Scops Owl (Nanhui, China, Oct 2019)

Purple-crested Turaco (Mkuze, South Africa, Nov 2018)

Rainbow Lorikeet (Brisbane, Australia, Dec 2016). Some photos look highly photoshopped without any editing.

Red-billed Oxpecker (Mkuze, South Africa, Nov 2018)

Reed Parrotbill (Nanhui, China, Jun 2020). This year`s youngsters.

Ruddy Turnstone (Tiaozini, China, Sep 2019). Social distancing pre-Covid.

Rufous Woodpecker (Fuzhou, China, Mar 2019). Maybe a useful photo for one of these motivational posters. “Teamwork”?

Speckled Mousebird (Drakensberg, South Africa, Nov 2018). No, this photo is not badly cropped, it is badly shot.

Steppe Buzzard (Pafuri, South Africa, Nov 2018)

Sunda Woodpecker (Singapore, Dec 2015). The kind of photo which invariably comes with a comment from the photographer that he deliberately used a relatively long exposure time to capture the movement of the bird.

Superb Fairywren (Brisbane, Australia, Dec 2016). The not-quite-so-superb version.

White`s Thrush (Nanhui, China, Oct 2019)

More bird photos – some with only one bird, some with more than two birds – here.

 

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai Pflug has been living in Shanghai for 20 years. He only became interested in birds in China – so he is much more familiar with birds in China than with those in Germany. While he will only ever be an average birder, he aims to be a good bird photographer and has created a website with bird photos as proof. He hopes not too many clients of his consulting company read this blog, as they will doubt his dedication to providing consulting services related to China`s chemical industry. Whenever he wants to shock other birders, he tells them his (indoor) cats can distinguish several warblers by taste.