10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

When I moved to Botswana, to learn my birds I got myself the thickest local field guide. 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. Subspecies are not included.

Birds 255

Birds Botswana Africa Ecuador 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2017

Species accounts for all 2,792 bird species. Since I used to live in and know Botswana, let’s see what the guide says on that country in one and a half pages. Still, the most important part of the text is immediately under the family title – the number of species followed by the number of endemic species.

Africa 176

Africa Botswana Nigeria Namibia 176

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

And so, back to political entities, this field guide covers Namibia , Botswana , Zimbabwe , the southern half of Mozambique (south of the Zambezi River), South Africa , Lesotho and Eswatini ( Swaziland ). Distribution maps show the relative abundance of a species in the region and also indicate resident or visiting status.

Africa 264

Africa South Africa Swaziland Lesotho 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

You may have read my recent piece on Birding the Okavango Delta in Botswana here on 10,000 Birds. On a recent visit I threw my bags in the hotel room and went straight there, and got over 60 species of birds in a few hours and fantastic views of Nilgai , the largest antelope in India.

India 200

India Wildlife Tigers Eagles 200

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2012

The Okavango Delta of Botswana, however, provides one of the very best opportunities to catch a glimpse. The elusive Pel’s Fishing Owl Although I had seen Pel’s Fishing Owls a couple of times since, I was a touch nervous when asked by the Botswana Tourism Organization to film one for our Birding Adventures TV Botswana series.

Owls 255

Owls Fish Botswana Barn Owls 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

African Pygmy Geese are one of a number of waterfowl species that have a rather misleading name So where does that leave the Pygmy Geese, of which there are three distinct species? And of the the three species, the African species is without debate the most gorgeous. But they are not just any ducks.

Geese 185

Geese Ducks Botswana South Africa 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

Of the fifteen species of cranes alive today eleven are considered vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. Like many other species of cranes, the primary reason for its decline is the degradation, destruction and loss of wetland habitat. Its a hard life being a bird but its especially hard if you’re a crane.

Botswana 158

Botswana South Africa Africa Ethiopia 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

We are facing a plague of poaching that is again decimating the species. Will the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) conference delegates up-list them to Appendix I of the Convention, forbidding any future sale over international borders?

Elephants 194

Elephants Botswana Zimbabwe Africa 194

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 207

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Guyana Central African Republic 207

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

The reserve, in the eastern corner of Botswana near Zimbabwe and South Africa, isn’t open to the public in general, so I figured I’d share a few images here by way of showing off. As well as birds, the reserve holds endangered species like African Wild Dogs. I mean education. Brown-hooded Kingfishers hunt far from water.

Zimbabwe 100

Zimbabwe Botswana South Africa Endangered Species 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2015

For a long time it was treated as a subspecies of the ubiquitous Black Kite, a species of scavenging bird of prey much hated by my grandfather (they used to steal food from troops during the war, if memory serves). A valuable lesson in looking twice at the ubiquitous species. And as you can see, they are pretty good looking too.

South Africa 160

South Africa Africa Botswana Wolves 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

And apart from local people, primate researchers sometimes spot it, but it is a species seen by fewer than ten living birders. The rest of the 216 pages long book is devoted to various African bird families and half a dozen individual species. He has authored several other books and many articles, largely on natural history.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Madagascar 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

I bring this up because birding the Chobe River in northern Botswana gave me the interesting opportunity to bird a country I technically wasn’t in. But I have visited Guatemala, Lesotho and Zimbabwe to actually visit them and count them, even though I spent less time in them than I did Zurich. It’s arbitrary, but there you go.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

One study found that birds living in Botswana had elevated levels of lead in their bloodstreams during hunting season, presumably coming from lead bullets used on animals killed by hunters. I could immediately tell them it was an Egyptian Goose – an invasive species in Germany but not at Kruger. ” (HBW).

Elephants 147

Elephants Birds Congo Africa 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

I was planning a trip to South Africa, I had about five days to fill, I wanted to get a bunch of desert species (particularly the Springbok – not a bird) in a way that wasn’t too hard to reach from Johannesburg. I had a look at the website and it looked interesting. Springbok were one of my targets, and I got them!

South Africa 159

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 159

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

But, from the existing data, the authors have drawn a different conclusion – there is no proof that the breeding population ever existed, that the south of Africa was beyond the species range and that that all observations were of vagrant individuals. During my lifetime, this species was rare in my native Serbia, too.

Sudan 236

Sudan Macedonia Botswana Serbia 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2012

As long as it persists, this Western species will prompt every birder within 400 miles to consider, however briefly, taking a run to see it. The rosy-finch isn’t even that far from me, but I’d rather see this species in the Rocky Mountains. Boy, Botswana is beautiful! Have you thought about chasing this rarity?

Botswana 164

Botswana 2012 United States Birds 164

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2015

Once upon a time, when I started birding, this great family included a wide range of species collectively known as the robins and chats. They are a single genus, Cichladusa , with three species, found mostly in Central and Eastern Africa. It all comes back to a split in one of the great bird families, the Turdidae, or thrushes.

Mozambique 169

Mozambique Zambia Zimbabwe Namibia 169

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2019

This species was discovered (shot, actually) in the 19th century, only to be lost through the entire 20th century. The Forest Owlet is an endemic species of this mountain range. Since its rediscovery in 1997, this species has been found at a number of new locations, several of which appear to hold significant populations.

India 187

India Owls Tigers Cows 187

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

Ecuador or Botswana, respectively). Yet, the fact that tiny Panama is as popular as huge Brazil, with twice as many bird species, speaks volume for Brazil’s stage of ecotourism development. In the end, there were more than 40 destinations listed, most of them countries, and some of them smaller regions within large countries (e.g.

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

18 years ago I moved to Botswana where that gloriously bright sunshine makes observing them easier, while shorebirds themselves ease things further by mostly sporting their wintering plumage. Illustrated by Chandler’s mainly excellent photos, the book shows about 180 species, or some 80 % of the total. Anything else would be a lie.

Botswana 124

Botswana 2017 Groups Europe 124

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

At the time I was the Secretary of the Botswana Bird Club, and Claire was one of recipients of the club’s ornithological journal The Babbler. …hundreds of working man and boys would take advantage of the free hour at dinner time to visit the bridges and embankments, and give the scraps left from their meal to the birds.”

Angola 195

Angola United Kingdom Mozambique Botswana 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

With about 110 recorded species, the Kozara becomes truly magical place when the Danube swells and reclaims what is rightfully his. On the other side of the river, underneath the very buttresses of the Belgrade Fortress, with its 170 recorded bird species lies the Veliko Ratno Island (44°49’53.20″N, 20°26’4.98″E).

Serbia 245

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 245

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2013

This species was discovered (shot, actually) in the 19 th century, only to be lost through the entire 20 th century. The Forest Owlet is an endemic species of this mountain range. Trips endangered species India owlets owls' Before the trip, Nitin Bhardwaj asked me: “What if we dip it?” “Not I have seen an owlet shaped leaf.

India 259

India Owls Tigers Endangered Species 259

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

Of course Africa could not to be left out of the pink weekend so I have researched all African species whose official or alternative names include the word “pink”. This attractive (for a lark anyway) species is restricted to the dry savannah Somali-Maasai biome of north-east Africa (northern Tanzania, Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia).

Africa 220

Africa Somalia Pelicans Mozambique 220

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant. Prime destinations for seeing African Elephant in the wild include Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Uganda.

Buffalo 213

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 213

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2013

A Long-tailed Sylph, one of the America’s many long tailed hummingbird species, photographed in Colombia by Adam Riley. A Great Argus in full call, this species’ tail consists of the longest feather in the bird world. The 9 species of whydah are brood-parasitic seedeaters belonging to the Indigobird family.

Papua New Guinea 248

Papua New Guinea South Africa Africa Zimbabwe 248

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2015

Conservation is concerned about protecting populations, species, habitats, ecosystems. That conservation uses the death of the species it is trying to save is both paradoxical and not. If tourists are too dim to tell Sierra Leone from Botswana or Tanzania, do we really want to rely on them to save Africa’s species?

Lions 218

Lions Hunting Sierra Leone Buffalo 218

Critter News

AUGUST 16, 2008

The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Geneva voted in favour of China becoming a licensed importer. It will allow China to bid for more than 100 tonnes of ivory stockpiled in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe through culling and natural deaths.

Elephants 100

Elephants China Zimbabwe Namibia 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Approximately 2,300 bird species inhabit Africa, however as impressive as that sounds, much smaller South America boasts nearly 1,000 species more. Madagascar’s mammals are equally remarkable; over 100 species of endearing lemurs and bizarre carnivores amongst them!

Papua New Guinea 231

Papua New Guinea Madagascar Africa Equatorial Guinea 231

4 The Love Of Animals

DECEMBER 6, 2010

Big Cat Odyssey chronicles their meticulous work over three decades of filming, photographing and documenting the behavior of big cat species in Botswana. Award-winning filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert set out 30 years ago on a quest to get close to big cats.

Cats 100

Cats Lions Leopards Botswana 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2017

I saw Painted Wolves again, my favourite species ever. The Orange-fronted Parakeet is a critically endangered species that I came agonisingly close to seeing but didn’t. Singapore is a densely populated city-state which still manages to protect a number of species. Botswana: I Still Have No Idea Award. A new duck!

United Arab Emirates 100

United Arab Emirates Ethiopia 2016 New Zealand 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2013

This 15,000 sq mi Kalahari desert reserve straddles the South African and Botswana border regions and was created when two national parks were merged – these being South Africa’s Kalahari Gemsbok National Park and Botswana’s Gemsbok National Park.

Leopards 162

Leopards Cats Namibia Killing 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Originally considered monotypic, two species are now recognized. Drakensberg (or Orange-breasted) Rockjumper is a Drakensberg Mountain species whose range is shared with the tiny landlocked kingdom of Lesotho. Males of this species are more brightly colored in their non-breeding winter plumage. the Rockjumpers.

South Africa 234

South Africa Lesotho Africa Swaziland 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2015

Whoever is in charge of names in the area had abandoned an unwise relationship with compound names ((meaning Redwinged Starlings were Red-winged Starlings again) and seemed to have shifted the names of lots of species around in the hopes of aligning them with the IOC (goodbye louries). There had also been a number of splits.

Africa 154

Africa South Africa Zimbabwe Penguins 154

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. This is another wetland species that nests in sometimes huge colonies atop trees bordering rivers and lakes.

Africa 246

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the area they inhabit. ” (Woodward brothers, “Natal Birds”, 1899) The mighty Drakensberg Mountains run along the western boundary of KwaZulu-Natal province.

Mozambique 195

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 195