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Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan (Part 1)

10,000 Birds

This laughingthrush is a cooperative breeder – nestlings are fed by all members of a group, often 6-12 (not just 2 as in Wham!): “A female may share a nest with another, and 3 or more adults may take turns incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks.” ” ( source ).

Burma 206
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15 Australian Birds (Episode 1)

10,000 Birds

However, the lockdown forces me to go deeper and deeper into my photo collection, if I want to write anything at all. It has been more than 5 years since I last went to Australia, and I was even less of a qualified bird photographer then than I am now. And that seems to be the only vaguely satisfying thing left to do at the moment.

Australia 192
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The Falcon Thief: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

It didn’t occur to me till I started reading The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird that there was also a possible threat to the eagle herself: poachers, who steal raptor eggs and chicks. McWilliam realizes he’s dealing someone special, a career falcon egg-thief.

Falcons 216
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Birding Nonggang, Guangxi, China – part 2

10,000 Birds

The Indochinese Green Magpie is one of four species of green magpie (it used to be only three, but one of the subspecies collected enough frequent flier miles to get an upgrade to full species). Altruism, fortunately not of the Sam Bankman-Fried variety, though probably not very effective either.

China 234
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Birding Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo

10,000 Birds

When not climbing, he collected species, and thus a number of birds are named after him. The Borneo-endemic Chestnut-crested Yuhina is a cooperative breeder – the vast majority of breeding pairs (97%) in a study conducted here at Mount Kinabalu had helpers. This is a very bad photo of a Fruithunter.

Birds 230
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A Strategic Arms Race Among Birds

10,000 Birds

In the former, a female lays her fertilized egg in the nest of another species, in the hopes that her offspring will be raised by the unwitting hosts. ii) cooperative breeders may be more obvious targets as a result of the increased activity of helpers near the nest.

Breeders 204
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Birding Shanghai in April 2023

10,000 Birds

The third in the Nanhui collection of gloriously colored flycatchers is the Blue-and-white Flycatcher. Apparently , the two main factors influencing double brooding are the individual quality of the breeder and the timing of the first clutch. Ok, the word “glorious” does not quite apply to the female, I am afraid.

Monkeys 147