10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2015

This time it is the Old World that has misnamed a group of birds, or in fact several groups. Once upon a time, when I started birding, this great family included a wide range of species collectively known as the robins and chats. It all comes back to a split in one of the great bird families, the Turdidae, or thrushes.

Mozambique 161

Mozambique Zambia Zimbabwe Namibia 161

Critter News

AUGUST 4, 2009

The Congolese National Park Authorities have sent the biggest ever deployment of armed rangers to strike at charcoal-making operations run by armed groups deep in the forests of Virunga National Park in Eastern DR Congo. Tags: virunga rwanda africa congo gorillas endangered species.

Congo 100

Congo Rwanda Wildlife Gorillas 100

Critter News

JUNE 26, 2009

Dozens of animals have been killed by armed groups at Africa's oldest national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the start of the year, park officials and environmental groups said Tuesday. Tags: virunga africa congo gorillas endangered species. They died between May 25 and June 16, he said.

Congo 100

Congo Gorillas Endangered Species Animal 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2011

Here are the clues: 1. Some references indicate that this country has nearly 900 different species of birds. 3. Corey has written about one of the species, which I will most likely see when I go. 5. And another list shows 6 endemics and 11 endangered species. Instead, name one of the endemic species in this country.

2011 150

2011 Myanmar Bolivia Venezuela 150

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. Vangas, asities, mesites, Malagasy warblers, ground-rollers and cuckoo-roller are all mouth-watering groups with very special members.

Papua New Guinea 211

Papua New Guinea Madagascar Africa Equatorial Guinea 211

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2019

Perhaps you don’t know it yet, but with more than 1000 bird species, palm-fringed sandy beaches, developed tourism infrastructure, moderate prices and political stability, Thailand is a country you definitively want to visit. Among them are 20 endemics and near-endemics, and 58 vagrant species. And what do you need to pack?

Thailand 180

Thailand Zambia Birds Asia 180

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

I was in contact with a group of birders for whom I arranged and guided an annual tour to Africa. Blue-moustached Bee-eater is rainforest species occurring in just a few scattered sites in Ghana, it was previously considered a subspecies of Blue-headed Bee-eater. During each trip we would discuss a destination for the following year.

Ghana 187

Ghana Hunters Guinea Gambia 187

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2012

Barbets are a group of medium sized, chunky, generally colorful, frugivorous, hole-nesting near-passerines, that are popular targets for anyone birding in the tropics. In Asia, their 30 barbet species are placed into their own family Megalaimidae , and finally in Africa, we have 42 species in the family Lybiidae , the topic of this blogpost.

Ethiopia 222

Ethiopia Tanzania Africa Uganda 222

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

The wonderful family Meropidae contains 27 dazzling species, of which Africa is endowed with no less than 20 species, the balance occurring across Asia and with one as far afield as Australia. We have both resident and migratory species, and this post will briefly discuss each of the 20 species of African bee-eaters.

Africa 261

Africa Gabon South Africa Uganda 261

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

The IOC world birdlist recognizes 90 species that bear the name “weaver” or “malimbe” Not all of these are true weavers as we will discuss below. There are currently 64 recognized species in this genus, a remarkable number indeed, and this includes the 5 Asian and 2 Malagasy species.

Tanzania 212

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 212

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2015

Plastic behaviors are not automatically unrelated to natural selection, but the way those behaviors vary across individuals or across groups may not be best explained by underlying genetic differences. My research in the Congo supports this idea. The study used many species, good sample sizes, and is statistically convincing.

Birds 116

Birds Research Humane Pets 116

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2012

These truly are the gentle giants of the forest and with a little careful manoeuvring on our wooden platform; we were all enjoying great scope views of a mixed group of beautiful males with their giant jet black casques and pale blue throat wattles alongside the ginger punk-haired females. Truly fantastic.

Ghana 172

Ghana Guinea Birds Eagles 172

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 232

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 232