10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2015

A manicured green lawn in front of the building and an iridescent blue bird on a smallish aloe tree. It was June 1999 and I was observing my first ever bird on African soil. The next bird was some crow-like UFO observed from the shuttle bus. I asked the bus driver about the bird and he asked me back: “The bi’d?” “Umm,

Africa 232

Africa Botswana Birds Europe 232

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2024

However, my current favourite member of the family Cucilidae is the Great Spotted Cuckoo (GSC), a common bird in Cyprus in spring. Perhaps the most curious thing about the Great Spotted Cuckoo is its distribution, for it is both a non-breeding Palearctic migrant to Africa, and a trans-Africa migrant.

Cyprus 238

Cyprus Africa Europe Asia 238

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2024

I was especially looking forward to take some better photos of the birds I saw last time, which I only managed partly. After all, I’d rather call myself a birder than a bird photographer, although I have to admit that I enjoy doing both more or less equally.

Birds 212

Birds Germany Parrots Europe 212

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2021

When it comes to tropical birding, field guides regularly deal with well over a 1000 birds and tend to be on the hefty side. Travel guides are mostly lighter, but this “where to watch birds guide” is truly lightweight and traveller friendly. There are loads of travel guides to East Africa and Kenya in particular.

Kenya 264

Kenya Africa South Africa Penguins 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

And Flamingos and Hornbills and a Secretarybird and birds with names like Hamerkop and Thick-knee and Eremomela (which I know is a scientific term, but which, when pronounced correctly, reminds me of a Yiddish term of endearment my grandmother used). And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to South Africa.

South Africa 255

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2016

and dreaming of a place where the heat is moderate, beer snake-cold and birds innumerable… Let’s say, where the average annual maximum varies from 22 to 24 degrees Celsius / 72 to 75 Fahrenheit and where some 700+ bird species – 24 of them endemic – are waiting for an intrepid birder… Answer to the riddle?

Africa 149

Africa Uganda Gorillas Rwanda 149

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

A crest is a “comb or tuft of feathers, fur, or skin on the head of a bird or other animal” Birds use them for display purposes – they can be either recumbent (not noticeable when not erect) or recursive (noticeable in all states). Quite a few bird species have crests. Crests are made of feathers.

South Africa 229

South Africa China Africa Germany 229

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2020

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). Almost abstract bird patterns.

South Africa 231

South Africa 2018 2019 China 231

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2021

Recently, many people have been telling me that they are very tired of photos of dry birds. So, here’s a collection of wet birds. A wet African Pygmy Kingfisher (Mkuze, South Africa). A wet European Bee-eater (Mkuze, South Africa). A wet Brown-headed Kingfisher (Mkuze, South Africa).

South Africa 193

South Africa China Africa Birds 193

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”. Definitely my personal favorite of Africa’s pink birds is the delicate Pink-throated Twinspot. Pink-backed Pelican by Markus Lilje/Rockjumper Birding Tours.

Africa 231

Africa Somalia Pelicans Mozambique 231

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

Bird Day is a lovely, little jewel of a book. The idea is to portray one bird for each hour of the day in words and art, presenting the diversity, beauty, and wonder of avian life. Angell’s black-and-white illustrations bring sparks of energy and visual clarity to the fascinating bird behaviors described by Huber.

Chicago 206

Chicago Barn Owls Penguins New Zealand 206

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. My name is Kalu Afasi, I am a birding guide from Ghana, a country in West Africa.

Ghana 250

Ghana Africa Birds Industry 250

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2023

How much time do you devote to birding? How high is birding on your list of activities – is it the very first or merely one of? These are the types I recognise: Coffee Break Birding – 10-15 minutes, usually not planned ahead but squeezed out of your schedule. It is a good option if you know that there is that one special bird.

India 201

India Birds Africa Serbia 201

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2020

Mkuze Game Reserve is in the Eastern part of South Africa, about 5 hours away from Johannesburg, and one of the best places I have ever been to for bird photography. ” The Red-billed Quelea is regarded as the most numerous undomesticated bird on earth. Some gorgeous looking smaller birds such as. or Blue Waxbill.

South Africa 215

South Africa Giraffes Birds Africa 215

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. Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. The Saddle-billed Stork has a similar Africa-wide distribution as the Marabou.

Africa 249

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 249

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2024

Well, 2023 has ended, so it’s time to look back at the past year’s birding. The pleasures of birding are many and varied, so this kind of post always involves a list. I will also return to several birds which have already appeared here. The post My Favorite 2023 Birds first appeared on 10,000 Birds.

Morocco 197

Morocco Birds Turkey Mexico 197

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2018

After a very long day of 7 hours of driving, 11 hours flying and then 9 hours more driving, we have arrived at our temporary home here in South Africa. Daily park fees are such that we opted for the annual “Wild Card” that is good not only for Kruger, but nearly every park in South Africa. This Kori Bustard was one of my target birds.

South Africa 123

South Africa Africa Rhinos Mongoose 123

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2018

And so we are out of Africa, or South Africa at least. Having done the lower end of South Africa, I truly long to get to see the parts farther north. There is a completely new set of birds, or so it seems, in each segment of this amazing country. Sunbirds, are in my interpretation, the hummingbirds of South Africa.

Africa 100

Africa South Africa Ostriches Penguins 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2022

How high is birding on your list of activities – is it the very first or merely one of? These are the types I recognise: Coffee Break Birding – 10-15 minutes, usually not planned ahead but squeezed out of your schedule. It is a good option if you know that there is that one special bird. My kind of birding.

India 258

India Birds Africa Game 258

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2024

Hannah Buschert started birding in college thanks to a required Biology of Birds course and a professor who included Sir David Attenborough’s Life of Birds to punctuate lessons. There are some places we want to see in our lives, birds we want to get, but we are also driven to visit places where we know few people who have gone.

Senegal 222

Senegal South Dakota Gambia Birds 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2015

The history of Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa is a slightly unusual one. It is a good place for South African birders, as several species are found here and nowhere else in South Africa, and it holds a small number of endemics that it shares with the Mozambique lowlands. But despite this, I did see birds.

South Africa 151

South Africa Elephants Africa Lions 151

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2015

I say weird because this isn’t a bird that I had ever given a large amount of thought to before. 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).

South Africa 160

South Africa Africa Botswana Wolves 160

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Not all birds are created equal. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. Central Africa has one of those birds.

Uganda 287

Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 287

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

From the border check station, you can turn to the right and go to the “Highest Bar in Africa” or continue into the unknown. Birding was tougher. There are no trees throughout the landscape, so it is either looking up for birds passing overhead or stomping through the scrub to flush hiding birds.

Lesotho 242

Lesotho Sheep South Africa Africa 242

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

An expanse of habitat as vast as Murchison Falls NP in Uganda, as excessively generous in beauty and biodiversity, permits endless ways to experience both its birds and animals. The 5,000 sq km of exquisite savanna and bush may hew more closely to your ideal vision of Africa than any other spot on the continent. Rock Pratincoles.

Uganda 214

Uganda Senegal Africa Game 214

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

The (Big) Year that Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record – which is the book’s full title, or Arjan Dwarshuis’s Big Year, as I prefer to call it shortly, is a highly anticipated and a long awaited travelogue of the author’s 2016 race against time across 40 countries in his attempt to break the world birding record.

Papua New Guinea 262

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname South America 262

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

I’ve not made spectacular progress writing up my trip to Africa earlier this year, so perhaps I should get on that. So instead let’s talk about South Africa’s best kept birding secret (at least outside of the country) Wakkerstroom.

South Africa 145

South Africa Africa Falcons Family 145

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2016

By the time this post publishes, I’ll be on an airplane heading back to the United States following a truly remarkable two week visit to Uganda as part of a group of western birders visiting there to promote the inaugural African Birding Expo. The enigmatic Shoebill is perhaps Uganda’s most famous bird.

Uganda 174

Uganda Africa Squirrels Tanzania 174

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2019

In birding circles, certain stretches of road or trail attain mythical status, eliciting knowing smiles and satisfied grins when mentioned. Aficionados of American birding know all too well the wonders of Panama’s Pipeline Road. Africa boasts its own legendary birding road: Uganda’s Budongo Forest Reserve AKA the Royal Mile.

Uganda 233

Uganda Africa Monkeys Birds 233

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2011

And which is also why it’s virtually impossible to find a description of the spectacular South American Hoatzin ( Opisthocomus hoazin ) that doesn’t in the first breath mention the bird’s highly enigmatic taxonomic status. Suddenly, hoatzins are no longer strictly birds of the Neotropics. From Namibia. And Mayr et al.

South America 230

South America Africa America Namibia 230

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2022

Bird-wise, Mauritius is probably primarily known for a bird that no longer exists, the dodo. I spent a few hours on Mauritius flying from Shanghai to Cape Town, South Africa, and decided to use this time for a short trip to a nature reserve on Mauritius, the Black River Gorges National Park. Quite nice looking, though.

Mauritius 250

Mauritius Birds 2000 South Africa 250

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2018

With no real chance of any internet connection to report whatever new birds I am able to find, I am scheduling this photo essay featuring a few of my favorite pictures from Kruger National Park, South Africa. I was only ever able to see the next two birds one time, the first is the Crowned Hornbill.

South Africa 102

South Africa Africa Seattle Eagles 102

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

Birders follow different patterns of bird migration and their local activities and travel accordingly. It illustrates the bird richness per country. Shown as a list, it looks like this: Less than 200 bird species: Antarctica; oceanic islands. Focus on the wider triple border area – the birding top of the world.).

Equatorial Guinea 217

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Guyana Central African Republic 217

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

Hannah Buschert was first exposed to birds and birding during a required ornithology course at Oregon State University and she quickly caught the birding bug. This is Hannah’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. Hannah and Erik ready to see some birds! I love to go on cruises.

South Africa 264

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The Collins Bird Guide covers Europe, North Atlantic islands, much of North Africa and the Middle East. The Collins Bird Guide 2nd edition from 2009 was a much hated taxonomical revolution/nightmare, changing just about everything. I am still annoyed that no birds are where they used to be. the Corn Bunting plate).

Europe 263

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 263

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2020

If you are old enough, you will remember birding without a phone? Later I carried it because of a stash of bird songs I compiled in it. And now I carry it for the same reason, only now they are a part of the bird ID app. Anyway, I don’t even have an app for the European birds at the moment, but for the Birds of Southern Africa.

Serbia 291

Serbia Birds Ducks Cyprus 291

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2024

For a while I was considering together with Jacob, whom I met on Helgoland during my month of volunteering at the bird observatory there, to meet up for a short birding outing on a weekend. We still focused on the birds of course and saw quite a good number of species, although few were unexpected.

Squirrels 225

Squirrels South Africa Germany Ducks 225