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

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 250

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 250

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

There’s something wonderfully primeval about the Northern Bald Ibis: it has the look of a bird that really ought to be extinct. The fact that it’s not is quite surprising, as this curious bird has come very close to the brink. Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In

Morocco 246

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 246

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2024

The days are longer and warmer, flowers fill the meadows, and the birds are back. True, most of our migrant breeding birds start to return in April, but in May even the late arrivals – Turtle Doves, Swifts, Spotted Flycatchers and Nightjars – finally appear. A Kerkini Turtle Dove.

Greece 130

Greece Turtles Breeding Europe 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2024

I always love the feeling when migrants have just returned, knowing they just travelled thousands of kilometers, some from Subsaharan Africa. I could imagine that timing the earlier emergence of insect prey at the breeding grounds is particularly problematic for insectivorous species.

Soreing 243

Soreing Owls Woodpeckers Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2024

I’ve been a regular visitor to the island of Cyprus for over 25 years, making around a dozen trips during this period, every one in search of birds. I made my most recent visit earlier this month, arriving with my three birding companions, Martin, Mike and Chris, on a warm spring evening. It was strange to hear it here in Cyprus.

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Breeders Falcons Hunters 246

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 246

Squirrels South Africa Germany Ducks 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2024

Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis breed on the Rock of Gibraltar and the late spring arrival of Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus coincides with the time that the gulls have chicks on their nests. These big soaring birds avoid long sea crossings but even the 14 km of Strait of Gibraltar can be demanding.

Morocco 189

Morocco Pandas Falcons Spain 189

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 264

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 264

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 299

Serbia Birds Ducks Cyprus 299

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

JULY 6, 2023

Fortunately, there are a few more such breeding species than most Shanghainese are aware of. While the HBW states that it breeds at 300 – 2450 meters, in Shanghai – where such elevations are not available outside of the upper floors of a few highrises – it makes to with an altitude of about 0 meters as well.

Birds 130

Birds Eggs Breeders Breeding 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

Last year there was a spate of books specifically about bird “behavior” – though one might well say that every book about birds, from field guides on up, is about behavior in some way or another. The page or two of text for each bird has some good stuff, not all pertaining to migration. A “broad spectrum,” indeed.

Alaska 264

Alaska Breeding Kenya Africa 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

This is the last post covering my time birding the Kruger Park in November 2018. A study on the diet of the African Harrier-Hawk starts rather pompously: “Feeding is an indispensable activity in the life of birds. The babblers have a sentinel system – individual birds take turns scanning for predators and warning the group.

South Africa 147

South Africa Niger Birds Mice 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2016

Can you remember any birding movie before Schrodinger’s Cat? For me, the only “birding” movie that I knew of were the Dogs of War (1980). I knew about the movie since my early birding days although it was more than ten years later before I saw it. You noticed it: it doesn’t even live in Western Africa at all!

Belize 244

Belize Birds Africa Dogs 244

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2020

North America is home to many amazing bird species, including several which require a special effort to see and appreciate. These birds also invite one to sites that are unique within the United States – the climate, vegetation, and landscapes all add context and heighten the experience of seeing one’s first Elegant Trogon or Painted Bunting.

America 264

America Arizona North America United States 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Re-evaluate the songs Double-pack with a photograph Extra track (and a tacky badge) So sing The Smiths in “ Paint a vulgar picture “ As you can probably guess, the main purpose of my posts not centered on a specific location (e.g., “Birds of Shanghai”) is to reuse photos I have already used in such location-specific posts.

South Africa 264

South Africa Africa India China 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2024

Most serious bird photographers dislike taking pictures of birds wearing rings (or what on the other side of the Atlantic you call bands). I can sympathise, as a shiny new ring, clamped to a bird’s leg, rarely enhances its portrait. The information I received didn’t indicate the age of the bird.

Lithuania 130

Lithuania Morocco Iceland Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

Not professionally – these people come in SUVs and probably never recapture their gas money from the fish they catch (though come to think of it, neither do I with my bird photos). This is ok as birds do not have teeth anyway). One strange thing about Chongming is the inevitable presence of people fishing. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

It is near a river, attracting some birds that like to eat wet food. As the national bird of Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the African Fish Eagle is usually very busy whenever it stays in these countries, giving speeches, opening shopping centers, etc. So, it sometimes comes to South Africa to relax and enjoy relative anonymity.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

Over-all there were almost 80,000 photos taken, nearly 50 story’s posted on this website, and 10 countries, all with some amazing birds. In the end, I truly did set out to reduce the number of birds that I feature here from 1302, my years total species, down to 10-12. So, there are 21 birds that make my top 10 for the year.

2018 203

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 203

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

And where all those birds are? This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? Which leaves only East Africa. Why am I here?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. Gray-necked or Red-headed Picathartes in Korup National Park, Cameroon.

Sierra Leone 274

Sierra Leone Ghana Cameroon Equatorial Guinea 274

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on my home patch of Cape Town, South Africa. This place is such an epic birding location that one cannot possibly do the city and its surrounds justice in one post. But at Rooiels, the birds occasionally descend all the way down to sea-level and party amongst the seaside boulders.

South Africa 257

South Africa Penguins Birds Africa 257

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2020

What happens when you put a naturalist in a kayak, adrift in Africa? While entering our double kayak I asked Andrew Hester, a local bird expert, if bilharzia is present in the shallows of the Ngotwane Dam, further down the river. There are no crocs around here,’ said a smiling bartender. Oh, my big mouth!

Botswana 260

Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 260

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

Hence, I was quite surprised with a brave, almost exciting paper by Brown, Forbes and Symes: “Recent history of the Egyptian Vulture in Southern Africa” (Vulture News, 2000). It was not the first note I have published, but was the only one about a bird I have never laid my eyes upon!

Sudan 252

Sudan Macedonia Botswana Serbia 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

sq mi), which contradict the conservation significance of the bird it was founded for, some three decades ago – the Critically Endangered Great Indian Bustard. My guide, Chirag Solanki, told me he had once been searching here for five days, before he managed to locate the birds. Indeed, I say. And why are they parked?

Gazelles 264

Gazelles India 2012 Endangered Species 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. Regular readers of 10,000 Birds may remember Jochen’s posts about keeping taxonomy out of field guides. It sounds simple, but I wonder how it works in practice.

Ecuador 189

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Birds 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. We’ve traveled to lots of places, seen lots of great birds, and met lots of great birders. So, as we’ve done for the last several years we thought we would share our Best Birds of the Year with you. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours?

2014 245

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 245

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2016

A couple of years ago Adam posted a story on this site that so entranced me that when I went to South Africa a bit over a year ago the location he described was top of my bucket list. That birding Mecca was the Sani Pass, and his article is all you need to read so rather than rehash it I’ll just link to it.

South Africa 140

South Africa Africa Family Groups 140

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2015

It shares the common characteristic of white flight feathers which fold away on landing to leave a cryptically coloured bird, well suited to its preferred reedy habitat. The bill is usually greeny-yellow, tipped dark, but takes on a surprising blue for breeding, contrasting with the green skin around the eye.

Africa 182

Africa Breeding Birds 182

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

In her free time she travels near and far to find birds to continue building her life list, though many of her favorites can still be found right in her own backyard. She has contributed many pieces to 10,000 Birds and writes about her birding adventures on her blog, newbirder.tumblr.com. Lots and lots of birds.

Birds 237

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 237

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2014

I was incredibly lucky to be invited –again- to participate on the second edition of the World Birding Rally Challenge in Northern Peru. It is an improvement in ranks, but it comes with new responsibilities and obligations that at the end of the day take away from having fun birding along this amazing route. Gray-hooded Gull.

Peru 160

Peru United Kingdom 2013 South Africa 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2015

I’m a big fan of the antelopes, a group that is most commonly associated with Africa but which also occurs in Asia and, if you stretch the term to be cladistically meaningful, Europe and North America. The crest on the back becomes erect during breeding displays. The delicate markings if two male Nyala.

Africa 225

Africa Hunters Goats Sheep 225

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2015

Well, I’m finally back from Africa. Oh, and I need to sort out about 4000 photos and add 250 year birds to 2014 and 400 to 2015… So , yeah, I’m kind of in a state. Oh, and I need to sort out about 4000 photos and add 250 year birds to 2014 and 400 to 2015… So , yeah, I’m kind of in a state.

Penguins 178

Penguins Seychelles Albatross Africa 178

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2013

With the Audubon Christmas Bird Count season in full swing here in the Western Hemisphere, one of the birds on my mind is Golden-crowned Kinglet , a bird often heard and seen on the counts I do every year, and thus one that holds special seasonal significance to me. Birds kinglets taxonomy and systematics'

Family 241

Family Guatemala Mexico Japan 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

Instead of wintering in Africa and breeding in Europe, growing numbers of the birds now appear to be staying put in Spain and Portugal. Dependence on landfills means the birds spend less energy foraging, especially outside of breeding season.

Portugal 145

Portugal Spain Research Europe 145