10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 208

Dissection Birds Research Europe 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

I do not get too many comments on my blog posts, but it seems that whenever I write about jacanas – whether in Africa, Australia, or Asia – there is an unusually high number of reactions (well, maybe one or two rather than the usual zero) from female readers. This is ok as birds do not have teeth anyway).

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2016

The Common Gallinule , is the most wide spread of all the members of the rail family, being found from Canada, to Chile, Europe, Asia, Africa, much of the Pacific, and the Galapagos Islands. These birds have been known to be prolific breeders, with as many as 8 broods a year, and each clutch holding from 5-13 eggs.

Chile 100

Chile Breeders Asia Mexico 100

Reddit Animals

DECEMBER 15, 2023

forest buffalo goes into first ​ hyena: The spotted hyena is a highly successful animal, being the most common large carnivore in Africa. This species is found on the African continent, in Angola, as well as central, eastern, and southern Africa. Ostrich eggs have been used by humans for millennia.

Africa 40

Africa Buffalo Ostriches Animal 40

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2016

All other cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let them raise them. I have also been watching with interest the return of the Cuckoo to the United Kingdom from Africa over the past few days. The Eastern Koel has only been recorded in Broome on very rare occasions.

United Kingdom 100

United Kingdom Raised 2013 Africa 100

Critter News

DECEMBER 23, 2008

In some cases, notably in Africa, biodiversity is threatened by military conflict, or by well-armed gangs of poachers. In some parts of Africa, rangers receive military training and equipment to defend animals (and themselves) from poachers in pursuit of elephants, rhinos, gorillas, and other endangered species.

Central African Republic 100

Central African Republic Protection Sea Turtles Rhinos 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Baby Spotted Dikkop Mervyn van Rooyen in South Africa experienced the wonder of a wee thick-knee in a way very few of us ever will. We’ve shared plenty of pictorals of adult thick-knees, also known as stone-curlews or Dikkops, from Senegal Thick-knee ( here ) to Beach Stone-curlew ( here ) to Bush Thick-knee ( here and here ).

Senegal 207

Senegal Cats South Africa Experience 207

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

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 198

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 198

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Occasionally the Tristan Thrush Nesocichla eremita will prey upon chicks from the two-egg nest of the Inaccessible Island Rail but this not enough in any way to threaten the species. Its eggs are not known, it does not migrate, and it feeds, I understand, on insects and worms.

Science 195

Science Transported Shelters South Africa 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The African Spoonbill is one of the six global spoonbill species, and the main African one (there are also some Eurasian Spoonbills in Africa). While the species is listed as Least Concern, there are some papers suggesting it may not be as common as assumed, at least in South Africa. Studies on improving ostrich egg hatchability.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

Anyway, I’m happy the image is in the book, but sad that more isn’t said about its background and that the photographer is also the scientist who did his dissertation research on Pin-tailed Whydah parasitism of Common Waxbills in South Africa.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

I had seen Thick-Knees in South Africa, but I was very excited to see this species, which is the only member of its family found in Central America. Double-striped Thick-Knee nests are shallow depressions in the ground, with a typical clutch of two eggs.

Honduras 241

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

As we looked closer, we saw the Sooty Terns nesting right on the ground itself, calling back and forth to each other as they sat on their speckled eggs. Birds were everywhere, soaring through the air, walking on the beach, and landing in the low level of vegetation. Sooty Terns are incredibly birds. Trips bird banding dry tortugas Florida'

Birds 173

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 173

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

Or, Pygmy leaf-folding frogs, Afrixalus brachycnemis, from Tanzania, tiny climbing frogs who lay their eggs in leaves and then fold the leaves over them for protection, sealing the nest with secretions. There’s the Goliath frog from South Africa—up to one foot in length and over 6 pounds in weight.

Reptiles 181

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 181

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

This makes it a particularly exciting time in New Zealand as the Rugby World Cup begins in two days, and the competition is being held right here in New Zealand (I would imagine they might be more excited if they hadn’t just lost two matches to Australia and South Africa, their big rivals in the Tri-Nations).

New Zealand 157

New Zealand Penguins Sanctuary Birds 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

From Hiro, we learn how Northern Pygmy Owls are “rule breakers,” not incubating eggs till all are hatched and then raising owlets that mature at the same rate even though the eggs were laid asynchronously (as most owl eggs are). They are also hunted.

Owls 199

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

All the inhabited continents except Africa have experienced bird extinctions; however the 2012 update of the IUCN Red List shows a startling, but not altogether unexpected, trend in that more and more of our bird species are facing extinction. Around 3,000 birds summered and bred at Birecik in the 1930’s but this declined to only 400 by 1982.

Endangered Species 182

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 182

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

With a trip to South Africa on the horizon at the time, I thought I could handle it. So, when Redgannet asked me if I was interested in reviewing Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan, Third Edition , by Quentin Phillipps and Karen Phillipps, a book he had acquired at Birdfair, I hesitated.

Brunei 172

Brunei Birds Asia China 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2013

I grew up in one of the most beautiful cities in the world – Cape Town, South Africa. In fact, there is no other region in Africa that offers such a fantastic level of endemism in such an accessible location. But their endangered status is belied by the fact that they are one of the easiest rare birds to find in Africa.

Penguins 206

Penguins South Africa Africa Sharks 206

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

But there is one place in Africa where Wattled Cranes still gather in fair numbers – the Okavango Delta of Botswana. But they are believed to have previously occurred over a much wider area, including coastal West Africa and much of the wetlands of South Africa.

Botswana 144

Botswana South Africa Africa Ethiopia 144

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

I’ll never forget my introduction to the mammals of Kruger National Park, South Africa. We –participants of the ABA South Africa Safari—were on a small plane when one Lori Conrad looked out the window and screamed, “There are elephants down there!” and everyone ran to Lori’s side of the plane. Believe me, I tried.

Rhinos 232

Rhinos Mammals Animal White Rhinos 232

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

However, morphologically and behaviorally they are perhaps closer to the Kagu of New Caledonia and the Painted Snipes of Africa. The buffy pink eggs are tended by both parents and when the young birds emerge from the eggs they are almost never left unattended. A real misfit basically.

Costa Rica 249

Costa Rica Suriname Eggs Hunting 249

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

The majority of wildcats live today in Africa, and virtually none of them have provided the DNA from which supposed histories of domestication have been constructed by researchers. And I think he was speaking only of our American Kitties not the Wildcat of Africa. But they don’t live in North America. Unless we put them there.

Feral Cats 252

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 252

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2013

Saint Helena Island, situated in the south Atlantic ocean between the continents of Africa and South America, is one of the remotest inhabited islands in the world. Its numbers are declining rapidly due to feral cats and this duck is currently listed as vulnerable. Eaton’s Pintail by N.

Birds 197

Birds South Africa South America Feral Cats 197

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Each chapter focuses on a specific geographic area of penguin population: (1) Antarctica, (2) South Georgia, (3) Falkland Islands, (4) South Africa and Tristan de Cunha, (5) New Zealand and Australia, (6) South America and Galapagos. But, unlike most books focused on a bird family, this one is organized geographically.

Penguins 277

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 277

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

The Arctic terns are very enduring and have the longest bird migration from their way across the Atlantic Sea to western Europe and along the west coast of Africa to the Antarctic waters. When their nests are ready the birds lay two eggs, and in rare occasions only one or three.

North America 175

North America Eagles Breeding Fish 175

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2023

He passively supports BirdLife in the Netherlands and South Africa and actively in Portugal as treasurer of SPEA – Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves. So, with “Birds of East Africa” packed in with the clean undies the most recent trip went to Uganda. Makanaga is wide and open, Mpanga is densely forested – what a contrast.

Uganda 213

Uganda Netherlands Monkeys Portugal 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2012

The quills of the “Saqu Ettair” Secretarybirds feed on small lizards, insects, rodents, birds eggs and, of course, snakes. In reality this is not true and they can easily succumb to the venom of many of Africa’s poisonous serpents. Another erroneous myth is that Secretarybirds are immune to the venom of snakes.

Botswana 213

Botswana Eagles Porcupines Hunting 213

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

Of these 90, all occur in Africa bar 5 Asian and 2 Malagasy weavers. African Harrier-Hawks, snakes and other predators frequently raid weaver colonies to rob the nests of eggs and chicks. Photo taken by Adam Riley in South Africa. All occur in the Guinea-Congolese rainforests of Africa, with Red-headed being the most widespread.

Tanzania 212

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 212

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

They also migrate to and from the High Arctic, crossing the Atlantic to Europe, but they keep going, down across the Mediterranean into Africa. This tiny passerine winters in Africa, places like Tanzania, Nigeria, Somalia. Anywhere from 3-8 very pale blue eggs are laid, incubated by both parents.

Africa 191

Africa Somalia North America Nigeria 191

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2022

Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa – it was established in 1895. She also laid eggs in Melba Finch nests. Of course, like many natural reserves in South Africa, Hluhluwe has the usual assortment of animals that have been ejected from European and US zoos and thus have to survive in the wild.

South Africa 178

South Africa Africa Birds Cape Verde 178

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

In southern Africa, there are two species. The Spotted Thick-knee , Burhinus capensis is, is found across much of Africa, favouring open country and is perfectly suited to the dry sandy ground of the cape region, where this individual would almost certainly have been overlooked were it not for its bright yellow legs, eyes and bill.

2011 160

2011 Deer Africa Peru 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

We have a selection of books that we have found over the years in bookshops and one of our favourites was published in 1949 and is The Birds of South Africa by Dr Austin Roberts. We have never been to South Africa, but it is a lovely book to look at and dream!

South Africa 158

South Africa United States Austin Alligators 158

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2018

But the beats go on in Southern climes and our intrepid little-big-year beat, Tom enters Africa. No peace for the blessed (Are you all as impressed as I am that Tom is in Africa and still finding time to review photos, share checklists and write blog posts?). Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh.

2018 100

2018 Australia Los Angeles Albatross 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

2012 has certainly been a bumper year for me with an estimated year list of around 3,000 species after extensive travels to South Africa, Ethiopia, South Korea, Indonesia, the Russian Far East, United Kingdom, Peru, Guatemala and Panama. Red Junglefowl by Mike Bergin Clare Kines chose an egg as his Best Bird of the Year.

2012 143

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 143

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2014

It has the repetitive single note call that birders familiar with Africa would associate with a tinkerbird. I can’t help wondering if the conspicuousness of the bird I saw was an attempt to draw attention to itself to distract the Grey Warbler while the other laid her eggs. Looking around. Facing me with a wing stretch.

New Zealand 170

New Zealand Solomon Islands Sanctuary Vanuatu 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2018

Honduras , Malaysia and the southern-most bits of South Africa feature large this month with Mike, Duncan and Tom all vying to be MVB for June. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Stormwater Treatment Area 5/6. 13 Jan 2018. 01 Jan 2018.

2018 100

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Los Angeles 100