10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2017

The White-naped Xenopsaris is a member of the Tityra family (Tityridae), a newish family of mostly South American birds carved from various oddball birds formerly lumped with the manakins, the tyrant-flycatchers and the cotingas. It was both mysterious and plain. . Birds like the tityras, the becards and the purpletufts.

Science 106

Science Argentina South America Uruguay 106

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2014

The broadbills are always a family* that birders visiting South East Asia want to see, and who could blame them? I’m not sure if they are as difficult a family to spot in the wild, but I certainly have had little luck with them in the past. Birds Borneo broadbill Christmas Gallery tropical'

Madagascar 167

Madagascar Malaysia New Zealand South America 167

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

In Chapter 11, simply entitled “A World of Birds,” Doug explores tough questions about bird diversity around the world: Why are hummingbirds in tropical America and sunbirds in Africa, Asia and Australasia? What does it mean that a hummingbird fossil was found in southeastern France?

Science 204

Science Albatross Research Birds 204

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

Now woodpeckers are a fairly diverse family of birds, comprising of approximately 30 different genera – from the massive campephilus genus (of which the Imperial and Ivory-billed Woodpeckers are now presumed extinct) to the dwarves of the woodpecker world, the endearing piculets.

Colombia 171

Colombia Woodpeckers South America Asia 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

It seems to me that Lynx Edicions must know Vedran, too, and it was with him in mind that their authors, David W Winkler, Shawn M Billerman and Irby J Lovette, chose the “Bird Families of the World: A Guide to the Spectacular Diversity of Birds” as the full title of their new edition. Families perhaps? It weighs 3.7

Family 288

Family Birds South America Breeding 288

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

And I, like some dowager countess in a birding vest, am expected to know each one’s family at a glance and greet them by name. Meet the teams: The World Birding Rally teams are composed of tour leaders from four companies: Birding Ecotours (South Africa, led by Duan Biggs); Wings/Sunbird (U.K./U.S., Photo by Hugh Powell.

Peru 254

Peru Birds South America Owls 254

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

I did that with Peacocks & Picathartes – Reflections on Africa’s birdlife (published by Penguin Random House South Africa ). In case you didn’t know, yes, there is an indigenous peacock living in Africa, the Congo Peafowl. When was the last time you chose a book by its covers?

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2017

Starting in the mid-1990s, there was a “where to watch birds in…” series of five site guides written by Nigel Wheatley and covering South America (1994), Africa (1995), Asia (1996), Europe & Russia (2000) and Central America & the Caribbean (2001). I was always curious, but never had a chance to study any of them.

Africa 166

Africa Botswana Nigeria Namibia 166

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

And, I started daydreaming about encountering something a little different, maybe a Horned Frog, Ceratophrys cornuta, a large, squat green and brown frog of South America, with a wide mouth large enough to eat other frogs as well as reptiles. But, within the frog group there is a tremendous range of diversity. These are terms of usage.

Reptiles 182

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 182

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. The Hoatzin, which may have reached South America by raft , has resisted placement in basically every study ever done. In 2008, Nick Sly published a review of Hackett et al. titled Avian relationships – What do we know? Open Jarvis et al.’s

Family 279

Family Parrots Birds 2014 279

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2013

However Africa has more long tailed species than any other region, and this blog post celebrates a few of these fabulous birds. Africa’s impressive Long-tailed Widowbird by Adam Riley. A male Long-tailed Widowbird in heavy flapping display flight low over the grassland in South Africa by Adam Riley. Widowbirds.

Papua New Guinea 231

Papua New Guinea South Africa Africa Zimbabwe 231

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

But, unlike most books focused on a bird family, this one is organized geographically. 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.

Penguins 277

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 277

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

My home country of South Africa can only be described as a birding paradise! The Cape Rockjumper (here a female) is best sought at Rooiels, on the east coast of South Africa, north of Cape Town. They have been considered sunbirds, Australasian honeyeaters and thrushes before being placed in their own family, Promeropidae.

South Africa 215

South Africa Lesotho Africa Swaziland 215

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

So I lowered my threshold to 500 and that worked well… for Costa Rica and South America, that is (especially Peru). Hence, for the rest of the world, I lowered my threshold to 400 and that worked well in Africa, but I soon discovered that for Asia I need to go further down, to 300. Next time, see you in Africa.

Asia 266

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 266

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2014

It also supports the greatest variety of large mammals in all of South America, including such iconic species as Maned Wolf and Giant Anteater. There are approximately 10,000 plant species in the Cerrado. The wooded savanna habitat was home to a variety of widespread generalists as well as range-restricted specialists.

Brazil 167

Brazil South America Collecting America 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2011

Veraguan Mango by Carlos Bethancourt Although the Neotropical region supports fewer bird families than Africa, there are considerably more bird species here than anywhere else on earth. This means that there are some astoundingly large families of birds in Central and South America.

Panama 199

Panama Costa Rica 2011 Cleveland 199

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Adam will be leading 10,000 Birds readers on an amazing odyssey into Africa starting… now! To the uninitiated, Africa conjures up images of underdevelopment, poverty and hardship. I was fortunate to have been born and raised in Africa, and although I have traveled extensively around the world, it remains my home and in my blood.

Papua New Guinea 212

Papua New Guinea Madagascar Africa Equatorial Guinea 212

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

It made us reach for our field guide for North America, but that really does not compare to the real thing. I had spent several holidays with my family in the USA in the 1980′s and then worked in Maine during the summer of 1985-beware the poison ivy and the snapping turtles!

South Africa 158

South Africa United States Austin Alligators 158