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. In one stretch of rocky outcropping, a group of Ground Woodpeckers foraged along boulders searching for ants and as their name suggests, they forage on the ground in sparsely vegetated country.

Lesotho 242

Lesotho Sheep South Africa Africa 242

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. In the relatively brief period, my group had something on the order of 450 species.

Uganda 174

Uganda Africa Squirrels Tanzania 174

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. Marabous occur throughout tropical and subtropical Africa from Zululand in northern South Africa right up to the arid Sahel region fringing the Sahara Desert, avoiding the closed canopy rainforest zones of central and west Africa.

Africa 249

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 249

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

All very exciting, but for the birder Africa has so much more to offer. Other than paint, the only other thing I do is organize and joint-lead wildlife tours, mostly in Africa and India. In 2019 I joint-led my seventeenth safari in twelve years with Capture Africa, we are a good team. My name is Ashley Boon.

Botswana 195

Botswana Africa Elephants Angola 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

Birdlife South Africa has previously done two of these types of trips before, previously called Flock to Sea – Namibia in 2013 and Flock to Nowhere in 2017, in partnership with MSC Cruises. So, I anxiously followed the “Flock to Marion 2022” Facebook group in anticipation for open cabins to come up for sale. Yellow-nosed Albatross.

South Africa 264

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Central Africa has one of those birds. Our group, led by world-renowned guide Herbert Byaruhanga, piled into canoes ostensibly to search for a variety of papyrus and wetland specialties, but really we were just looking for the shoebill. Penguins are, obviously, penguins, which makes them awesome. The mighty Shoebill.

Uganda 287

Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 287

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical description of the family is that of “a tropical African and Asian songbird that typically has a melodious voice and drab plumage”, another is “small, dull-colored passerine birds of Asia and Africa”, yet another states that they are “often rather plain” Individual species get even harsher reviews.

South Africa 253

South Africa Malaysia Africa China 253

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. By this I mean applying the term antelope to cover all of the family Bovidae, which would include the sheep, goats and ox.

Africa 180

Africa Hunters Goats Sheep 180

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2019

Africa boasts its own legendary birding road: Uganda’s Budongo Forest Reserve AKA the Royal Mile. I expected fleeting glimpses of chimps if we saw any at all, but my first encounter with these amazing primates in the wild lasted many minutes as our respective groups peered at each other from opposite ends of the road.

Uganda 233

Uganda Africa Monkeys Birds 233

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Photos courtesy of Mosetlha Bush Camp A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in South Africa, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. The others follow, some dozen animals in all.

South Africa 245

South Africa Africa Game Elephants 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

Our first Day In South Africa, I spotted the Burchell’s Courcal, as it flew across the road in front of us we entered Kruger National Park. The birds are now breeding in the area, but are quite happy to keep coming to the daily feeding station in groups of over 100 birds. I present to you, my favorite birds of 2018.

2018 182

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 182

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. They are closely related to the oddball Rockfowl of Western Africa, and live in family groups, led by a breeding pair, in Southern Africa.

South Africa 105

South Africa Africa Family Groups 105

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2019

Painted Ladies are part of the Aristocrat group of butterflies. The group contains the largest and most beautifully patterned lepidoptera and their classy appearance is recognised with classy names such as Red Admiral , Purple Emperor and Camberwell Beauty. The Aristocrat group is not a recognised classification group.

Ireland 128

Ireland South America North America Groups 128

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

The babblers have a sentinel system – individual birds take turns scanning for predators and warning the group. … These intense displays can continue for extended periods, with subordinates contributing more than dominants, until one group gives up and retreats. Thanks for pointing it out though. 300 birds (HBW).

South Africa 147

South Africa Niger Birds Mice 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

Only in Africa is it really easy to see a big variety. I remember the guide on my first Kenyan birding safari remarking that “birding groups always see far more mammals than those who come just to see animals. They invariably spend longer in the bush, and look at everything that moves, so it’s hardly surprising that they see more.”

Fur 212

Fur Otters Bulgaria Estonia 212

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2015

While there as some very attractive members of the family (or families, scientists can’t make up their minds) in Asia, in Africa the babblers tend towards the restrained when it comes to plumage. Like others of the genus Turdoides it is also a very social species, found in often noisy groups.

Africa 162

Africa Asia Family Groups 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Africa’s famous Big Five , but do you know there is also an equally fascinating Little Five ? Africa is famous for its large, charismatic mammals, and the Big Five epitomize the most sought-after of these fantastic beasts. This blog post will discuss both the Big and Little members of these quintuplets.

Buffalo 223

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2013

The six living species are all found in Sub-Saharan Africa. They were once a widespread and diverse group, however, with many fossils known from what are now North America and Europe. Birds Africa genetics taxonomy and systematics'

Kenya 181

Kenya Parrots Africa North America 181

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2024

Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa are heavily eBirded because Americans regularly visit. Various species can be found in dry grassland habitats in Africa, Eurasia, and Australia, so it is fun for a North American to stumble upon this not frequently-seen-bird. eBird is a huge help with that.

Senegal 222

Senegal South Dakota Gambia Birds 222

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2012

Before self-rule it was administered by South Africa and known as South-West Africa. After a brutal colonization that included genocidal campaigns against the Herero (80% killed) and Nama (50% killed) tribes, the Germans lost control when South Africa invaded soon after the declaration of the First World War.

Namibia 267

Namibia Angola Lovebirds South Africa 267

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

Only recently was it discovered that one group, which breeds on the Shetland Islands, flies across the Atlantic to winter off the coast of Ecuador – ten thousand miles away from its cousins who breed in Scandanavia and western Russia. Once it was thought that all Red-necked Phalaropes migrated overland to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

Alaska 235

Alaska Breeding Kenya Africa 235

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2014

In their new study, Juan Carlos García-Ramírez and Steve Trewick of New Zealand’s Massey University suggest that the genus Porphyrio (from a Greek word for purple ) likely originated in Africa and colonized the world from there. African Swamphen , Porphyrio madagascariensis in South Africa by Derek Keats.

Papua New Guinea 205

Papua New Guinea Philippines New Zealand Florida 205

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2015

The White-backed Vulture is the most common species of vulture in Africa, although these days they are, like most vultures, globally endangered. The populations remain stable in Ethiopia, Tanzania and southern Africa, but have collapsed in West Africa and have declined in other parts as well. Word spreads.

Africa 176

Africa Feral Ethiopia Tanzania 176

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The Collins Bird Guide covers Europe, North Atlantic islands, much of North Africa and the Middle East. Never trust a field guide publisher’s claim of a definitive text, because each new edition is certain to bring more a definitive text than that from the previous edition! Apart from this, a few new vignettes have been added.

Europe 263

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2022

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. I saw a few of each group, with the obvious exception of the second one.

Mauritius 250

Mauritius Birds 2000 South Africa 250

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Does anyone else have experiences of cuckoos in groups (aside from Guira Cuckoos who habitually roost together, oh and Anis )? The Diderick Cuckoo, Chrysococcyx caprius , has an extensive range that almost completely covers Africa to the south of the Sahara Desert. Birding Africa Diederik Cuckoo'

Africa 162

Africa Groups Experience Experiments 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2019

Located in the Gulf of Guinea (the “armpit” of Africa), Sao Tome and Principe doesn’t only have a decent number of species overall, but with 28 endemics (staggering 18% of the total), it has a higher endemism level than the Galapagos! The best seasons are November and March-April.

Gambia 246

Gambia Equatorial Guinea Species Rwanda 246

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Ethiopia , a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Tours groups that I guided to Ethiopia ten years ago had to endure very basic accommodation, almost no surfaced roads and low levels of service.

Ethiopia 274

Ethiopia Eritrea Africa Mammals 274

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2018

1300kms off the coast of East Africa and over 1000kms NE from Madagascar is a tiny speck in the ocean. They are all recognisable from their families in Africa and are simply referred to by prefixing with “Seychelles” With most species being the only representative of their family, it made identification easy.

Seychelles 100

Seychelles Madagascar Africa Zebras 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2014

The original story is that emus and ostriches and moas and such evolved as a separate group of birds from all the other birds, from the basal birdish thing that gave rise to all the living birds, and became a large land bird. To be more specific, the Kiwi descends from a bird that FLEW there from Africa or Madagascar and then became the kiwi.

Madagascar 219

Madagascar Ostriches Elephants New Zealand 219

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2019

There’s so much more that can be said about this group of birds but that’s the first description that comes to mind. However, as DNA and morphological studies have indicated, despite the barbets of Asia and Africa looking quite like the ones in the Americas, they aren’t closely related to each other.

Costa Rica 188

Costa Rica Colombia South America Ecuador 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2019

The noble Blue Tit once ranged from Iran through Turkey and Europe to the Canary Islands (the Spanish Islands off North Africa – the other bird was named for the islands incidentally) and North Africa. A nice, compact, descriptive and above all long standing and widely known name has been… complicated.

Iran 140

Iran Barn Owls New Zealand Europe 140

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

Signaling theory examines communication between individuals and groups, within and across species, focusing on whether signals–communications containing complex information–are honest or deceptive and how the exchange of these signals impacts the individuals involved and the larger group or groups to which they belong.

North America 279

North America Research Birds Groups 279

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2013

The family Regulidae comprises six small, hyperactive species that range through the great boreal and temperate forests North and Middle America, North Africa, and Eurasia. The best evidence available so far puts them somewhere near a group of three superfamilies: Bombycilloidea (waxwings, etc.),

Family 192

Family Guatemala Mexico Japan 192

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2014

The serpent-eagles of the genus Spilornis are an Asian group, not to be confused with two different genera found in Africa or, for that matter, the snake-eagles, a mostly African but also European and Asian genus (simple, right?).

Eagles 181

Eagles Japan India Africa 181

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2020

Followed by the intriguing sight of a large group of Violet-green Swallows , which all dive-bombed the reservoir at once. Oddly enough, it evolved in Africa, where there are no hummingbirds. This Bushtit , and a half-dozen relatives, was among the resident species also present near the reservoir.

Game 165

Game Lions Africa Family 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2024

Audouin’s Gull is an attractive species restricted as a breeding bird to the Mediterranean, but many winter in North Africa. Jose Sanchez Cordero (the Luscinia banding group coordinator) kindly sent me this information, and he did ask me whether it was possible to catch the bird and untangle it.

Lithuania 130

Lithuania Iceland Morocco Ireland 130