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Hawk-Eagle Sweep in Costa Rica

10,000 Birds

The tropical habitats of Costa Rica are home to a surprising number of raptor species. Although the country is around the same size as West Virginia, 39 species of diurnal raptors are on the list. As is often the case for tropical ecosystems, there may be hundreds of species of birds at a site, but many of them are naturally rare.

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Crested and Proud

10,000 Birds

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.

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Birding Sukau, Sabah, Borneo

10,000 Birds

This is how it looks like: Or at sunset: A species I did not come for from Shanghai is the Black-crowned Night Heron. Its species name graydoni is in honor of Philip Newenham Graydon (1864-1940), a British planter in Sabah. Why that makes Mr. Graydon worthy of having a bird species named after him is a mystery to me.

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Upside-down January

10,000 Birds

I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird. I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird. The next option would be a very dark adult Greater Spotted Eagle … but I wasn’t ready!

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This is my dream – this is my nightmare

10,000 Birds

In the grass, Desert and Isabelline Wheatears await us, together with Tawny Pipits and large flocks of Greater Short-toed Larks ; while Booted Eagle , Lesser Kestrel and even one Critically Endangered White-rumped Vulture fly above us. Indian gazelle You know the secret of how African park rangers find animals for tourists?

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Costa Rica Birding in Quetzal Valley

10,000 Birds

I mean, it sounds like something from an eco-cartoon where all the animals live in cloud forest harmony with all of the big, beautiful trees. Of the 6 species of quetzal, the one that lives in the cloud forests of Central America usually gets the “most spectacular” badge. That is one seriously crazy looking bird!

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The Final Days of the Danube backwaters in Belgrade: Chinese Belt and Road Initiative is coming to Serbia

10,000 Birds

And here in Europe, they are the real deal, an indigenous species and not domesticated animals gone wild. Photographed within Beljarica: five White-tailed Eagles by Snezana Panjkovic. Two hundred metres further on, two young White-tailed Eagles were soaring. I think all were males, at last two huge ones certainly were.

Serbia 242