10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2019

Birding Fraser`s Hil. Fraser`s Hill in peninsular Malaysia is another one of these almost legendary birding locations in Southeast Asia. And the birding is somewhat easier here as long as you do not make the mistake of reading some of the older bird guides. Want to see a bird shaped like an egg?

Birds 214

Birds Malaysia Morals Asia 214

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 234

South Africa Malaysia Africa China 234

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Miami, Florida has a reputation among the birding community for being overrun with exotic bird species. However, the typical birding experience for someone down here also includes a large menagerie of other species such as Orange-winged Parrot , Mitred Parakeet , Egyptian Goose and Nutmeg Mannikin. It is well-deserved.

Miami 205

Miami Asia Florida Malaysia 205

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

“I am not bad-looking, I am just badly photographed”: A Bay Woodpecker (Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia) using a joke from “Roger Rabbit” The pinkish eyerings of the Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Tansa, India) make it look as if it is constantly suffering from a hangover. ”).

Woodpeckers 241

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 241

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

To say that an update of John MacKinnon’s “A Field Guide to the Birds of China” (2000) has been highly anticipated by birders interested in Chinese birds is almost an understatement. Mind you, I am not a particularly good birder – I am the kind of birder who really needs a good bird guide.

China 210

China Brazil 2000 Birds 210

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

“Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea” by James A. kg could be, do keep in mind that this guide covers 4,400 km / 2,750 mi of the Earth’s circumference, or 11% of the length of the Equator, and describes 13% of global bird diversity. Eaton, Bas van Balen, Nick W. Brickle and Frank E. Rheindt is a big book.

Indonesia 264

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Presumably, in the early days of ornithology, some scientists spent most of their time transcribing bird calls. The Black-faced Laughingthrush (Longcanggou, Sichuan) is a real beauty, though this photo does not fully do the bird justice. This post shows some of them. And of course, I would have been wrong. It’s the eyes, I guess.

San Diego 214

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 214

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2019

Presuming that you want to bird Costa Rica, you would book a southbound flight (from N. Reachable by direct flights from Portugal, the island country of Sao Tome and Principe lying in the Gulf of Guinea, in the armpit of Africa, has about 140 bird species and 28 endemics – more endemics per square mile than anywhere else on Earth.

Costa Rica 197

Costa Rica Sri Lanka Rwanda Papua New Guinea 197

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2017

FRIM (Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia) is open to the public who come to bathe in waterfalls, cycle, walk, picnic and attend educational events, but most of this takes part in a small section close to the entrance. The best birding of the day was found along the much quieter roads in the south east section.

Eagles 113

Eagles Malaysia Tail Banding Reptiles 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2014

It’s perhaps an easy one for many people to overlook, since they don’t occur in Europe or the Americas, but visit a patch of forerst or bush in Asia or Africa and there should be one or two species around. Birds Babblers Borneo' Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush ( Rhinoichla treacheri ).

Malaysia 196

Malaysia Squirrels Asia Family 196

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2013

A Great Argus in full call, this species’ tail consists of the longest feather in the bird world. Photograph taken in Malaysia’s Taman Negara National Park by Adam Riley. The amazing Ribbon-tailed Astrapia of Papua New Guinea sports the longest tail in proportion to body size of any bird in the world. Widowbirds.

Papua New Guinea 245

Papua New Guinea South Africa Africa Zimbabwe 245

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

I’ve never been to the Indonesian Archipelago, but I really like the birds there. Lynx Edicions, the ornithological (and now mammal) publisher that gave us the Handbook of the Birds of the World , has now published Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea , by James A. So, this is no ordinary bird guide.

Indonesia 131

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 131

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? The first broadbills I ever saw, a small flock of Long-tailed Broadbills in Peninsular Malaysia, were jaw dropping to me. I simply never imagined from the plates or photos that a bird could be that beautiful.

Madagascar 167

Madagascar Malaysia New Zealand South America 167

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

The danger of reviewing a field guide to the birds of an exotic country you’ve never been to is that you become obsessed with visiting that country, no matter how far away and how expensive it may be. I’m already looking up birding tours of Borneo and pricing airfares. Borneo, the authors say, is under-birded.

Brunei 177

Brunei Birds Asia China 177

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2017

On a recent visit to Tokyo, Japan, I came across a beautiful bird that I took to be a White’s Thrush , Zoothera dauma. My Japanese field guide, published in 1982, calls my bird White’s Ground Thrush and prefers the Turdus genus. Where there is a description of one of the birds, the author fails to mention which one.

Sri Lanka 100

Sri Lanka Japan India 2005 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2012

The first of these was in the fine capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. KL, as it is widely known, has a reputation as a great place to cram in a days birding, in the form of day trips from the centre out to a number of (in some cases) world famous locations.

New Zealand 145

New Zealand Fur Malaysia Woodpeckers 145

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? I am talking 600 or 700+ bird species. Why am I here?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

It’s my fantasy and it’s yours: Quit the job, say good-bye to the family, and bird. British birder Chris Gooddie, my new birding hero, not only dreamed the fantasy, he lived it. That’s Pitta, people, not Antpitta, which is what I foolishly first envisioned, having never birded beyond the Americas.)

Hunters 198

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 198

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2019

9 countries were visited during March by your tireless beats ( 11 of them); India, UK, USA, Serbia, Costa Rica, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. With so much thrashing around in SE Asia, it is interesting to compare east and west hemispheres. We can use the figures above to compare the birds that cross between the hemispheres.

2019 113

2019 Ghana Australia Woodpeckers 113