10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2016

It’s a bang-up breeding year for super-endangered birds! First, wildlife officials in Louisiana announced the first successful wild Whooping Crane nest in that state since 1939. The species, which migrates from the Russian Arctic to Southeast Asia, is down to about 200 breeding pairs in the wild, due to habitat loss and poaching.

Eggs 190

Eggs Louisiana Breeding Asia 190

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. Such places are clearly under-visited, under-birded or eBird isn’t that popular in those parts of the world. Other countries still have to reach the 300 birds threshold.

Asia 276

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 276

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2013

You may not realize it when you look at those bizarre looking waders with the massive bills and the vacant expression, but you’re looking at a group of birds that has inspired humankind for literal centuries. The group has a worldwide distribution; 28 species living and two additional extinct.

Birds 223

Birds North America Charlotte New Jersey 223

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. Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? I’m already looking up birding tours of Borneo and pricing airfares.

Brunei 179

Brunei Birds Asia China 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

If you are a migratory bird in Europe and western Asia, this is your sweet spot. This grim scenario is a fact of life for millions of migrating songbirds, raptors, and other birds each year. Volunteers with the Committee Against Bird Slaughter sneak into a grove where a farmer has just placed lime sticks to snag unwary birds.

Cambodia 145

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. We’ve traveled to lots of places, seen lots of great birds, and met lots of great birders. So, as we’ve done for the last several years we thought we would share our Best Birds of the Year with you. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours?

2014 197

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 197

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2019

The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia, edited by Yong Ding Li & Low Bing Wen. And now I am holding the “The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia” – an expanded and fully updated second edition of “The 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Southeast Asia”.

Asia 231

Asia Laos Myanmar Indonesia 231

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2015

Worried by the lack of appropriate action by the authorities (as described in the previous post ), this year I invited two more wildlife protection organisations to take part in the annual census of Pygmy Cormorants in Belgrade. “The Pygmy Cormorant is a strictly protected bird species in Serbia, as well as in the European Union. .

Serbia 187

Serbia Protection Europe 2015 187

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.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

I was lucky to visit India several times, but as a keen birder I carried along only a bird book, and even upgraded it to a new edition between the trips. Beside India, Lynx Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of South Asia covers Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. monkeys, deer, gazelles, etc.).

Asia 181

Asia Mammals Sri Lanka Bhutan 181

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2017

The Sanetti Plateau in Ethiopia is a one of Africa’s greatest birding locations. High above the great Rift Valley, endless treeless plains stretch out as far as you can see, holding birding (and other wildlife treasures). The Sanetti Plateau is also a good place to see other species you mightn’t expect to find here.

Ethiopia 100

Ethiopia Mammals South America Rats 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2011

On a recent visit to Cape May Point State Park in search of an elusive Purple Gallinule I did not find my quarry but I did find quite a few photogenic birds. Anas strepera is a common and widespread duck, breeding across northern Europe and Asia, as well as central North America. And Gadwall ducklings are CUTE! … a.

United States 162

United States North America Jamaica Asia 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2015

H5N2 is a bird influenza virus that is making news. This mainly affects domestic fowl, and in this sense is not a topic central to 10,000 Birds. But, wild birds are part of the story, and the virus itself has changed and has been known to make wild birds ill. What is H5N2 Avian Influenza? Or, even, many of them.

Mississippi 177

Mississippi Fowl Turkey Minnesota 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Thankfully the days of visiting Africa purely for slaughtering its wildlife have mostly come to a merciful end, and safari operators have adopted the Big Five term to market tours that offer sightings of the fortunate remanants of Africa’s once teeming great herds. They are large, noisy birds of drier areas of East and southern Africa.

Buffalo 213

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2016

On Sunday, 5 June, word of Jay McGowan finding a Gargeney at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in western New York State hit the listservs. Fortunately (for me) Anthony Collerton had made an attempt on the bird earlier in the week but had dipped, only to learn that it was seen several hours after he left. What if we missed it?

New York 100

New York Bald Eagle New York City Kazakhstan 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Which, naturally, got me to thinking about the newly erected order Suliformes, a development I mentioned in my December column, 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Bird Taxonomy and Systematics , but which I thought deserved further examination, for it’s one of those stories that defines the era in which we are living and birding.

2011 155

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

And reports of birds nesting – not owls, of course, those weirdo snow fetishists, but other birds nesting – light up my life. Most exotics, at least in the bird world, stick close to their point of arrival and barely hang on – or don’t – over the generations. In 1998 W. And of Wyoming.

Montana 138

Montana 2011 New York Bahamas 138

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

Among these white-headed/dark-winged gulls formerly lumped into the genus Larus , there were 18+ recognized species the last time I checked, sharing similarities that make telling them apart for the amateur birdwatcher very difficult. 1998), then the proper name for this species is L. fuscus – should be separated as species.

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Deer Species 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2022

When you think of the best birding in the south of Asia, it is Malaysia that comes to mind, although you are likely not to even think of the country as such: you are dreaming of the (Malaysian) province of Sabah, in the north of the island of Borneo. And yet, it easily fits the largest pocket of my reporter’s vest.

Malaysia 251

Malaysia Singapore Asia Birds 251

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

That was a wild cat, a wild Wildcat, the cat that lives in the wild because that is where it is from and where it belongs, at the southern end of its pan-African range that extended at one time well into Europe and Asia. I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. ” Many.

Feral Cats 256

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 256

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’ve been fortunate to encounter many owls in my birding life, sometimes because I’m looking for them, sometimes happily by happenstance. It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation.

Owls 224

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2021

Currently he is the convenor for Birdlife Australia in his local area and, as that suggests, he loves sharing his passion for birds and all wildlife through outings and bird walks. Currently Ken continues to dream of overseas birding tours but will settle for ones down under. First the listing part.

Birds 264

Birds 2020 Australia Species 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

The most common species we see are the Stoke’s Sea Snake Astrotia stokesii , Dubois’ Sea Snake Aipysurus duboisii and the Olive Sea Snake Aipysurus laevis. Carpet Shark washed up Carpet shark being returned to the sea I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into our varied wildlife here in the north of Australia.

Australia 153

Australia 2011 Sharks Deer 153

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

As 2013 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 , 2011 , and 2012 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

2013 168

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 168

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2020

Having more than 1300 bird species, including over 75 endemics, it is hard to resist the lure of India – something I know from personal experience. Bikram Grewal is the author of over ten books on birds of the subcontinent and also acts as a consultant on eco-tourism. India is a huge and logistically frightening country.

India 254

India Lions 2020 Groups 254

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). Family accounts for all 142 bird families recorded from the region.

Africa 176

Africa Botswana Nigeria Namibia 176

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Orange-headed Thrush Orange-headed Thrush By Redgannet • March 6, 2011 • 18 comments Tweet Share The Orange-headed Thrush , Zoothera citrinus, is common across much of India and south-east Asia.

2011 191

2011 Deer India New York 191

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

How when he needed a dissertation topic in 2005 (studying at the University of Minnesota), it was either Hooded Crane or Blakiston’s Fish Owl, both iconic birds of the area. The fish owl is an endangered species, and before Slaght’s work, very little was known about it, especially in Russia.

Owls 142

Owls Russia Fish Research 142

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2012

Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge is one of those birding destinations that leaves those about to go trembling with excitement and those merely reading about it green with envy. The camping ground is at the northern end of the Tableland, but is also convenient for the Daintree and Cape Tribulation, another good birding and wildlife area.

Possums 173

Possums Guinea Marsupials Rats 173

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2019

With so much thrashing around in SE Asia, it is interesting to compare east and west hemispheres. 978 species were tallied this month from 163 checklists. We can use the figures above to compare the birds that cross between the hemispheres. Only 123 species appear on both sides of the life list. That’s just 3.35%.

2019 113

2019 Ghana Australia Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2014

We’ve covered so many mind-bendingly brilliant birding locations around the world this year that you may be paralyzed by the options. Naturalist Journeys is offering an enticing India: Wildlife and Birding Safari – Birds, Tigers & the Taj Mahal package in February 2015. Destinations Asia India'

Tigers 184

Tigers India Litter Asia 184

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2014

When you read trip reports of birders going to remote and interesting locations to see interesting (and not so interesting birds, I’m looking at you LBJs), these accounts are typically written by people who have either gone with groups of like-minded people or those that have gone it alone.

Birds 189

Birds Bats Elephants Family 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2013

There is a Linnet at Kissena Corridor Park in Queens, and though I bird this park regularly, the Linnet, a bird regularly found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa and also named in a sweet song by Stephen Sondheim (Green Finch and Linnet Bird from Sweeny Todd) has eluded me. Maybe I had seen the bird and I didn’t know it?

Ireland 173

Ireland 2013 Breeders Ducks 173

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2020

Will bird tour agencies, guides, eco-lodges survive? Will the threatened species make it through if there are no birding tourists to make those birds and their habitats valuable to local people just the way they are (as opposed to tropical timber)? What will be left of birding tourism? That is how I feel.

Uganda 257

Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 257

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

In addition, it has over 450 bird species and more than 30 in-country endemics, of which it is possible to see every single species! Where to look for the birds? Birding agencies seem to stick to their announced plans and no news of cancelled tours had reached the bird tourism market.

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Eagles 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

Larger, denser with avian information than your typical field guide, a Crossley Guide bursts with bird images, photographic plates that verge on the surreal of birds in all plumages and poses against real-life habitats, informing, sometimes overwhelming us with visual and, if you can take your eyes off the images, textual information.

Ducks 124

Ducks North America Geese Hunters 124