10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Despite not being rare in China, this was the first time for me to see Carrion Crow at Nanhui. Grey-faced Buzzards are also on migration in October, passing Nanhui on the way to their wintering grounds in South East Asia. Not that easy to spot outside of the breeding season, though relatively quite common.

2019 185

2019 Japan Birds Owls 185

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Black Drongos must be breeding here – this juvenile was terrorizing his parents with constant calls for food. Edward Brown (1810-1867) was a Victorian-age bird collector particularly active in East Asia, in whose honor this shrike species was named. These included Red-necked Phalarope … … and Great Crested Tern.

Cats 208

Cats Birds Kittens Transported 208

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2011

The Black Stork ( Ciconia nigra ) has a very wide distribution in the Old World, ranging from Spain (an isolated population) and northern France through central and eastern Europe all across northern and central Asia to the Pacific coast of Russia and China.

Germany 151

Germany Asia China Russia 151

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2012

They breed in the arid inland areas in Mongolia and northern China and then migrate south into coastal parts of south-east Asia and northern Australia. Oriental Plovers stand very upright and look very brown compared to the usual grey of shorebirds and tend to be rather more vocal in flight.

Mongolia 177

Mongolia Asia China Shelters 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2012

Are you or do you know someone who is currently anywhere between the north of Australia and the Bohai Sea in China? Even if you are somewhere on the coast in China…have you seen any Red Knot ? Some appear to go directly to China, but are they stopping somewhere like Sarawak? Have you seen any Red Knot ?

China 168

China New Zealand Australia Asia 168

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Its natural range in Europe was restricted the the surroundings of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and in Asia it ranged from Asia Minor to central China. It is very likely that the white morph was directly promoted in captive breeding and favoured in releases to establish feral populations.

Feral 168

Feral Europe Asia North America 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2014

They have been here for several months and are currently changing into their breeding plumage and fattening up. It won’t be long and we will watch them fly off into the sunset as they make their journey north to breed. It changes into its breeding plumage and heads off, but has never been seen back in Hong Kong!

Japan 173

Japan 2012 2013 China 173

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

I do not get too many comments on my blog posts, but it seems that whenever I write about jacanas – whether in Africa, Australia, or Asia – there is an unusually high number of reactions (well, maybe one or two rather than the usual zero) from female readers. This is ok as birds do not have teeth anyway). End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Kinabalu (at 13,455 feet the highest peak in southeast Asia), and human development that has resulted in freshwater rice fields, secondary forest, and oil palm plantations, this means that Borneo offers an incredibly high degree of biodiversity. Borneo, the authors say, is under-birded. I think we need to do something about that.

Brunei 172

Brunei Birds Asia China 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2016

The birds usually remote habitat makes it difficult to gain a full picture of range and population status, but it appears to have suffered a drastic decline in its former breeding areas as grassland is overtaken by agriculture. An article in Birding Asia from 2010 put forward that the bunting could be the next east Asia species to go extinct.

Asia 102

Asia Campaign 2010 Suffering 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2023

The Bar-backed Partridge is a species of partridge found in southwestern China and Southeast Asia. The Bar-backed Partridge was also one of four focal species in an investigation into illegal bird hunting in Southwestern China. If I can give you some advice: Better not be a bird in China. Unsurprisingly, it is.

China 147

China Hunting Birds illegal 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

This shearwater is a Mediterranean endemic, breeding from Sardinia and Corsica to the Adriatic and the Aegean. It lives from the Peloponnese and the Aegean Islands across the whole of Asia to the shores of the East China Sea and here I stand at the very edge of the range of this species.

Greece 226

Greece Malta Croatia Birds 226

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 230

Malaysia Singapore Asia Birds 230

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2022

Around this time of the year, the first few waders are back in Shanghai from their breeding grounds far further up north. Generally, being back here early is not a very good sign – it may indicate a failed breeding attempt, as suggested for Asian Dowitchers in a paper on their presence in Lianyungang somewhat further north of Shanghai.

Cattle 147

Cattle Portugal Buffalo Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

The wonderful family Meropidae contains 27 dazzling species, of which Africa is endowed with no less than 20 species, the balance occurring across Asia and with one as far afield as Australia. Carmine bee-eaters occur throughout most of Subsaharan Africa, and many populations migrate widely post breeding.

Africa 262

Africa Gabon South Africa Uganda 262

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

With regard to the Grey-backed Thrush , “further research should focus on identification of nest predators, implications of nest exposure and begging calls on nesting success, and breeding habitat requirements at different spatial and temporal scales of Grey-backed Thrush in fragmented landscapes of northeast China.”

Birds 191

Birds China Eggs Owls 191

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2014

I was fortunate to spend time scanning open fields, wetlands, and the inlet separating Hong Kong from China with this large group of friendly and avid avian observers. The BirdForum thread for China (including Hong Kong & Macau) is a phenomenal resource, as are blogs written by HK birders like John Holmes. Always be birding.

2014 207

2014 Eagles Asia Groups 207

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. In the Z.c.

2011 176

2011 Deer India New York 176

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2017

The Grey-headed Lapwing- Vanellus cinereus breeds in north-east China and Japan between April and June and then migrate to spend the winter in northern Southeast Asia from northeastern India to Cambodia and southern Japan. We don’t “twitch” birds, but it would be a bird to look out for during our visit.

Australia 101

Australia Japan 2006 Cambodia 101

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2023

is based on a study of specimens and tape recordings collected during one visit to each of two localities in central China in 1997 and 1998 and their own tape recordings and specimens from Nepal; in all, 196 specimens were examined. In contrast, the paper by Martens et al. Meaning: we did real science, Martens did not.

Hamburgers 198

Hamburgers Birds Science China 198

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2015

We are familiar with the variety of coloured flags and engraved leg flags used along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and it is not uncommon for us to observe migratory shorebirds marked in China, who use black flags and white flags with engraved writing on.

Taiwan 106

Taiwan Australia 2015 Japan 106

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

The Siberian Rubythroat seems to somewhat lack a proper inbuilt GPS system – while it breeds as far west as the Ural Mountains and winters as far est as Central India, it does not migrate through central Asia in large numbers (even though this would be the shortest way). So better not let a rubythroat bite you. .

Russia 205

Russia Asia Philippines Taiwan 205

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2023

Its minor claim to fame among the water towns around Shanghai is its sex museum – a bit of a rarity in traditionally prudish China. The other species in the genus of Picumnus are all in the Americas, with the Speckled Piculet the only one in Asia. In contrast, the name Donald is not a weird name for a rather cartoonish person.

Birds 147

Birds Asia Battery Woodpeckers 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

Shanghai parks are rather crowded and noisy places, but the goshawks – who unlike me have lived in China all their lives – apparently do not mind. A paper titled “Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus may adapt well to life in urban areas across its range in Asia” already made the same observation in 2018.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147