10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump. Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. The Hainan version is sometimes considered a separate species, in which case it is classified as Near Threatened.

San Diego 219

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 219

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. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. Like the Adjutants in Asia and Jabiru of the Americas, the Marabou is our bare-headed scavenging stork.

Africa 246

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

Just last year, 5 new bird species and 5 new subspecies were discovered in a few short weeks of fieldwork on the islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka. In recent years Indonesia has been competing with the Andes as the region giving rise to the biggest number of undescribed bird species (naturally, all of them endemics).

Indonesia 264

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

You see, the Great (White) Heron/Egret is a polytypic species with four subspecies: alba in Europe, egretta in the Americas, melanorhynchos in Africa, and modesta in Asia and Oceania. Just so you know. But we’re far from done with the confusion. This may appear to make identification easy, but it is not.

Asia 185

Asia Europe Germany Breeding 185

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

The Chestnut Bunting is quite a beauty, particularly when seen from the right angle. Always interesting to see the same species both in Germany (in my parents’ garden) and in Shanghai. Grey-faced Buzzards are also on migration in October, passing Nanhui on the way to their wintering grounds in South East Asia.

2019 200

2019 Japan Birds Owls 200

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

Not too many highlights, not too many species … hard to say whether this is just the usual nostalgia for a better but probably nonexistent past or a real phenomenon. This species is listed as vulnerable – similar to the Yellow-breasted Buntings, it is trapped on a large scale. Humans, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Birds 247

Birds Humane Japan Ducks 247

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2015

. “The Pygmy Cormorant is a strictly protected bird species in Serbia, as well as in the European Union. It belongs to a group of species of special conservation concern, which under the European Birds Directive requires Member States to designate Special Protection Areas (Annex I species).

Serbia 187

Serbia Protection Europe 2015 187

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

AUGUST 4, 2013

Therefore I have decided to right my wrong by providing first and foremost some avian eye candy, and not talk. It breeds in a broad and not quite coherent band from Iceland in the west through central Europe and southern Scandinavia all the way to eastern Russia, wintering in Africa, parts of India, and Southeast Asia to Australia.

Germany 179

Germany Russia Iceland India 179

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2012

Great Reed Warblers breed across huge chunks of Europe and Asia and winter across large swaths of southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. At least, that is what this North American birder thinks – we’ll know for sure if I ever encounter one again! If that makes any sense at all.)

Hungary 161

Hungary Asia Europe Africa 161

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

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? 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. Now, I’m not so sure.

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. Fearing that a natural disaster, introduced species, or disease could wipe this fragile population out, the U.S. The population of Millerbirds on Laysan has doubled , and breeding seems to be going well. Plentovich, courtesy of the U.S.

Cambodia 145

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2013

There are some seven birds among the 100 most endangered species on the planet on the list of fauna and flora listed as the rarest by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Zoological Society of London – and this morning, I am after one of those! He asks if the wind generators can influence the bird numbers?

India 248

India Gazelles Endangered Species Pakistan 248

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2016

Amongst all the species that were split off the Herring Gull, the Caspian Gull is my favourite one, and its existence alone is our fair reward for the identification crisis we had to endure during the dark ages of the 1990s. Right, the Caspian Gull, sounding (not being) very much out of its comfort zone so far away from its Caspian Sea.

Kazakhstan 119

Kazakhstan Germany Ukraine Asia 119

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And a mere 120 bird species would be a good reason not to take Polynesia as an option. So, the perfect country to move to needs to have at least twice as many species as Serbia.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2012

Reclamation of much used mudflats in Asia is causing concern as to where they may feed in the future on their migration routes. The shorebirds will continue north to their breeding grounds once they have acquired the necessary energy to make the final leg of their trip. They are red and fat!

China 174

China New Zealand Australia Asia 174

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Larry starts us off right with an owl that makes birders drool: I was able to see and photograph many great birds in 2014 but my Best Bird of the Year would have to be the Great Gray Owl , the largest Strix in North America. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours? Let us know in the comments…see you there!

2014 197

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 197

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. New World Vultures.

California Condor 190

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 190

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

Nick finds a bird-shaped protrusion at the top of the rock – Black-eared Wheatear , not exactly a species I expect to observe from a boat deck. This shearwater is a Mediterranean endemic, breeding from Sardinia and Corsica to the Adriatic and the Aegean. The Sun already sets and I haven’t seen a new species in a while.

Greece 242

Greece Malta Croatia Birds 242

Animal Person

MARCH 27, 2009

Henican writes: The truth of the matter, of course, is that most city kids will never have the chance to visit the wilds of Africa and Asia, assuming there are any wilds left in the decades to come. The elitist “animal-rights” zealots hate to admit this.

Circus Animals 100

Circus Animals New York City Elephants Zoos 100

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

DECEMBER 27, 2023

He was very alert now, scanning the right bank with his eagle eyes. Before my first trip to the tropics many years ago I always wondered how is it even possible that new bird species are discovered with all the deforestation and general habitat obliteration going on all over the world. But still new species are found.

Solomon Islands 230

Solomon Islands Ecuador Colombia Brazil 230

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. Frigatebirds (Fregatidae) Five species of frigatebird ply the planet’s tropical skies and seas. Ringer Gannets and Boobies (Sulidae) Black-and-white gannets breed on the cold, rocky coasts of the northern and southern oceans.

2011 155

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 155

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. This is the time of year that we rightfully contemplate the noble Turkey. Which would be weird.

Turkey 210

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 210

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2011

reduce traffic casualties amongst Badgers , get the White-tailed Eagle back as a breeding bird, increase the number of protected plant species etc.). Any plans for further afield (USA, Asia, Africa)? They don’t profess this to be the only right way of looking at an area, they merely want to hand a reference of valuing an area.

Badgers 145

Badgers Ethics Africa Spain 145

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2013

Also known as the Flyeater, this tiny bird is the only representative of the Australasian warbler family found in mainland Asia, and very similar to my own Grey Warblers in New Zealand, even their songs. A target bird was next, the Pheasant-tailed Jacana, which was sadly not in breeding plumage but was still attractive.

Thailand 103

Thailand New Zealand Family Bats 103

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

There is a thing parents know very well – how important it is to choose the right name for a child. Birders normally care about species and make species lists, how do families fit into those? Adding more species brings a lot of excitement, as long as you bird your own country or a continent. Families perhaps?

Family 297

Family Birds South America Breeding 297

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2016

Published by Princeton University Press in early 2016, Waterfowl of North America, Europe, and Asia (I’m going to use this shortened title for the rest of the review), covers 83 species of Anseriformes–ducks, geese, and swans–of, yes, Europe, Asia and North America.

North America 161

North America Asia Europe America 161

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. We have both resident and migratory species, and this post will briefly discuss each of the 20 species of African bee-eaters.

Africa 265

Africa Gabon South Africa Uganda 265

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

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. She also monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of beach by bicycle and on foot. Wicked, right? Hat-tip to Stella.

Australia 153

Australia 2011 Sharks Deer 153

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

The hope and claim is that transferring this process to gull identification works more easily and just as accurately (at least for species) as an examination of plumage and molt patterns. Species Accounts. Gulls Simplified covers 25 species. From the Laughing Gull species account.

North America 208

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 208

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago covers 1,417 species, 601 endemics, 98 vagrants, 8 introduced and 18 undescribed species. Only one bird species has become extinct (Javan Lapwing), but many others are endangered, with some considered close to extinction (not surprising in an area with species restricted to one or two small islands).

Indonesia 134

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 134

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2023

Which made the rest of the trip a bit of a waiting period for contracting covid … Apparently, the Large Niltava is Asia’s largest flycatcher. Even in China’s slightly more remote provinces, one is never far away from species with treacherously pornographic names such as Japanese Tit. End of side note). End of side note).

China 147

China Hunting Birds illegal 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

eBird states that “small white patch on throat is not obvious and difficult to see” And they use a photo that I submitted as main illustration, so they must be right. For this reason, the species is evaluated as Vulnerable.” It just looks stupid. The Eurasian Hobby was another notable raptor of the month.

Birds 208

Birds China Eggs Owls 208

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2017

The answer was right in front of me, a bit to the right, an adult keeping an eye on oblivious tourists, the nest deep within the tree. (2) Greater Adjutants are huge birds that were once widespread across much of Southeast Asia; today there are two small breeding populations in India and Cambodia. 3) Greater Adjutant.

2016 113

2016 India Ducks Birds 113