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Swarovski Skills Camp, or men and their toys

10,000 Birds

And, expectedly, the advice was: you should significantly lower your prices and move production to Asia. But Swarovski Optik is a family-owned business, so the then CEO, Mr. Swarovski, categorically rejected the advice and decided: factory stays in Austria, and the prices will only go up! Merely the price of their toys.

Austria 297
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Baby Mute Swans – “immutabilis” morph

10,000 Birds

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. Within its European range, it was heavily hunted until the late 19th century, and the Mute Swan was subsequently a very rare bird to encounter in the wild.

Feral 169
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White-backed Vultures are Proper Birds

10,000 Birds

As for the pseudo-warblers, I’m not actually against them so much, they are after all a family that, while wanting for a name that is descriptive and not derived from a misapplication of European names, are easy to identify and pleasant enough on the eye (with a few exceptions).

Africa 174
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“European” Purple Swamphens on Mallorca

10,000 Birds

For both forms, their little patches within the WP are but outlying exclaves of a much wider range elsewhere in Africa and Asia, respectively. This may not sound like much, but it is really good compared to just a few decades ago, when hunting had significantly reduced its range and overall population.

Spain 157
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Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea 2nd edition – A Field Guide Review

10,000 Birds

Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago describes all 1,456 bird species (39 species more than in the first edition) within 107 bird families known to occur in the region, including 628 endemics (27 endemics more than in the 1st edition) and 10 species yet to be formally described (down from 18 in the 1st edition). The first author, James A.

Indonesia 264
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Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan

10,000 Birds

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. The White-rumped Shama is a South Asia species – consequently, the HBW mostly discusses its introduced population in Hawaii. A worrying trend.

Birds 147
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Africa’s Big Five and Little Five

10,000 Birds

Originally a hunting term, the Big Five were the most dangerous and prized targets of the great white hunters on safari. However it is now one of the world’s rarest animals after decades of relentless hunting and poaching. In Asia they are even commonly kept as pets!

Buffalo 204