10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2021

Australian Hobby family at the nest. We have enjoyed watching the development of the Australian Hobby family over recent weeks. It was nice to have a bird species that we knew for certain that we could find on New Year’s Day and add to our 2021 year list! The two juvenile Australian Hobby are very close to fledging.

Breeding 148

Breeding Collecting Family Birds 148

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2018

The Sooty Oystercatcher Haematopus fulginosus fulginosus is present in an area along the coast of Western Australia roughly south of Carnarvon and to the north the Sooty Oystercatcher is the sub species Haemotopus fulginosus ophthalmicus. Family of Sooty Oystercatchers. Sooty Oystercatcher adults.

Family 100

Family Australia Groups Rights 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

It has been more than 5 years since I last went to Australia, and I was even less of a qualified bird photographer then than I am now. So, the basic idea is to show 15 species of Australian birds in each post and give you the usual trivia about them. And that seems to be the only vaguely satisfying thing left to do at the moment.

Australia 185

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 185

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2022

Apparently, the Rufous Whistler used to be known as the Rufous-breasted Thickhead due to its “noticeable breadth of cranium” The source website itself quotes its own source, the delightfully titled “The Useful Birds of Southern Australia”, R Hall, 1907. This is the most common swallow in Australia. .

Australia 194

Australia Birds Feral Cats Kangaroos 194

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2018

After an incredibly wet start to 2018 as a result of several tropical cyclones and other rain events the land remains saturated around Broome and as a result of this there are several bird species breeding that we don’t even encounter in dry years. Our first ever encounter was just over seven years ago near Broome.

Breeding 100

Breeding Family 2018 Australia 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2022

According to Wikipedia, the national bird of Australia is the Emu – which I have not seen yet. On the other hand, some websites state that the Laughing Kookaburra is Australia’s national symbol. I was surprised that this species is named for its vocalization – which sounds like laughter.

Australia 147

Australia Birds Parrots Ostriches 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

After a very good Wet Season with substantially more rain than normal over the first few months of 2017 the land was flooded and a huge variety of birds arrived in the Broome area to take advantage of the ideal conditions for breeding. The more brightly coloured female bird remained at the back of the family group as they swam to shore.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Raised 2017 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

Early in the Wet Season we had noticed the arrival of unusually high numbers of Magpie Geese and they are a species that don’t always make it to the Broome area if it is not a wet year. It did seem highly probable that the Magpie Geese would breed in the area this year. Magpie Goose family-two adults.

Geese 100

Geese Breeding 2014 Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

This year we have continued to monitor the breeding of several pairs of Pied Oystercatchers along the coast in Broome from Gantheaume Point to Willie Creek on the south side. This species are long living and so the population appears to be sustainable at this stage despite the predation. Pied Oystercatcher family.

Breeding 158

Breeding Eggs Camels Raised 158

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2023

Here goes: Paradise Flycatchers are a genus in the broader (and rather large) family of Monarchidae. There are 17 different species of them, a few of them endangered, particularly some island endemics. Switching to the Amur Paradise Flycatcher , which has the Latin species name of incei. not their own).

Japan 130

Japan China Guinea Germany 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

Over the past few months there have been a lot of birds breeding around Broome with the excellent rain events that we have been having and the vegetation is at long last revived. The grass is green, the wildflowers are spectacular and now we have numerous species of dragonfly to enjoy as the season starts to change.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Protection Cows 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2020

The family of Pied Oystercatchers soon made their move to Gantheaume Point. Typically the whole Pied Oystercatcher family spend a lot of time either feeding or roosting. Pied Oystercatchers are not a species that we observe flying very often at all. We would not expect it to breed for several years yet.

Eggs 165

Eggs Breeding Family Protection 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2012

There are few families of birds as bewitching as the birds-of-paradise. They are feathered jewels with extraordinary breeding dances almost unrivalled in the bird world. There are, however, two species that are more accesible than the rest of the family. My first encounter there was something of a surprise.

Indonesia 189

Indonesia Birds Australia Guinea 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2013

The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae is Australia’s largest bird standing at up to 2 metres (6 foot 6 inches) tall. They will only breed if the conditions are good and the male will be responsible for nest building and incubating the 6-12 eggs for approximately 60 days. Emu family on the other side of the fence.

Australia 179

Australia Investigation Family Groups 179

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2016

In theory we are supposed to be experiencing tropical storms at this time of year, but like last year the rain just isn’t falling across this part of northern Australia. The ephemeral lakes are struggling to fill up this year and the birds are dispersing in search of water and places to breed.

Australia 102

Australia Zebras Family Species 102

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

When you monitor a species of birds over many years you learn a lot from your observations and you soon become aware of the fact that some birds are just better at parenting than others. Some of the young from this pair of Pied Oystercatchers have gone north to join a non-breeding flock and others have flown south.

Eggs 165

Eggs Raised Breeding Family 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

Colorful bills and heads seem quite popular among Letaba’s bird species – see the African Jacana (blue and black) … … the Striated Heron (yellow and blue) … … and the Yellow-billed Stork (yellow and red). The Latin species name vermiculatus (worm-like) refers to the markings on the upperparts.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2014

Parrots captivate me more than any other bird family. For one, they are remarkably diverse with a little over 380 species spread over every continent except Europe (only introduced) and Antarctica. However, they do not occur evenly across their familial distribution. I am a self-proclaimed psittacophile. Most do not.

Parrots 167

Parrots Brazil Mauritius Dominica 167

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

There are certain families that I habitually fail to encounter when opportunities arise. I’ve had pretty lousy luck when it comes pittas and broadbills, and I also am really bad when it comes to the various night birds such as owls, nightjars and related species. It isn’t that I never see them, just that I often miss them.

Uganda 164

Uganda Family Australia Killing 164

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2013

We have finally returned home to Broome after spending most of the year either birding and camping in Queensland or birding around Grant’s work commitments in and around Karratha in the Pilbara district of Western Australia. We are now seeing species we have seen in other locations in our own patch. Birding Australia Broome'

Birds 154

Birds Ducks Australia Species 154

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2012

With a family renowned for its strong flight and capability to colonize far flung locations (such as the Imperial-Pigeons and Fruit-Doves of the Tropical Pacific, Blue Pigeons of the Indian Ocean, or endemic pigeons of the Canary Islands), this fact comes to no surprise. Is this the closest equivalent to a tramp species in the Americas?

Florida 159

Florida Miami Bahamas Mexico 159

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2016

One of the most camouflaged birds in Australia is the Tawny Frogmouth and we often hear them at night when we are camping in the bush, but the chance of seeing them is less likely. Tawny Frogmouths are actually more closely related to the Nightjar family. They breed after rain events and this was exactly the situation once again.

Shelters 100

Shelters Geese Australia 2010 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. That larger clade is in turn sister to a clade containing the four remaining totipalmate bird families, which do still seem to be related, and which needed a new order name once pelicans were removed.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

It’s the bird family that most people don’t know is a bird family. For many years it was thought the two bird families were related taxonomically. It includes a table listing the species, subspecies, author and date of original description, which I found quite handy in sorting out the birds. Introduction.

Guinea 262

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 262

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

MARCH 8, 2011

Getting to know the subtleties in differences between closely related species takes years of dedication and practice. Thirdly, many species of shorebirds display such vast differences in their summer and winter plumages that it is always interesting to note how some birds in the same flock are in contrasting stages of plumage.

Florida 188

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

The book is produced by WILDGuides, Ltd, the excellent book company responsible for over a dozen photographic guides on Britain’s natural life ranging from dragonflies to plant galls as well as books on Africa, Australia and other areas we all want to visit, and was published this summer by Princeton University Press.

Ireland 143

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 143

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. The African Spoonbill is one of the six global spoonbill species, and the main African one (there are also some Eurasian Spoonbills in Africa).

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

And apart from local people, primate researchers sometimes spot it, but it is a species seen by fewer than ten living birders. This book is essentially about those birds that breed on the continent south of the Sahara, a topic few birders are familiar with. Some are incredibly rare and hard to find.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

I’ve been fortunate to see two Penguin species in the wild (African and Galapagos) and have dreamed of seeing more–maybe even all!–especially The goal of Around the World For Penguins is simple: Describe the 18 species of penguin and their breeding grounds “from the perspective of a traveller.”

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 278

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

When going to Australia, one of the two birds I wanted to see most was the Tawny Frogmouth. Gisela Kaplan has written a book about the species, and how they seem unperturbed by humans: “It’s one of their most successful defense strategies. They just sit and pretend not to be there to avoid interaction.”

Birds 226

Birds Australia Ducks Mountain Goats 226

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2023

As you can see, both species of bulbs are flowering and there is a good reason for that. I know I suggested you could come and explore Australia , but it really does depend on where you want to go and when. I know I suggested you could come and explore Australia , but it really does depend on where you want to go and when.

Birds 147

Birds Australia Ducks Suffering 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

” Writing about owls means writing about roughly 250 species (I counted 245 on the 2022 Clements spreadsheet, but I might have missed a few, and we all know that each classification system is different). The chapters on courtship and breeding and roosting and migration are the longest, which isn’t surprising.

Owls 209

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 209

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

On our recent trip to check on the breeding success of the Pied Oystercatchers at the Northern end of Cable Beach a Brahminy Kite was quite obliging and posed for us. Both bird species fish in the same locations around Broome, though. One more bird species with serious talons in the north of Australia!

Fish 200

Fish Eagles Australia Falcons 200

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 264

Africa Gabon South Africa Uganda 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

The most common member of the Grebe species around Broome is the Australasian Grebe- Tachybaptus novaehollandiae and it has taken advantage of our exceptionally good Wet Season early this year and has been breeding very successfully. Adult Australasian Grebe. Juvenile Australasian Grebes. Adult and juvenile Australasian Grebes.

Breeding 100

Breeding Geese Ducks Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Are there birders out there who do not dream of birding Australia? Possibly birders who have already birded Australia (but, wouldn’t you want to go back?) The guide covers 747 breeding residents or regular migrants, 29 introduced species, and 160 vagrants, a total of 936 species.

Australia 106

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 106