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Black-backed Woodpeckers and Forest Fires in California and the West

10,000 Birds

I had taken the short drive to the park to search for a family of American Dippers sighted near the visitor center by a fellow birder a few days before. ” Note how well camouflaged this bird is atop a snag in its natural habitat of burned coniferous forest. Range map courtesy of South Dakota Birds and Birding.

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Africa’s Barbets

10,000 Birds

Barbets are a group of medium sized, chunky, generally colorful, frugivorous, hole-nesting near-passerines, that are popular targets for anyone birding in the tropics. Originally they were all placed in the family Capitonidae , but over time taxonomists have determined that actual relationships between these barbets are far more complex.

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