10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

One of these days, Jeopardy will feature a category called “Field Guides” and the first clue will be: “This landlocked South American country finally got its own bird field guide in 2016, but it wasn’t available in the United State until 2019.” Bolivia doesn’t come up much in discussions of birding travel.

Bolivia 172

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 172

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

“Target birds” The term can foster excitement but is easily contentious. It would be uber cool to lay eyes on a rare lifer, on species that only seem to live on the pages of a field guide but isn’t that somewhat discriminatory? Aren’t all birds worth watching? Looking for Bare-necked Umbrellabird ?

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 202

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2014

What happens when you visit one of the best birdwatching sites in the region with the highest number of endemic bird species in the Americas in the world’s birdiest country? The area is known for a military base, the legendary Montezuma Lodge, and a boatload of birds. Your mind gets blown.

Colombia 264

Colombia Birds South America America 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

(This photo is actually of a TK seen a few days later, but it was at our favorite birding gas station pit stop that we also stopped at on our first day. Excellent 10,000 Birds posts have been written about Pico Bonito and Honduras by Corey and Carlos , so I’m going to focus on some of my most memorable experiences.

Honduras 248

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 248

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2015

In other words, millions of people got together with family and friends for a cozy day of mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, naps, football, and some serious turkeyliciousness. The turkeys I’m talking about up in here are three of the five members of the Cracidae family that occur in Costa Rica. Ain’t I great?

Costa Rica 171

Costa Rica Turkey Ecuador Hunting 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Tropical birding demands tropical birds, those families and genera unique to their latitudes rather than shared via migration across various climate zones. Sometimes, they even have the same species… I’m looking at you, House Wren ! So why is this bird called the Red-ruffed Fruitcrow? Any questions?

Colombia 192

Colombia South America Argentina Ecuador 192

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2012

Colombia is not only home to nearly 20% of all avian life on the planet but this birding mecca also accommodates an incredibly high percentage of highly sought after species. Nearly 80 species are endemic and found nowhere else in the world. But we just could not ignore the plentiful antpitta species too.

Colombia 246

Colombia Ecuador South America North America 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2012

Corey was lucky enough to meet Carlos while birding in Ecuador , where Carlos was dragooned into accompanying the horde of Queens birders for the day, an encounter that somehow didn’t turn him off of all things New York. If you have been out birding in southeast Florida there is a good chance that you have run into him in the field.

Miami 161

Miami Florida Birds Pelicans 161

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2016

We watch birds for a number of reasons, but no matter how much a birder may enjoy staring at the primary extensions of small brown birds and discussing the tone and quality of their chip notes, that same birder will breath a happy sigh of relief when confronted with a tanager or two. A Bay-headed Tanager at any distance is nice.

Costa Rica 105

Costa Rica Ecuador Brazil Woodpeckers 105

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2017

In 2009, I traveled from New York City to the tropical rainforest of Ecuador. The American Birding Association translated it into Spanish as part of its Birders Exchange Program, distributing copies to students and scientists in Central and South America and also making it available free in PDF format.

South America 150

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 150

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2014

As New Zealand’s beat writer I think I’ve done an okay job of discussing the birding of an entirely different island for most of the year, so it’s only fair that I keep that winning streak going by talking about my target for the trip. It’s a species that has bedeviled and bewitched me over the years.

Sharks 172

Sharks Leopards Whales Whaling 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Which, naturally, got me to thinking about the newly erected order Suliformes, a development I mentioned in my December column, 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Bird Taxonomy and Systematics , but which I thought deserved further examination, for it’s one of those stories that defines the era in which we are living and birding.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

These will be a series of shorter posts that will be scheduled while I’m traveling and filming for Nikon’s Birding Adventures TV. On the contrary, if you are a traveling birder, you might just find your next birding destination right here on 10,000 Birds. And this place has birds to boot!

Portugal 172

Portugal 2011 Deer Birds 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Stalking a Kiwi Icon Stalking a Kiwi Icon By Duncan • March 16, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share Most people, if asked, would confidently name what they thought the National Bird of New Zealand was.

New Zealand 145

New Zealand 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. It provides goals and a definite direction for your birding travels and thoughts; sometimes it even becomes the basis of a book!

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

Collins Birds of the World is “ a must for the travelling birder ,” as the BBC Wildlife Magazine reviewer has put it. When I moved to Botswana, to learn my birds I got myself the thickest local field guide. The book covers all the world’s birds. And I cannot agree more. This is a painful question, I know that.

Birds 245

Birds Botswana Africa Ecuador 245

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Spring is for Wheatears Spring is for Wheatears By Dan • March 18, 2011 • 3 comments Tweet Share What is true in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US holds true for Cyprus as well: Spring is prime-time for Passerines.

Cyprus 145

Cyprus 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

Corey was lucky enough to meet Carlos while birding in Ecuador , where Carlos was dragooned into accompanying the horde of Queens birders for the day, an encounter that somehow didn’t turn him off of all things New York. Carlos Sanchez is an excellent birder, a Miami resident, and a polyglot. That’s right.

Florida 158

Florida Miami Cuba Bahamas 158

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2024

One night while camping in the Himalayas, the birding friend hears a Satyr Tragopan calling. He leaves the camp to look for the bird, and has never been seen again. Birders will ask: did he see the bird? Is birding a dangerous sport, an extreme sport even? She died in a car accident during a birding trip.

Mozambique 218

Mozambique Birds Ghana Namibia 218

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2023

(My Shoebill photographs, incidentally, were digiscoped from a small boat, so they’re not as sharp as they could be, but they are great reminders of an encounter with an extraordinary bird). Tawny Owl , one of the first birds I remember seeing (at the age of five) Like most of us who watch birds, I enjoy listing.

Sri Lanka 233

Sri Lanka Kenya San Francisco Greece 233

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

Greeney was recommended to me as a book I HAD to review by no less than three birding friends. I hesitated because a 496-page book about two skulky neotropical bird groups is a little intimidating. I also wondered if a book like this would be of interest to 10,000 Birds readers. The artwork is beautiful.

Research 140

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 140

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2015

As 2015 comes to a close and birders the world over start thinking about what 2016 will bring we here at 10,000 Birds would like to take a moment to celebrate our best birds of 2015. Each Beat Writer was given the opportunity to share their Best Bird of the Year for 2015 and, as usual, we had some pretty solid birds.

2015 184

2015 Costa Rica Birds Sparrows 184

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

But you are here for the birds. The curse of forest birding - a bird drought. Maybe the birds will come to you. They are the only birds able to fly backwards and the 340-odd species come in many different forms. Fantastic caterpillars, otherworldly insects, ghoulish spiders, tiny scattering creatures.

Colombia 279

Colombia Ecuador Bolivia Peru 279