10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

This group — dubbed the bombycillids , from the waxwing genus and family name — appears to fall near kinglets and a large group containing thrushes and muscicapids (Old World flycatchers and chats) in the passerine tree. The Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds has more on the Palmchat. Spellman et al.

Saudi Arabia 226

Saudi Arabia 2008 Indonesia Groups 226

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

The danger of reviewing a field guide to the birds of an exotic country you’ve never been to is that you become obsessed with visiting that country, no matter how far away and how expensive it may be. I’m already looking up birding tours of Borneo and pricing airfares. Borneo, the authors say, is under-birded.

Brunei 179

Brunei Birds Asia China 179

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2017

I was recently reminded of how heavy (in my mind and heart) that second reason weighs when I got a copy of “Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago” by J. Phillipps: A field guide to the birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali (1993): based on taxonomic order from 1975 with some changes on colour plates for practical reasons.

Brunei 164

Brunei 2009 2016 2014 164

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

But later in August, Alexander Suh at the University of Münster emailed me about a new paper he and his colleagues have just published: Mesozoic retroposons reveal parrots as the closest living relatives of passerine birds (PDF). Zebra Finch ( Taeniopygia guttata ), one of the study subjects, in Indonesia © David J. Ringer Suh et al.

Parrots 195

Parrots Falcons Indonesia Rodents 195

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

I’ve never been to the Indonesian Archipelago, but I really like the birds there. Lynx Edicions, the ornithological (and now mammal) publisher that gave us the Handbook of the Birds of the World , has now published Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea , by James A. So, this is no ordinary bird guide.

Indonesia 134

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 134

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

The Plain Sunbird is the plain vanilla version of the otherwise often very colorful family (ok, a very low-budget sort of joke). Ok, Kai, nobody is really very interested in your thoughts on political issues – could you get back to the topic of birds? However, the HBW lists nectar among its food.

Los Angeles 200

Los Angeles Birds Woodpeckers Owls 200

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2015

Since this is the season of love and harmony and all things nice, I sincerely and originally had planned to write an equally nice, loving and harmonic post on a beautiful group of birds that’s mostly found in SE Asia, the broadbills. Gone, bird magic. Even the group’s namesake feature, the broad bill, is ill-chosen.

Groups 108

Groups Asia Species Birds 108

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

This book is essentially about those birds that breed on the continent south of the Sahara, a topic few birders are familiar with. A few years ago, in the American Birding Association FB group I posted a question: Where would you go if funds weren’t a problem? Some are incredibly rare and hard to find.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Madagascar 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2023

Otherwise, why would eBird call it a “heavily built, flat-headed dark blue bird”, which sounds more like a description of a robot or a piece of machinery than that of a beautiful bird? Apparently, in many regions of Indonesia, songbird contests are frequently held.

Malaysia 130

Malaysia Indonesia Lifestyle Japan 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2012

I also love bird identification. And I believe there’s a place for taxonomy, and there’s a place for bird identification. The place for bird identification is a field guide and a field. I’ve been birding for 30 years now, and for the last 20 year, I’ve mostly birded in the same geographic regions.

Indonesia 246

Indonesia Family Asia Species 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2013

In celebration of the upcoming I and the Bird look at the heron family I invite you to consider the White-faced Heron ! New Zealand, where I live, am the 10,000 Birds Beat Writer of, and of which I very occasionally actually write about, is home to several species of heron.

New Zealand 149

New Zealand Indonesia Cattle Guinea 149

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2012

As 10,000 Birds’ New Zealand beat writer, I sometimes should write about New Zealand birds, but today I thought I’d talk about a bird that people thought was one but almost certainly wasn’t. So what were these Australian birds doing in New Zealand? But it seems the story wasn’t so clear cut.

New Zealand 183

New Zealand Pelicans Solomon Islands Palau 183

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

They are not flying cats nor birds with whiskers. Birds called catbirds include two species in the New World family, Mimidae, four from the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, and one from the Old World babblers, Timaliidae. Catbirds are also not the result of unholy intercourse between avians and felines.

Papua New Guinea 191

Papua New Guinea Ethiopia Guinea Cats 191

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2011

The Common Tailorbird , Orthotomus sutorius, is a small warbler whose range extends from India to southern China and down into Indonesia. It is an active bird that seldom stays still or quiet and often cocks its tail as it moves about through the thick cover. It is common, mostly in the lowlands, but can range as high as 5000ft.

Indonesia 150

Indonesia India China Bears 150

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

What could motivate gunmen (I cannot call them hunters) in two states to deliberately kill North America’s tallest and most critically endangered bird? photo by JZ When a population of birds numbers only 400 in the wild, there can be no such thing as a “nonessential” individual. Speculation is useless in acts of vandalism. It flies on.

2011 243

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 243

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2017

The year 2016 was not a particularly birdy year for me, mostly because I didn’t get to go on business trips to Indonesia or Kazakhstan, as was frequently the case during the last few years. You can see my birding activities abroad and within Germany on the maps at the top of this post. 1, my best bird of the year… 10.

2016 101

2016 Germany Italy Netherlands 101

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2014

In a funny twist of fate, it seems that 2014 will be much the same as 2012 and 2013 have been, with family trips to somewhere in France and business trips to Indonesia and Kazakhstan. However, I really want to focus more on lifers instead of year birds, particularly in Indonesia. The Birding Diary.

2014 145

2014 France Germany Indonesia 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

As 2012 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 and 2011 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

2012 155

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 155

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 188

2015 Costa Rica Birds Sparrows 188