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 181

Brunei Birds Asia China 181

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2014

Honestly, it amazes me I have any time to bird at all. One of my most cherished birding sightings in Uganda was seeing a distant male hornbill land by a walled up hole in a tree and feed its mate. The Oriental Pied Hornbills are pretty special, as they represent a recolonization of Singapore of this family. Okay it is.

Singapore 178

Singapore Uganda Malaysia Seals 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2012

The first of these was in the fine capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. KL, as it is widely known, has a reputation as a great place to cram in a days birding, in the form of day trips from the centre out to a number of (in some cases) world famous locations.

New Zealand 150

New Zealand Fur Malaysia Woodpeckers 150

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

JOHOR, MALAYSIA, DECEMBER 2012 – If you’re traveling to Singapore for birding, you might want to think outside the box or, in this case, the island. Some of the best birding in the area is just 90 minutes or so north in peninsular Malaysia, home of the infamous Panti Forest. Wanna try to ID this bird?

Malaysia 183

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Birds 183

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. Such places are clearly under-visited, under-birded or eBird isn’t that popular in those parts of the world. Other countries still have to reach the 300 birds threshold.

Asia 277

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 277

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

My review copy (well, actually a contributor’s copy—more on that later) was waiting for me when I returned from the ABA birding tour of Thailand and Malaysia (more on that in a separate post) in early March. The book does not include House Sparrow, an Old World sparrow that belongs to a completely different bird family.

North America 161

North America Sparrows America United States 161

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 137

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 137

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2013

A Great Argus in full call, this species’ tail consists of the longest feather in the bird world. Photograph taken in Malaysia’s Taman Negara National Park by Adam Riley. The amazing Ribbon-tailed Astrapia of Papua New Guinea sports the longest tail in proportion to body size of any bird in the world. Widowbirds.

Papua New Guinea 250

Papua New Guinea South Africa Africa Zimbabwe 250

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? The paper examines the bird species involved in these bird singing contests.

Malaysia 130

Malaysia Indonesia Lifestyle Japan 130

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2014

I love babblers, and whether you treat them as a single family or several (and I understand the jury keeps getting called back on that one), its a hard family not to like. Babblers are a diverse family or group of families, but when you say babbler I think of birds that are a) highly social and b) quite noisy.

Malaysia 202

Malaysia Squirrels Asia Family 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2014

It may not be the easiest place to bird (although it certainly isn’t the worst), and doesn’t have anything like the luxurious lodge found in Danum Valley, but there isn’t anywhere better to get the range of montane endemics of this fabulous island. Still, a fun bird. I really tried for the trogon. I mean really.

Birds 144

Birds Malaysia Woodpeckers Squirrels 144

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

It’s my fantasy and it’s yours: Quit the job, say good-bye to the family, and bird. British birder Chris Gooddie, my new birding hero, not only dreamed the fantasy, he lived it. That’s Pitta, people, not Antpitta, which is what I foolishly first envisioned, having never birded beyond the Americas.)

Hunters 204

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 204