10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Of course this is nonsense, and they are clearly close to swifts, but with a hind toe that lets them perch like a swallow, they sit outside the family as well, in their own, rarely thought about, family. There are four species in the family, ranging from India to the Solomon Islands. Whiskered Treeswift.

Solomon Islands 167

Solomon Islands Singapore India Family 167

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Not, as Linneaus thought, an ostrich, nor even, as later scientists concluded, a distant cousin of pigeons deserving of family rank, it was an honest-to-goodness pigeon, deeply embedded within the family Columbidae. All of the birds within Raphini are highly specialized for island life. ” Beehler et al.’s

Solomon Islands 278

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 278

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

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

I watch birds pretty much all the time. This may come as a surprise to folks who keep their birding casual, or who limit their watching to a backyard feeder. I watch birds all the time and I can’t help it. I never stop birding no matter where I am, Costa Rica included.

Costa Rica 178

Costa Rica Solomon Islands Wisconsin Farming 178

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 202

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 202