10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

As introductions to tropical Pacific birding go, you could do a lot worse than Fiji. Throw in some good beaches and great diving and you have a popular place to visit for a lot of tourists, and also birders wanting to start their Pacific birding lists. It was just such a layover that landed me in Fiji a few years ago.

Fiji 191

Fiji Solomon Islands Parrots Los Angeles 191

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I worked with an enormous collection of bird skins in the collection of Te Papa (The National Museum of New Zealand) during my (unfinished) PhD. Shelf after shelf after shelf of trays of dead birds, most with their original archaic Victorian era label written in spindly cursive attached to a leg. Box after box of egg.

Collecting 265

Collecting Solomon Islands New Zealand Fiji 265

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

We’ve only recently begun to completely piece it together, using fossils and scientific analysis, but what is shows is that, once upon a time, the rail family was one of the most, if not the most, species rich family of birds in the world. we are hosting Extinction Week here on 10,000 Birds from 7 September to 13 September.

Hawaii 248

Hawaii Mammals Guam Fiji 248

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 210

New Zealand Pelicans Solomon Islands Palau 210

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

All of the birds within Raphini are highly specialized for island life. It’s a spectacular pigeon with long neck plumes and blue, green, and copper iridescence in its feathers (I mean, look at this bird ), and it lives on islands from the western Indian Ocean all the way out through northern Melanesia. ” Beehler et al.’s

Solomon Islands 279

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 279

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

I mentioned last week, while talking about rails and the Pacific, that Tonga is not a particularly birdy birding destination. A combination of extinctions and proximity to Fiji means that a trip to that island group would net you pretty much all the same birds plus a whole raft of others.

Tonga 193

Tonga Fiji New Zealand Parrots 193