10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2014

Of course, I have seen many more birds than this, but between having terrible notes, really awful notes, or entirely lost notes, eBird doesn’t represent my total life list at all. It comes down to the other reason why eBird doesn’t have all the birds I’ve seen. It was a split. Photo from ‘Eua, Tonga.

Tonga 173

Tonga Fiji Samoa Vanuatu 173

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2011

Sadly, as I’ve explained before , most of these species became extinct as humans arrived on the islands, and with it one of the most astonishing radiations of birds imaginable. I wasn’t there for birding per se, just a chance to get away from New Zealand’s winter in a sunny tropical island.

Tonga 165

Tonga New Zealand Samoa Fiji 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2013

In his comment in last week’s post on the Marlborough Sounds , Beat writer Jochen described the New Zealand Fantail as one of the best birds in the world. wakawaka, the New Zealand Fantail is a delightful inhabitant of New Zealand, and one of my favourite local birds. Birds New Zealand endemic New Zealand endemics'

New Zealand 173

New Zealand Samoa Fiji Killing 173

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 271

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 271

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

The world of birding is filled with challenging groups well known to all, birds like gulls , Empidonax flycatchers or cisticolas that require attention to the tiniest details in order to assign an individual to a specific species (if it can be done at all). One such bird is the Collared Kingfisher ( Todiramphus chloris ).

Samoa 166

Samoa Vanuatu United Arab Emirates Tonga 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

I’m not sure why Australian birds are given this name, but the Australian subspecies is the Torrresian Kingfisher ( Todiramphus sordidus ). Subspecies pealei , National Park of American Samoa. Subspecies vitiensis , Fiji. Saipan, Micronesia. Flickr User Tropical Pete (Used with permission). Torrresian Kingfisher.

United Arab Emirates 173

United Arab Emirates Micronesia Tonga Vanuatu 173