10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. They are often found roosting in small groups along the edges of lakes and riverine sandbars. It is also related to Wood Stork of the Americas and Milky Stork of Asia.

Africa 233

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 233

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

Definitely my personal favorite of Africa’s pink birds is the delicate Pink-throated Twinspot. Pink-backed Pelican by Markus Lilje/Rockjumper Birding Tours. This attractive (for a lark anyway) species is restricted to the dry savannah Somali-Maasai biome of north-east Africa (northern Tanzania, Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia).

Africa 202

Africa Somalia Pelicans Mozambique 202

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2016

and dreaming of a place where the heat is moderate, beer snake-cold and birds innumerable… Let’s say, where the average annual maximum varies from 22 to 24 degrees Celsius / 72 to 75 Fahrenheit and where some 700+ bird species – 24 of them endemic – are waiting for an intrepid birder… Answer to the riddle?

Africa 125

Africa Uganda Gorillas Rwanda 125

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2011

Here are the clues: 1. Some references indicate that this country has nearly 900 different species of birds. 2. It is at the top of my list of countries to visit specifically for birding. 5. On one list, it is the 27th country with the most number of different bird species. No plans yet, sigh.

2011 150

2011 Myanmar Bolivia Venezuela 150

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

As visitors’ and the public’s interests expanded from the Big Five, and an appreciation for lesser mammals, birds and smaller wildlife has became more widespread, the term Little Five was coined. Prime destinations for seeing African Elephant in the wild include Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Uganda.

Buffalo 195

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 195

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Ethiopia , a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Tours groups that I guided to Ethiopia ten years ago had to endure very basic accommodation, almost no surfaced roads and low levels of service. Addis Ababa is a good a site as any for this bird.

Ethiopia 263

Ethiopia Eritrea Africa Mammals 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2014

I enjoy collecting children’s books about birds and nature that I come across in the expected (book stores) and unexpected (academic library conference reports) places. The Taínos named the birds Iguacas, after their call. Spanish settlers arrived in 1493 and called the birds Coterras. The birds thrive.

Puerto Rico 227

Puerto Rico Parrots New York City 2013 227

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

“ There is, perhaps, no better place in the world for birds than this country. Despite discovering dozens of bird species, he is however not remembered in any English names of birds. Wahlberg travelled even more extensively and amassed a huge bird collection. Image by Hugh Chittenden. Image by Adam Riley.

Mozambique 182

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 182

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. This bird is represented in an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph. Can’t say that it is a particularly obvious name from seeing the bird.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

These were the sounds I heard as I walked around a small pond in Amherst, Massachusetts last week, looking for dragonflies, listening for birds. But, within the frog group there is a tremendous range of diversity. It is all as amazing and as diverse as the ways in which birds mate and reproduce. And, they look like frogs.

Reptiles 182

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 182

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 Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

I was just curious what the US birders dream about, so I posted a question in the ABA’s FB group: a) what are the most popular foreign destinations and b) where would you go with unlimited funds? Here are the results: 3 per cent of respondents (in no particular order): Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Tanzania, Madagascar. 21%: Costa Rica.

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

These charismatic, colorful and finely formed birds are favorites amongst birders from experts to novices, and lie within the group of birds whose beauty even non-birders really appreciate. Besides being colorful and energetic, another plus of these lovely birds is that they are relatively easy to track down.

Africa 262

Africa Gabon South Africa Uganda 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2015

This time it is the Old World that has misnamed a group of birds, or in fact several groups. It all comes back to a split in one of the great bird families, the Turdidae, or thrushes. Once upon a time, when I started birding, this great family included a wide range of species collectively known as the robins and chats.

Mozambique 161

Mozambique Zambia Zimbabwe Namibia 161

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

Weavers are truly magical birds, combining bright plumages with ingenious weaving talents and cheerful, noisy social lives. This blogpost will introduce you to the various genera of birds that are considered to be weavers. Image taken by Markus Lilje/Rockjumper Birding Tours in Cameroon. Image taken by Adam Riley in Ghana.

Tanzania 213

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 213

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Adam Riley, owner and managing director of Rockjumper Birding Tours , is a world birder if ever there was one, but has a special place in his heart for his home continent. Adam will be leading 10,000 Birds readers on an amazing odyssey into Africa starting… now! And Africa is the ONLY continent without an extinct bird to boot!

Papua New Guinea 212

Papua New Guinea Madagascar Africa Equatorial Guinea 212

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2020

Will bird tour agencies, guides, eco-lodges survive? Will the threatened species make it through if there are no birding tourists to make those birds and their habitats valuable to local people just the way they are (as opposed to tropical timber)? What will be left of birding tourism? Colombia 1959 bird species 2.

Uganda 240

Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 240

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2012

Barbets are a group of medium sized, chunky, generally colorful, frugivorous, hole-nesting near-passerines, that are popular targets for anyone birding in the tropics. Benson to collect birds. They nest in colonies that sometimes number hundreds of birds, who excavate dozens of holes into the trunks of dead rainforest trees.

Ethiopia 223

Ethiopia Tanzania Africa Uganda 223