10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Which, naturally, got me to thinking about the newly erected order Suliformes, a development I mentioned in my December column, 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Bird Taxonomy and Systematics , but which I thought deserved further examination, for it’s one of those stories that defines the era in which we are living and birding.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Thankfully the days of visiting Africa purely for slaughtering its wildlife have mostly come to a merciful end, and safari operators have adopted the Big Five term to market tours that offer sightings of the fortunate remanants of Africa’s once teeming great herds. They are large, noisy birds of drier areas of East and southern Africa.

Buffalo 201

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 201

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

DECEMBER 29, 2023

In my younger days I always kept year lists: my best ever year was 1986, when I topped the 1,000 mark thanks to trips to Australia, Kenya and various European destinations. Both counties are among the best in Britain for birds, but to knock up a big total without travelling far you really have to live on the coast.

Estonia 224

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 224

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

A question I am frequently asked by birders and wildlife enthusiasts is: “ if I only visit Africa once, where should I go ?” This country boasts over 1,000 bird species, vast wildernesses, a superb network of protected areas, the greatest concentration of large game and predators on the planet, excellent lodges and friendly people.

Tanzania 215

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 215

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

for the American Birding Expo , held this past weekend just outside of Philadelphia. However, I’m applying those adjectives not to my fellow bird lovers, but to the panoply of humanity that descended upon the other hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center for the “Walker Stalker” convention of Walking Dead fans.). Inscrutable.

Sri Lanka 100

Sri Lanka Philadelphia Kenya Birds 100

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 247

Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 247