10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

And Flamingos and Hornbills and a Secretarybird and birds with names like Hamerkop and Thick-knee and Eremomela (which I know is a scientific term, but which, when pronounced correctly, reminds me of a Yiddish term of endearment my grandmother used). And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to South Africa.

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South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 254

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

A crest is a “comb or tuft of feathers, fur, or skin on the head of a bird or other animal” Birds use them for display purposes – they can be either recumbent (not noticeable when not erect) or recursive (noticeable in all states). Quite a few bird species have crests. Crests are made of feathers.

South Africa 217

South Africa China Africa Germany 217

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2015

The history of Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa is a slightly unusual one. It is a good place for South African birders, as several species are found here and nowhere else in South Africa, and it holds a small number of endemics that it shares with the Mozambique lowlands. But despite this, I did see birds.

South Africa 148

South Africa Elephants Africa Lions 148

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2018

After a very long day of 7 hours of driving, 11 hours flying and then 9 hours more driving, we have arrived at our temporary home here in South Africa. Daily park fees are such that we opted for the annual “Wild Card” that is good not only for Kruger, but nearly every park in South Africa. This pass cost us $3850.00

South Africa 117

South Africa Africa Rhinos Mongoose 117

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2015

I say weird because this isn’t a bird that I had ever given a large amount of thought to before. For a long time it was treated as a subspecies of the ubiquitous Black Kite, a species of scavenging bird of prey much hated by my grandfather (they used to steal food from troops during the war, if memory serves).

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South Africa Africa Botswana Wolves 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2020

Here`s another entry in the category “Rejected topics for bird-related coffee table books”, following my recent “Blue Birds” post. With remarkable accuracy, each of the photos below shows exactly two birds. African Penguin (Cape Town, South Africa, Nov 2018). Almost abstract bird patterns.

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South Africa 2018 2019 China 218

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2021

Recently, many people have been telling me that they are very tired of photos of dry birds. So, here’s a collection of wet birds. A wet African Pygmy Kingfisher (Mkuze, South Africa). A wet European Bee-eater (Mkuze, South Africa). A wet Brown-headed Kingfisher (Mkuze, South Africa).

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South Africa China Africa Birds 183

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

So instead let’s talk about South Africa’s best kept birding secret (at least outside of the country) Wakkerstroom. I have 10,000 Birds contributor Adam Riley to thank for telling me I had to add it to my list, and a quick bit of research showed that he was right on.

South Africa 145

South Africa Africa Falcons Family 145

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2018

With no real chance of any internet connection to report whatever new birds I am able to find, I am scheduling this photo essay featuring a few of my favorite pictures from Kruger National Park, South Africa. I was only ever able to see the next two birds one time, the first is the Crowned Hornbill.

South Africa 101

South Africa Africa Seattle Eagles 101

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

For several years I lived and birded in the south of Africa , and still have my battered second edition (1997) of the Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, the most trusted local field guide. Before that, while you all know what South Africa is, what exactly is Southern Africa?

Africa 264

Africa South Africa Swaziland Lesotho 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

This is just one of the usual blog posts from me, trying to get you to look at some of my bird photos via adding some semi-funny words. Let’s start with band names referring to birds in general (and let’s keep in mind that this blog post only mentions music deemed of sufficient quality by the almighty writer).

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South Africa China Germany Birds 240

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2020

Mkuze Game Reserve is in the Eastern part of South Africa, about 5 hours away from Johannesburg, and one of the best places I have ever been to for bird photography. ” The Red-billed Quelea is regarded as the most numerous undomesticated bird on earth. Some gorgeous looking smaller birds such as.

South Africa 202

South Africa Giraffes Birds Africa 202

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2021

When it comes to tropical birding, field guides regularly deal with well over a 1000 birds and tend to be on the hefty side. Travel guides are mostly lighter, but this “where to watch birds guide” is truly lightweight and traveller friendly. Each site gets from 2 to 5 pages (but mostly 3-4).

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Kenya Africa South Africa Penguins 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2024

You want to do some serious birding? And yes, Sable Antilope is very cool, but birds are sub-zero cool! And yes, Sable Antilope is very cool, but birds are sub-zero cool! And it was birds we came for, so his customer service wasn’t great. Consequently, he would drive too close to any bird party we came across.

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Birds Mozambique Zimbabwe Mammals 234

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

By Luca Feuerriegel Family holidays to nature reserves and the abundance of nature books including bird guides at home paved the way for Luca to be a committed birder by the time he was in his early teens. Growing up in Namibia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka provided the perfect setting for this interest. before starting his MSc.

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Sri Lanka Birds Netherlands Namibia 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

Hannah Buschert was first exposed to birds and birding during a required ornithology course at Oregon State University and she quickly caught the birding bug. This is Hannah’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. Hannah and Erik ready to see some birds! I love to go on cruises.

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South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Ideally, it should be one even less relevant than previous ones (like the one on wet birds, the one on blue birds, or the ones just showing birds eating or sleeping). Then I had an idea – a post based on birds starting with the same letter. I was just wondering about another topic for a post. Are you still with me?

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South Africa China Nevada Africa 334

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2023

Although work distracts him regularly from the observation of birds, he has managed to see a great many species regardless. He passively supports BirdLife in the Netherlands and South Africa and actively in Portugal as treasurer of SPEA – Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves. Somehow, he doesn’t care.

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Uganda Netherlands Monkeys Portugal 235

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2022

Here are some bird photos that I like. Southern Ground Hornbill (Kruger Park, South Africa). White-bellied Sunbird (Kruger Park, South Africa). Yellow-billed Hornbill (Kruger Park, South Africa). Purple-crested Turaco (Mkuze, South Africa). Maybe not very surprising.

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South Africa China Mauritius India 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2020

African Pygmy Kingfisher (Mkuze, South Africa, Nov 2018). Malachite Kingfisher (Cape Town and Pafuri, South Africa, Nov 2018). Pied Kingfisher (Skukuza, South Africa, Nov 2018 and Nanhui, China, Jul 2020). The post A Few Kingfishers appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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South Africa Singapore Malaysia 2015 219

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2024

For a while I was considering together with Jacob, whom I met on Helgoland during my month of volunteering at the bird observatory there, to meet up for a short birding outing on a weekend. We still focused on the birds of course and saw quite a good number of species, although few were unexpected.

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Squirrels South Africa Germany Ducks 212

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2021

African Penguins, asleep (Cape Town, South Africa). A Burnt out Barn Owl (Kruger Park, South Africa). A Somnolent Speckled Mousebird (Cape Town, South Africa). A Snoozing Spotted Eagle Owl (Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa). A Tired Teal ( Eurasian Teal , Nanhui, Shanghai). Why is that?

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South Africa Barn Owls Africa Penguins 169

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

The Bearded Woodpecker (Mkuze, South Africa) does not really look any more bearded than many other woodpeckers. The little red bit on the crown on this photo indicates that it is a male bird. The name of the Cardinal Woodpecker (Letaba, South Africa) is misleading, as not all of them are Catholic or even cardinals.

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Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 245

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

” But of course, with this slight adaptation, it also works for blog posts and their writers, and allows me to plug another nice song by this underrated artist, before switching to birds. Maybe a source more focused on birds than the HBW might have provided more accurate information. Then, on to nuthatches.

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Birds China Woodpeckers Breeding 188

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Re-evaluate the songs Double-pack with a photograph Extra track (and a tacky badge) So sing The Smiths in “ Paint a vulgar picture “ As you can probably guess, the main purpose of my posts not centered on a specific location (e.g., “Birds of Shanghai”) is to reuse photos I have already used in such location-specific posts.

South Africa 219

South Africa Africa India China 219

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2011

A sad reminder of what is ultimately behind the birds you find in cages: birds being taken from the wild and subjected to horrible stress and, often, death. Even birds that were bred in captivity are still not domesticated, have wild instincts, and are not meant to live in cages.

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South Africa Parrots Africa Birds 179

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Birding was tougher. There are no trees throughout the landscape, so it is either looking up for birds passing overhead or stomping through the scrub to flush hiding birds. Hear more about this trip on this podcast: Hannah and Erik Go Birding KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Lesotho.

Lesotho 235

Lesotho Sheep South Africa Africa 235

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2024

Hannah Buschert started birding in college thanks to a required Biology of Birds course and a professor who included Sir David Attenborough’s Life of Birds to punctuate lessons. There are some places we want to see in our lives, birds we want to get, but we are also driven to visit places where we know few people who have gone.

Senegal 210

Senegal South Dakota Gambia Birds 210

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2021

When was the last time you travelled for birding? It offers the richest pickings in Belgrade, especially with the incoming spring, but I must admit, the thing I miss the most is travelling and birding overseas. Back to the phone, it is important for navigation, too, as well as for a bird ID app, especially calls and songs.

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Battery Costa Rica Birds South Africa 257

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

Over-all there were almost 80,000 photos taken, nearly 50 story’s posted on this website, and 10 countries, all with some amazing birds. In the end, I truly did set out to reduce the number of birds that I feature here from 1302, my years total species, down to 10-12. So, there are 21 birds that make my top 10 for the year.

2018 171

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 171

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

In November 2018, I spent a few days birding in Cape Town, South Africa. While apparently not the safest of places, it is a great spot to see birds. The same limitation is obvious in the names of many of the bird species in this area. Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden is a great place to watch birds in Cape Town.

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South Africa Penguins Ostriches Birds 127

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical description of the family is that of “a tropical African and Asian songbird that typically has a melodious voice and drab plumage”, another is “small, dull-colored passerine birds of Asia and Africa”, yet another states that they are “often rather plain” Individual species get even harsher reviews.

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South Africa Malaysia Africa China 239

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

My home country of South Africa can only be described as a birding paradise! In this post, I’d like to focus on a small selection of South Africa’s special endemic birds. Cape (or Rufous) Rockjumper is a true South African endemic and restricted to the southwest Cape. the Rockjumpers.

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South Africa Lesotho Africa Swaziland 234

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

4%: Mexico, West Papua (Indonesia), New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya. Interestingly, the respondents felt no need to further elaborate why, presuming that everyone knows why they should bird Costa Rica. Australia is understandable: good infrastructure, moderate prices and easiness of finding birds, combined with 350 endemics.

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Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

This is the last post covering my time birding the Kruger Park in November 2018. A study on the diet of the African Harrier-Hawk starts rather pompously: “Feeding is an indispensable activity in the life of birds. The babblers have a sentinel system – individual birds take turns scanning for predators and warning the group.

South Africa 147

South Africa Niger Birds Mice 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2022

Bird-wise, Mauritius is probably primarily known for a bird that no longer exists, the dodo. I spent a few hours on Mauritius flying from Shanghai to Cape Town, South Africa, and decided to use this time for a short trip to a nature reserve on Mauritius, the Black River Gorges National Park. Quite nice looking, though.

Mauritius 239

Mauritius Birds 2000 South Africa 239

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

It is near a river, attracting some birds that like to eat wet food. As the national bird of Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the African Fish Eagle is usually very busy whenever it stays in these countries, giving speeches, opening shopping centers, etc. So, it sometimes comes to South Africa to relax and enjoy relative anonymity.

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Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147