10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2022

Still, it has quite a good habitat and birds – so good, in fact, that the frugal blog post writer (me) decided to write two separate posts about this park. This is part one, covering birds named from A to H. Given the exciting and exotic birds Hainan has to offer, starting the post with a Barn Swallow is a bit of a letdown.

Birds 269

Birds Egypt China 2002 269

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Chinese Penduline T**s are not particularly woke birds. White’s Thrush is described as “burly” on eBird – not entirely unjustified, I guess, but this description fails to capture the way the intricate patterns of the bird make for great camouflage and also for its own kind of beauty. Maybe the grandparents help.

Birds 224

Birds Blackbirds Indonesia Bhutan 224

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. These and other important birding related questions come to mind and during a normal July, I would be personally and actively helping answer them. Which tours saw the most roosting owls?

Costa Rica 240

Costa Rica Birds Thailand Family 240

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2022

The first title of the ‘official’ series (there were two ‘prequels’) was “ Birds of Thailand “, published in 2018. The most recent was the ninth one, “ Birds of Colombia ” in 2021. One thing I deeply respect is the addition of common bird names in a local language.

Thailand 147

Thailand Colombia 2018 Groups 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2014

When going on an overseas birding trip, many serious birders want to leave the city as soon possible in search of endemic or rare species in remote wilderness. On the other hand, I find urban birding fascinating, especially in overseas locations. Why do I like urban birding? What are their birds?

Thailand 168

Thailand Zebras Birds Sparrows 168

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2019

It’s part of modern birding. Make a bird list for anywhere, anytime and on a hand held device! Note birds the old fashioned way (that would be writing on paper) and submit those observations back at the homestead or wherever you have a connection. Going birding in Hawaii? How about Thailand? No problem!

Costa Rica 327

Costa Rica Thailand Species Hawaii 327

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2014

I’m at a yearly disadvantage when it comes to deciding my Best Bird of the Year (BBOY) here on 10,000 Birds. The scope is to give you the illusion you might be able to work out the species). Borneo did turn up some great birds, as expected, but it still turned out to be quite hard to pick a winner.

2013 185

2013 Birds Rhinoceros Thailand 185

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

From a birder’s perspective however, this is both a shame and a blessing, as I will show below based on my observations of the species on the island of Java in November. The prinias are a group of around 25 Old World warbler species found in Africa and Asia. The Brown Prinia is an Asian species with a very peculiar range.

Burma 164

Burma Laos Birds Indonesia 164

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

You should know by now that there are a good number of birds that spend an appreciable amount of time underwater. And then there are the crazy-awesome Dippers and one should not forget the great diving birds like Gannets and Albatrosses. See, with a little bit of imagination, even a scuba diver can find birds all over the place.

Sharks 211

Sharks Thailand Dolphins Fish 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Miami, Florida has a reputation among the birding community for being overrun with exotic bird species. However, the typical birding experience for someone down here also includes a large menagerie of other species such as Orange-winged Parrot , Mitred Parakeet , Egyptian Goose and Nutmeg Mannikin.

Miami 219

Miami Asia Florida Malaysia 219

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

And where all those birds are? This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? I am talking 600 or 700+ bird species.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2013

Back in January of last year I said in my list for the year that I’d be happy if I hit 300 birds in 2012. The equation is simple, surely, if seeing birds makes me happy, then surely lots of birds makes me lots of happy, right? For starters, the enjoyment of birds is not actually directly correlated with enjoyment.

2012 157

2012 New Zealand Thailand Albatross 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. We’ve traveled to lots of places, seen lots of great birds, and met lots of great birders. So, as we’ve done for the last several years we thought we would share our Best Birds of the Year with you. Below are our Best Birds of the Year. What was yours?

2014 206

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 206

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

The project recruited schoolkids from eight Asian nations, from Russia down to Thailand, to help color in frames of an animation that depicts the lonely and perilous migration of a Spoon-billed Sandpiper as it faces threats from habitat loss and hunting. Birding Birds Conservation Inspiration News spoon-billed sandpiper video'

Asia 153

Asia Thailand Russia Endangered Species 153

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

Birds are supposed to have feathers and birds without feathers look incomplete, like they left home with shaving cream on their ear and toothpaste spots on their shirt. The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. Griffon Vulture , photo by Alan Tilmouth.

California Condor 200

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 200

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2013

After a successful morning’s birding and a very fine lunch, Peter and I made our way to our next site, Bang Poo. In fact the area where the pier hit the mangroves was crammed with birds, including Pied Fantails, a very vocal Oriental Magpie Robin, Green Herons and Little Egrets. This piece follows on from Part One.

Thailand 105

Thailand New Zealand Family Bats 105

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2014

It varies in appearance across its enormous range, and a new genetic study — Dispersal and speciation in purple swamphens (Rallidae: Porphyrio) — bolsters the case that this “supertramp” is actually a superspecies that could be split into six different species. Above: Swamphen in Australia by James Niland).

Papua New Guinea 205

Papua New Guinea Philippines New Zealand Florida 205

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2012

Common Merganser female by John Borg There are six living species of mergansers, three of which are commonly spotted in North America: The Common Merganser ( Mergus merganser ) ranges widely throughout the northern hemisphere. It is also a species in rapid decline, considered vulnerable by some authorities and endangered by others.

North America 243

North America Thailand Russia Ducks 243

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

North America 168

North America Sparrows America United States 168

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. Such places are clearly under-visited, under-birded or eBird isn’t that popular in those parts of the world. Other countries still have to reach the 300 birds threshold.

Asia 278

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

Yes, the warbler formerly known as Dendroica kirtlandii , now Setophaga kirtlandii , is one of those birds that make birders’ hearts pulse quicker and their legs churn faster. Look what happened when the bird made the first of three appearances at the Biggest Week in American Birding at Magee Marsh!

Michigan 248

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 248

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

The thought of which takes me way off topic to think about this crazy cool video of a crazy cool bird: [link] Anyway, back to Laem Pak Bia… and like most birders dashing through Bangkok, we made a quick detour in to the salt pans and wetland systems to see what was about. Happy birding, Dale Forbes a. Javan Pond Heron on a pole.

Thailand 178

Thailand Birds Parrots Breeding 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2019

The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia, edited by Yong Ding Li & Low Bing Wen. And now I am holding the “The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia” – an expanded and fully updated second edition of “The 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Southeast Asia”. That is about it – I do not know much more about this region.

Asia 234

Asia Laos Myanmar Indonesia 234

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2013

At the time this post goes live I’ll be wandering around Hong Hong in a bemused state of mind trying to identify not only the native birds but the multitude of other species released by the inhabitants into the area. I saw this species at Bang Poo in the south of Bangkok, on the coast, where a large flock winters every year.

Turkmenistan 158

Turkmenistan Mongolia Asia Europe 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2019

Presuming that you want to bird Costa Rica, you would book a southbound flight (from N. In such a case, you might opt to book an eastbound flight, or a series of flights, from Lisbon to Sao Tome and Principe, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, then Sri Lanka, Thailand, Borneo, PNG, Tahiti, Ecuador, Guyana and finally to Costa Rica….

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Sri Lanka Rwanda Papua New Guinea 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

Some of those “statistical errors” came as surprises to me, e.g. Cuba, Bolivia, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Thailand (this is also a clear message to their tourism boards to invest more into promoting avitourism). Interestingly, the respondents felt no need to further elaborate why, presuming that everyone knows why they should bird Costa Rica.

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

Interestingly, one study found that Nonggang Babbler nests frequently visited by bird photographers had a higher hatching success rate than those not photographed. This species seems to frequently join mixed-species flocks – in research in Thailand, the species was found in 20% of the mixed-species flocks.

China 147

China Vietnam Birds Monkeys 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

The Eurasian Wryneck is the woodpecker that doesn’t look like a woodpecker, the bird with the portmanteau name that is also a medical condition (and which may remind some people of a Nora Ephron essay). They are slim and small-headed birds and their bills are fine, not strong and dynamic. They are ant specialists.

Woodpeckers 256

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 256

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2019

Perhaps you don’t know it yet, but with more than 1000 bird species, palm-fringed sandy beaches, developed tourism infrastructure, moderate prices and political stability, Thailand is a country you definitively want to visit. Among them are 20 endemics and near-endemics, and 58 vagrant species. Or tertiary. Or who cares.

Thailand 206

Thailand Zambia Birds Asia 206

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2024

According to the eBird description, it is everything I am not: a “neon-colored, noisy, highly social bird” Shudder to think (not the bird part though). Next, this post has a long section on babblers, a very ill-defined category of birds. If you want to see how this species builds its nest, see here.)

Burma 218

Burma Birds Vietnam Laos 218

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2020

They contributed 150 lists accounting for 1032 species and more than 36,000 individual birds. Thus 100 species were missed by the time he woke up and noticed that eBird had reset the counters at midnight(do you guys have nothing better to do?). Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve.

2019 191

2019 Chile Texas Sanctuary 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2023

When birding Sabah, Borneo, one almost inevitably passes through Kota Kinabalu, the biggest city and the destination of almost all international flights. While no birder would come here just for the birds of the city, some of them are worth spending a few hours on. There, you may find the Java Sparrow.

Zebras 227

Zebras Thailand Philippines Birds 227

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2012

No matter, the warm fire and comforts of home are nice, as is the winter birding here. On the way I managed to sneak in a manic day of birding in and around the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. So much birding was squeezed into this day that I have had to break it up into two posts!

Thailand 157

Thailand New Zealand Terrapins Asia 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2014

When birding, as in life in general, it is important to stop occasionally and smell the metaphorical roses. This isn’t just because roses smell nice (although many do) or even because we need to remember that almost all birds depend in one way or another on plants (although they mostly do). Sure, they aren’t birds.

Philippines 165

Philippines Protection Malaysia Indonesia 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

This week’s quiz was global in nature, asking to identify endemic species of a country that needed to be guessed based on a number of clues. There were four people who correctly ID’ed endemic species in that country in short order. It conjures up dreams of great birds that I have not seen yet. How compelling.

Costa Rica 145

Costa Rica 2011 Thailand Species 145

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

It’s my fantasy and it’s yours: Quit the job, say good-bye to the family, and bird. British birder Chris Gooddie, my new birding hero, not only dreamed the fantasy, he lived it. This is the birding adventure book supreme. I get my own idea of the lunacy of Gooddie’s quest when I talk to a friend who has birded Asia and Africa.

Hunters 211

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 211

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Sometimes, when I’m writing trip reports about far off places (relative to most of my readers) I wonder what exactly people make of some of the birds I mention seeing. Is a Coua a bird or a city in Brazil? Is a saw-wing a bird or an engine part? Is a logrunner a bird or a black market timber trader? What a treat!

Australia 175

Australia Fiji Hunters Family 175