10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2023

This leaves Shanghai in June with basically just the year-round species and the summer breeders, maybe with a few added ultra-lazy individuals of migratory species. Fortunately, there are a few more such breeding species than most Shanghainese are aware of. Here’s a video. Also as video.

Birds 130

Birds Eggs Breeders Breeding 130

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

China 237

China Birds Pythons Eagles 237

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2024

Given that according to the HBW, the species prefers dense primary and secondary montane forests, the note that the bird also forages among kitchen waste (in the same HBW entry) seems somewhat incongruous. This laughingthrush is a cooperative breeder – nestlings are fed by all members of a group, often 6-12 (not just 2 as in Wham!)

Burma 209

Burma India Birds Indonesia 209

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2022

It is not particularly big but has a reported 430 bird species including migrants, though during my short stay it seems I missed most of the key attractions among them. Poor researchers Nicola Coumi and Rob Slotow failed to find anything particularly interesting about vigilance in Bronze Mannikin groups.

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa Birds Research 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2023

The Ashy Tailorbird is a good example of the different perspectives of describing a bird – while the English name focuses on the body of the bird, the Latin species name ruficeps refers to the rufous head. The split makes the bird one of the six species endemic to Sabah, Borneo ( source ), four of which I saw during my week at Sepilok.

Woodpeckers 218

Woodpeckers Birds Eggs India 218

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

You can also see the owl not moving much in a short video. In Alaska, they were found to mimic 30 different species ( source ). Apparently , the two main factors influencing double brooding are the individual quality of the breeder and the timing of the first clutch. It did not seem to bother the owl much though.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

The simple answer is monetary gain, there is a global black market for these items, regardless of the species’ vulnerability for extinction. And, how they betrayed that trust, stealing eggs for years and, possibly even worse, falsifying research data. wrote a lengthy article in Outside magazine (Jan. 2019), and now this book.

Falcons 219

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 219