10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

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? South Africa (755 / 842). Why am I here? And where all those birds are? The Afrotropics.

Sri Lanka 256

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 256

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

I did that with Peacocks & Picathartes – Reflections on Africa’s birdlife (published by Penguin Random House South Africa ). In case you didn’t know, yes, there is an indigenous peacock living in Africa, the Congo Peafowl. Day after day went by, with much sound but no sight of the peacocks.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

What the Owl Knows is organized into nine chapters: introduction, adaptation (including vision and flight), research and researchers, vocalization, courtship and breeding, roosting and migration, cognition, and two chapters on owls and humans–captive owls (not zoos, educational owls) and owls in our cultural history.

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

I was in contact with a group of birders for whom I arranged and guided an annual tour to Africa. We already had South Africa, Zambia and Uganda under our belts, but my clients’ request for the next year came right out of the blue: Ghana! During each trip we would discuss a destination for the following year.

Ghana 188

Ghana Hunters Guinea Gambia 188

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

Penguins are also bellweathers of climate change; dwellers of remote areas you’ve (probably) never heard of; creatures who have developed unique, innovative ways of adapting to the harsh environments where they breed and rear chicks and the water environments in which they feed and swim.

Penguins 191

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 191