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CBC in Paradise

10,000 Birds

A large, bulky falcon cruising overhead could only be a Peregrine Falcon. As soon as we noticed it, a Merlin appeared from nowhere and headed directly for the Peregrine, divebombing the larger falcon. As per usual falcon procedure, it all happened much too quickly for me to get a decent photograph!

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Uganda’s Billion Dollar Bird: The Shoebill

10,000 Birds

Of course, we did, soaking in that slate blue beauty long enough to observe a successful hunt and more of its rangy, awkward flight. Our primeval quarry flashed that cold, knowing smile and flew off, daring us to track it down for better looks. The mighty Shoebill.

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Critically Endangered: Sociable Lapwing

10,000 Birds

Actually, despite the fact that central Asian steppes cover huge areas, Sociable Lapwings breed only around nomadic cattle herders’ settlements, which signifies that this species has evolved alongside wild ungulates, such as Blackbuck and Saiga antelopes, which kept the grass short.

India 240
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Tribes and Birds of the Lower Omo Valley by Adam Riley

10,000 Birds

Heading south on a good surfaced road, we made slow progress through the herds of cattle, donkeys and goats that thronged the highway, until we finally reached the land of the Konso. Quality time was spent with a friendly Hamar family at their homestead of grass huts surrounding their cattle corral.

Ethiopia 234
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I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

As impressive as these birds are, many species, particularly in southern Asia , have seen precipitous population declines having to do somewhat with the old habitat issues that plague animals around the world , but more to do with the widespread use of anti-inflammatory drugs on cattle, who then die and are eaten by vultures who are poisoned.

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Birding Inirida, Colombia, or river dolphins and hoatzins, part 2

10,000 Birds

One of this species’ many peculiarities is that it has a digestive system unique amongst birds: Hoatzins use bacterial fermentation in the front part of the gut to break down the vegetable material they consume, much as cattle and other ruminants do. Left to right: my guide Edson Moroni and the local shop keeper Daniel Luis.

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Which Bird Species Have Gone Extinct in Costa Rica?

10,000 Birds

Not that long ago, Costa Rica had one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, rainforests were razed to make way for hot and chiggery cattle pasture, and bot flies probably became more numerous than some bird populations. Hope for a vagrant comes in the form of an Orange-breasted Falcon sighting from west-central Panama.