10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2024

Interestingly, these juveniles look more similar to another species, the Pale-billed Parrotbill, than the adult babblers – and they sometimes are part of the same flock. If you want to see how this species builds its nest, see here.) These roads are much less of a hindrance for the Pin-striped Tit-babbler , a mid-story bird.

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Burma Birds Vietnam Laos 205

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

While I am still not so sure about China’s sense of humor – though admittedly, the issue is mostly a mismatch between what I think is funny and what the average Chinese thinks is funny, an issue that I have had in other countries as well – the country sure has its fair share of Laughingthrushes. This post shows some of them.

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San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 219

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2022

According to an article in the Guardian , “nearly a quarter of black swan families are parented by homosexual couples, the males sometimes mating with a female simply to have a chick. On the other hand, given China’s low birth rate, they might serve as an example for the future. I thought I needed to mention this.

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Birds China Pythons Breeding 221

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2024

Personally, I wish the species the best of luck in this endeavor. (Of However, the fact that there are 30 subspecies seems to indicate that the species has a slightly overblown estimation of its own importance. This species has a relatively large number of calls – 12, to be specific, compared to the average of 7.6

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Birds Research Science Europe 204

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2024

This is the home of the Rusty-naped Pitta , admittedly one of the less glamorous of the family, particularly the subspecies found in Yunnan, but still a nice sight and still a pitta. The scientific species name of the Rusty-naped Pitta oatesi honors Eugene William Oates (1845-1911), an English civil servant in India and naturalist.

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Burma India Birds Indonesia 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2023

Not a cover species The Black Kite is not actually black, but of course, misleading bird names are not exactly rare. No surprise then that the species is listed as Vulnerable. But then, sanity (or maybe respect for you, the reader) prevailed. Fortunately, they are quite common in Shanghai.

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Birds Iraq China Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2024

This post starts like every birding blog post should start – by showcasing some bulbul species. According to the HBW, captive wild-caught juveniles from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in China tend to prefer black and red fruits over yellow, green or blue fruits. Yes, I am joking.

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Birds Owls China Research 149

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. While it is listed as Least Concern, it is rare in China – the range map in the HBW barely touches Chinese territory.

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Birds Myanmar China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

Shanghai parks are rather crowded and noisy places, but the goshawks – who unlike me have lived in China all their lives – apparently do not mind. Coming from somebody who has exiled himself to China, this is not exactly a compliment. Swinhoe’s White-eye was just promoted to the rank of a full species in 2018.

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Birds China Eggs Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

I tried to get a better idea of what exactly the definition of cuckoo-dove is but am still not very clear about it – Wikipedia only offers the rather formal definition “any of several species of bird in the genera Macropygia , Reinwardtoena, and Turacoena of the pigeon family.” But I may well be wrong.

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Birds Geese Fish Industry 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

If I was an ornithologist aiming for a grant, I would now definitely highlight the need for more research on this topic. The Grey-Streaked Flycatcher looks only marginally more interesting, and while the Latin species name griseisticta sounds vaguely mysterious, it only means grey-spotted.

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Singapore Birds Mountain Goats Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2021

Colombia is one of those countries that Dragan’s dreams are made of: it has 1,965 bird species – more than any other country in the world. Among them are 94 endemics and 101 near-endemics, four introduced species and only 42 vagrants. No matter how big your avian-related library is, this would be a terrific addition to it.

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Birds Colombia Collecting Bald Eagle 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2011

An Archaeopteryx-like theropod from China Then one day you go to a conference of historians and there is a special symposium being held by some well regarded colleagues, who have been working for months with some archaeologists on a secret project. The trait must then be identifiable as to whether or not it exists in a certain species.

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Mammals Europe Groups Family 257

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2011

To the birder, this begs the question: what species of birds appear in the Twelve Days of Christmas ? On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me: A Partridge in a Pear Tree The partridge, a member of the pheasant family, has been a traditional game bird in England for centuries.

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Turtles 2004 United Kingdom Geese 279