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Birding the “Utterly Peaceful Moorland” – Sumapaz NP Colombia

10,000 Birds

I had never been to Colombia before so didn’t know the best birding spots in the vicinity of the capital. As we passed by a small body of water a couple of Apolinar’s Wrens ( Cistothorus apolinari ) skittered in between the stalks of grass and one of them even sort of displayed on top of a small plant with its tail raised high up.

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Getting the Bill – Taste, Touch and Smell in Birds

10,000 Birds

Sword-billed Hummingbird , Colombia Bills come in all shapes and sizes. Whilst catfish have around 100,000 taste buds, rabbits around 17,000 and humans approximately 9,000, birds rarely exceed 100 of these receptors. The longest bird bill relative to body-size. Let’s talk about taste.

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Best Bird of the Year 2011

10,000 Birds

I photographed this Guianan Cock-of-the-rock at a lek site near Surama, deep in the rainforest zone of Guyana, and my incredible experience with Andean Cock-of-the-rocks was at a display lek on the edge of the town of Jardin, in the coffee-belt of Colombia, both just incredible birds that make the heart soar with joy!

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Introducing the African Birding Beat

10,000 Birds

I was fortunate to have been born and raised in Africa, and although I have traveled extensively around the world, it remains my home and in my blood. Birding here is a joy, further augmented by the world’s most intact mammalian megafuana, fascinating tribal cultures, breath-taking scenery and the cradle of human history.

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We Interrupt Regularly Scheduled.

Animal Person

I was told by a Panamanian bank vice president, “Every multinational knows that if Honduras raises its hourly rate, the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean will have to follow. In throwing out Zelaya they are sending frightening messages to all the other presidents who are trying to raise the living standards of their people.”

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