article thumbnail

A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

I was especially interested in “To Hide From God,” the chapter on songbird slaughter and protection in Cyprus. Has it really been 21 years (almost) from the publication of Jonathan Franzen’s New Yorker article, “ Emptying the Skies ,” six years since the documentary with the same name?

Cyprus 247
article thumbnail

Fur and Fangs rather than Feathers and Beaks

10,000 Birds

There’s also a much greater variety of species of deer living here now than than there were four or five hundred years ago, for along with our native Roe and Red Deer we also have large populations of Fallow, Sika, Reeves’s Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer. Reeves’s Muntjac , a highly successful invasive species in the UK.

Fur 201
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

European Call to End Bird Trapping

10,000 Birds

The big story of the fortnight in Cyprus isn’t about birds, but it crosses the path of birding (kinda). From July 6-8, there was a European conference in Larnaca about illegal bird killing , organized by Terra Cypria. Which gets me to the real big news in Cyprus of the fortnight, indirectly anyway.

Cyprus 174
article thumbnail

Disaster in the Sundarbans

10,000 Birds

I dreamed of birding the Sundarbans delta – roughly the size of Connecticut or Cyprus – ever since my very dear friends Tim and Hanna Balke told me a story of their visit to these swamps where the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mehgna rivers converge in the Bengal basin. And tell me now – don’t you share my dream?

article thumbnail

I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. Here’s the kicker though.

article thumbnail

A Problem with Gulls

10,000 Birds

Among these white-headed/dark-winged gulls formerly lumped into the genus Larus , there were 18+ recognized species the last time I checked, sharing similarities that make telling them apart for the amateur birdwatcher very difficult. 1998), then the proper name for this species is L. fuscus – should be separated as species.

2011 157
article thumbnail

A History of Birdwatching in 100 Objects: A Review

10,000 Birds

The story of the flightless Dodo, discovered on the island of Mauritius in 1598 and killed off by 1700, is sad and familiar. Do you include objects related to conservation–a copy of Silent Spring , maybe a photo of one of the lime traps that kill thousands of songbirds in Cyprus? I’m not sure what to make of this.

Mauritius 172