10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2019

Just imagine a family excursion to Yellowstone to photograph grazing herds of elephants – equally wrong. E.g. someone capable of telling the CGI masterminds that the crows at the corpses couldn’t be the Carrion Crows of Western, but the Hooded Crows of Eastern Europe? The panicky human parents are the worst kind.

Protection 147

Protection Elephants Owls Laws 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Mute Swans are large, white, and decorative, and as such their natural range has been significantly altered by humans who generally enjoy having them around. Its natural range in Europe was restricted the the surroundings of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and in Asia it ranged from Asia Minor to central China.

Feral 168

Feral Europe Asia North America 168

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. The Blue Whistling Thrush is presumably named for its loud human-like whistling, and possibly for being blue.

Birds 147

Birds Myanmar China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2012

Specifically, rural northwestern Spain, at various points along the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route to the supposed burial place of Saint James the apostle and, before that, to the westernmost point in continental Europe, the supposed End of the Earth, the Finis Terra. My journey started off in the city of Leon.

Spain 169

Spain Europe Industry Rodents 169

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

To us on the traditional side of the Atlantic, they’ll always belong to the family Iznogoudae , the birds who want to become warblers instead of the warblers. The genus Passer has several well-recognized and recognizable species in Europe, and still holds several enigmas. And do they ever try so hard.

Sparrows 210

Sparrows Italy Asia Austria 210

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2015

And the squirrel I will post about is indeed what it seems : a cute, little, ferocious, nest-predatory, butt-kicking, cuddly and adorable native critter of Europe, the Eurasian Red Squirrel. Germany, like most of Europe and very much unlike North America, is home to only one species of squirrel. And aren’t you glad it is.

Squirrels 162

Squirrels North America Germany Europe 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

The Edwards’s Pheasant is a rather smart blue-black member of the pheasant family and it may be on the edge of extinction. It has recently been reclassified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List; this category is reserved for only the most threatened species in the world.

Vietnam 154

Vietnam 2000 Germany Asia 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

I was given my first real field guide to the birds of Europe by my parents, a guide beyond the species found at backyard feeders and city ponds. My childhood in the 1970s and 1980s was of course shaped by family, friends, playmobil ( very popular in Germany back then), and school but also to a certain extend by the Cold War.

Europe 100

Europe Birds Kazakhstan Russia 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2014

Parrots captivate me more than any other bird family. For one, they are remarkably diverse with a little over 380 species spread over every continent except Europe (only introduced) and Antarctica. However, they do not occur evenly across their familial distribution. I am a self-proclaimed psittacophile. Most do not.

Parrots 167

Parrots Brazil Mauritius Dominica 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. It is also related to Wood Stork of the Americas and Milky Stork of Asia.

Africa 235

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 235

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

For some reason that I do not quite understand myself – given that I really rather dislike children and am not too positive about the rest of humanity either – I recently put up a little display of bird photos inside my Shanghai compound, which I share (as the only foreigner) with about 1700 Chinese.

Birds 162

Birds Fish Germany China 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

I say “the” mountain ash, but I am actually speaking of a collective – over a hundred species (the exact number is contested) of short trees and large shrubs found in the genus Sorbus of the family Rosaceae. In Scotland you plant one by the door to ward off evil magic.

Europe 160

Europe Collecting Humane Family 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2011

European Storks are majestic, they’re graceful and stately and all of the positively connotated adjectives that are applied to birds to which humans have a long and pleasant history rooted deep in our western cultural heritage. In fact, there’s hardly a bird in the world that has such a venerated relationship with us.

Pedigree 170

Pedigree North America South Carolina Brazil 170

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant. The little – the two species of black Buffalo Weavers obtain their appellation from their dark coloration that resembles their fearsome namesake.

Buffalo 197

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 197

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2016

The world is still turning, the blog didn’t crash, no anonymous threats against my family on social media … I guess my small series on gulls may continue with part 2 of 3, which will focus on the Herring Gull ‘s second side-kick: Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans. Why does “steppe” win over “Caspian”?

Kazakhstan 112

Kazakhstan Germany Ukraine Asia 112

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2012

Sure, the old runways and service roads are still there but the areas between them are not mowed very often, some of the paved areas have been allowed to go completely wild, and nature, as always, finds its way back in as soon as humanity turns its back. It was one of the busiest airports in the 1930s, is home to a building 1.2

Birds 199

Birds 2010 Humane Family 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation. The species are taxonomically divided into two families: Tytonidae, Barn-Owls, and Strigidae, Owls, encompassed in one order, Strigiformes.

Owls 203

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 203

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2020

This boldness isn’t restricted to exchanges with other grouse, either: in some locales, members of this circumpolar family are astonishingly foolhardy around humans. But there’s at least one night on the Scottish calendar when the grouse enjoys a reprieve, at least from human appetites.

Sheep 191

Sheep Branding Ireland Fowl 191

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

A few do breed in Europe, on the extreme north-east of European Russia. The latter is half the size of the Grey, but with its stout beak and prominent eyes shows a distinct family likeness. Both species of geese have increased hugely in recent years. A Ringed Plover.

Geese 177

Geese Russia Breeding Unwanted 177

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

When I came here for the first time, the Kerkini Lake was the only place in Europe where Dalmatian Pelicans were increasing their numbers. Below legal size for humans is still legal for pelicans. I do have experience with this species from Bodrum, Turkey; it is daring, bold and cocky, and is impossible to forget.

Greece 190

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 190

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2011

Gray Jay : This drab but charismatic species demonstrates that the more a bird interacts with humans, the more colloquial names it will tend to pick up. Once known as the Canada Jay, but more interestingly by such tags as Camp Robber and Venison Hawk for its habit of hanging around humans and viewing them as a food source.

Hunters 179

Hunters Falcons Ducks Montana 179

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2015

They are typically easy places to reach, easy to get about in, safe, and serve as a natural primer for many of the species you’re going to be seeing on a trip. To me they are quintessentially African, but these days the goose is well on the way to being and established native to Europe and guineafowl have been domesticated everywhere.

Africa 182

Africa Birds South Africa Mongoose 182

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

March 14, 2011 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Jon Gassett, Commissioner One Sportsman’s Lane Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Dear Mr. Gassett, I am a writer, naturalist and artist with a special interest in human/bird interactions. Nationwide, wildlife watchers now outspend hunters 6 to 1.

2011 241

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 241

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

Birds 183

Birds Research Science Europe 183

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. It is also called Chinese Bulbul.

Birds 130

Birds Iraq China Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2022

As usual, birds seem to like these off-the-way places best – eBird lists 337 species based on a little more than just 100 checklists. While the HBW describes the bulbul family as “often rather plain”, I find them usually quite attractive, though in an understated way that may not appeal to the flashiness-seeking HBW authors.

Birds 173

Birds Woodpeckers Kangaroos Madagascar 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

Picidae, Woodpecker, is one of those charismatic bird families that everybody gets excited about. Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide is the first major guide to family Picidae in 20 years. Gorman, a Brit who now resides in Central Europe, is a naturalist and tour leader who specializes in Eastern Europe and woodpeckers.

Woodpeckers 237

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 237

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl covers every residential, migrating, vagrant, exotic, and introduced swan, goose, dabbling and diving duck in North America (Canada and the United States): 62 Species Accounts on four swan species and one vagrant subspecies; 15 goose species; 46 duck species; plus accounts for hybrid geese, ducks and exotics.

Ducks 115

Ducks North America Geese Hunters 115