10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

Getting to actually see four species, in the last two weeks, and to hear two more is almost unheard of in my experience. Last week, a good friend, Dan Weisz gave me a tip on the location of a family of Burrowing Owls that were extremely easy to access. It all started in getting to photograph the Northern Pygmy-owls in Madera Canyon.

Owls 151

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 151

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on my home patch of Cape Town, South Africa. The little seaside village of Rooiels is famed for being a wonderful location to pick up some choice South African endemics but it is also one of the most beautiful spots in the Cape.

South Africa 243

South Africa Penguins Birds Africa 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

Excellent 10,000 Birds posts have been written about Pico Bonito and Honduras by Corey and Carlos , so I’m going to focus on some of my most memorable experiences. We saw a smaller member of the potoo family, Northern Potoo , Nyctibius jamaicensis , at Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, boating and birding the Salado River.

Honduras 249

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 249

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. They are also attracted by fires and can gather in thousands.

Africa 240

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 240

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

This time I’ll be working with Wildlife ACT in Zululand, helping that NGO monitor wildlife in a range of reserves and parks in the east of South Africa. Volunteering provides a very different experience to tourism though. Ugandan Mangabeys were part of my family once. The emptiness of the Namib Desert impresses.

Uganda 161

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 161

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

Growing up within an hour of one of the world’s premier shorebird destinations -- West Coast National Park in South Africa -- helped for sure. Filming the plovers of Estero Lagoon Plovers are a significant part of the shorebird family, comprising 66 species worldwide. Firstly, shorebirds present a significant ID challenge.

Florida 190

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 190

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Prime destinations for seeing African Elephant in the wild include Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Uganda. Black Rhinos are best sought in South Africa, Namibia and Tanzania. Lions are most easily found in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Buffalo 202

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 202

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

Ballantine and Hyman explore how birds communicate and summarize studies on how that communication functions in diverse bird families all over the world. Research experiments are described without citing the names of the researchers themselves or any other background information.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2011

By age 2 she could identify over 10 species of birds in our Johannesburg, South Africa, yard by call alone. Astounding because she picked up birding before she could speak and surprising because this ability was definitely not inherited from anyone in my family, myself included. And perhaps 20 others by sight.

Birds 278

Birds Game Wildlife Family 278

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

The Peru Birding Rally Challenge is a joint initiative between PromPeru and the Inkaterra Family of hotels. The idea is to hold the event bi-annually, once a year in the south of Peru and once in the North. In early December of 2012 we had the opportunity to cover this hard-core rally in the south of Peru.

Peru 226

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2016

For most of the birders in our group, visiting the Taj Mahal was the fulfillment of a bucket list experience, and they left feeling ecstatic over its beauty. I also had just enough time to view the Indian Grey Hornbill in the tree next-door. I left feeling ecstatic over observing the birds.

India 188

India Tigers Birds Owls 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

However, the great birding experience that is Sani starts lower down. A family of endangered Wattled Cranes might be a highlight of the lower sections of the Sani Pass road, by Adam Riley. Buff-streaked Chats and Cape Rock-Thrushes sing from boulder tops, and family huddles of Ground Woodpeckers emit their rather gull-like shrieks.

Lesotho 169

Lesotho Africa Birds Rats 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

Ethiopia, a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa).

Ethiopia 242

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Game 242

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

And, as a bonus, your spouse/partner will probably want to go birding with you more often… Tags: Portugal , Worldwide Birding Adventures • Camping tents - Check out our pop up tents , family tents , and more! These Blasts From The Past Sometimes you just have to smile! Oh, Yeah, I’m Going to Ecuador!

Portugal 172

Portugal 2011 Deer Birds 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

These Blasts From The Past Lakes, lightning, locusts and lizards Great Birding Sites From Great Birding Bloggers Anderson River Park Never Disappoints Birding Kuwait The Other Antigua About the Author James A life-long birder and native of South Africa, James Currie has many years experience in the birding and wildlife tourism arenas.

Dominican Republic 186

Dominican Republic 2011 Birds Deer 186

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2024

They are very rare birds in Britain, but have been recorded from Scilly in the south to Fair Isle in the north. They can be challenging to identify, especially if you haven’t seen one before, though with experience they are not really so difficult. The post Andalucia’s City-Slicker Falcons first appeared on 10,000 Birds.

Falcons 196

Falcons Spain Europe 2012 196

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 211

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 211

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

But, unlike most books focused on a bird family, this one is organized geographically. Each chapter focuses on a specific geographic area of penguin population: (1) Antarctica, (2) South Georgia, (3) Falkland Islands, (4) South Africa and Tristan de Cunha, (5) New Zealand and Australia, (6) South America and Galapagos.

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 278

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

Madikwe , in South Africa, wasn’t a site of importance before it came into existence. And so South Africa’s fifth largest park came to be (it’s worth remembering that its largest park, Kruger, is the size of Israel) on marginal land that no one in particular could do much with. But they are very cute!

South Africa 148

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 148

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2011

Veraguan Mango by Carlos Bethancourt Although the Neotropical region supports fewer bird families than Africa, there are considerably more bird species here than anywhere else on earth. This means that there are some astoundingly large families of birds in Central and South America.

Panama 206

Panama Costa Rica 2011 Cleveland 206

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

Hornbills are spectacular under any circumstances, but when a pair lands in a bush beside you at eye-level and begin mutual preening , it makes for a spectacular experience. I was attending the 3rd Global Bird-watching Conference in Gujarat and suddenly surrounded not just be species that were completely new, but entire families of birds.

2013 167

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

I had spent several holidays with my family in the USA in the 1980′s and then worked in Maine during the summer of 1985-beware the poison ivy and the snapping turtles! We have never been to South Africa, but it is a lovely book to look at and dream! Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

South Africa 158

South Africa United States Austin Alligators 158

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Quintessential African scene from Tarangire National Park, Tanzania Africa boasts a fabulous and unique avifauna. Besides these truly African families, Africa abounds in a wealth of species in other more widespread groups; weavers, barbets, kingfishers, sunbirds, rollers, bee-eaters, and dare I mention them, cisticolas!

Papua New Guinea 220

Papua New Guinea Madagascar Africa Equatorial Guinea 220

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. I wrote about the experience here. There are three principle reasons for my choice: First of all, it’s a cuckoo, one of the great families that rival owls and rails in my affection. Secondly, well just look at it.

2012 148

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 148

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

The reality is that it’s if pretty difficult to see most penguin species, excepting the wonderfully accessible African Penguins at Boulders Beach outside Cape Town, South Africa and the Galapagos Penguins, ironically one of the rarest and most commonly seen species. That’s a lot of books about a bird family that cannot fly.

Penguins 198

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 198