10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2011

For native people, living in South America meant living with hummingbirds, and for Europeans, discovering South American meant discovering hummingbirds (and, tragically, exploiting South America meant exploiting hummingbirds, destroying hundreds of thousands for stuffed specimens and in futile attempts to keep them alive in captivity.)

South America 158

South America New York Alaska America 158

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2011

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. Approximately 2,300 bird species inhabit Africa, however as impressive as that sounds, much smaller South America boasts nearly 1,000 species more.

Papua New Guinea 231

Papua New Guinea Madagascar Africa Equatorial Guinea 231

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

So do parrots, some songbirds, humans, and a few other mammals. Humans don’t share merely a similar capacity for vocal learning with hummingbirds, we share share similar brain machinery , and that brain machinery is regulated by similar genes , genes not shared by hummingbirds’ closest relatives, nor by ours. Jarvis et al.

Family 279

Family Birds Parrots 2014 279