10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

Colorful bills and heads seem quite popular among Letaba’s bird species – see the African Jacana (blue and black) … … the Striated Heron (yellow and blue) … … and the Yellow-billed Stork (yellow and red). The Latin species name vermiculatus (worm-like) refers to the markings on the upperparts.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2016

and dreaming of a place where the heat is moderate, beer snake-cold and birds innumerable… Let’s say, where the average annual maximum varies from 22 to 24 degrees Celsius / 72 to 75 Fahrenheit and where some 700+ bird species – 24 of them endemic – are waiting for an intrepid birder… Answer to the riddle?

Africa 140

Africa Uganda Gorillas Rwanda 140

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Tours groups that I guided to Ethiopia ten years ago had to endure very basic accommodation, almost no surfaced roads and low levels of service. There are also dry areas but this great diversity has resulted in an incredible bird list of over 900 species including Africa’s 2nd highest count of endemics (after South Africa).

Ethiopia 273

Ethiopia Eritrea Africa Mammals 273

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2013

This was the local name meaning “ugly” used for these primates by the people of the Gonder area in northern Ethiopia when the German naturalist Rüppell “discovered” this species for science in the 1830’s. Males that do not have attached females also form bachelor groups that usually associate around the periphery of the bands or herds.

Ethiopia 161

Ethiopia Primates Mammals Fur 161

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

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). Over a dozen distinctive ethnic groups exist here, many of whom live lives little touched by the modern world. Yellow-billed Stork. Hamar mother and child.

Ethiopia 249

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Birds 249

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2014

Sometimes in a forest you’d be forgiven for thinking there was nothing but birds, monkeys and squirrels (and mosquitos, obviously), and then at night you start seeing civets, wallabies, and tarantulas. We toured the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre after dark, and we did it by foot in a group that was just my family and a guide.

Badgers 154

Badgers Wildlife Reptiles Monkeys 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2014

For one, they are remarkably diverse with a little over 380 species spread over every continent except Europe (only introduced) and Antarctica. With their strong flight and capability to disperse, parrots have managed to colonize almost every major island group from Tahiti to Mauritius to Dominica. I am a self-proclaimed psittacophile.

Parrots 169

Parrots Brazil Mauritius Dominica 169

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2019

We had found thirty four bird species so far in Singapore and had to admit defeat due to lack of sleep and returned to the hotel. We had been busying bird watching all over Singapore and had reached 112 bird species and had decided it was time to visit Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. I will now skip forward to Thursday, 14th March.

Singapore 114

Singapore Transported Boars Malaysia 114

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Fluttering Shearwater ( Puffinus gavia ) Flesh-footed Shearwater ( Puffinus carneipes ) Buller’s Shearwater ( Puffinus bulleri ) Along with these three were Two further species, also both familiar to North American birders, Sooty Shearwaters and Short-tailed Shearwaters. It is also restricted as a breeder to the north of North Island.

New Zealand 176

New Zealand Albatross 2011 Cooking 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

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. We’ll take these two similar, yet very different groups of birds separately.

California Condor 190

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 190

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2017

The photographs are by a group of nature photographers, guides, and birders, including Kricher himself, plus familiar names such as James Adams, Edison Buenaño, Gina Nichol, Dennis Paulson, and Clay Taylor. It was my first trip to the Neotropics, and I had no idea what I was getting into.

South America 163

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 163

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2017

Along that stretch, we enjoyed Fork-tailed Flycatchers and other species in the open fields and marshes including Harriss’s Hawk , the local Nicaraguan Seed-Finch , and, best of all, a pair of normally sneaky and secretive Yellow-breasted Crakes walking in the open through a grassy marsh!

Costa Rica 128

Costa Rica San Jose Birds Farming 128

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2018

We are looking up in the sky, trying to identify the small group of swifts that are circling over head, when we are joined by a young man with his camera and tripod. He quickly starts pointing our different species that are all around us, with exceptional and obvious knowledge. Costa Rica species – 273. That story is here.

Costa Rica 113

Costa Rica Falcons Mexico Groups 113

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

If this was America, we might not be concerned because starlings are an invasive species, at least in North America. That means crows join humans, apes and monkeys in exhibiting advanced relational thinking, according to the research. So, here we go… Fighting in Iraq has been affecting starlings. Ifrasound waves are cool.

Science 152

Science Iraq Research Birds 152

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2016

In this study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a group of juvenile zebra finches was allowed to interact with an adult. Another group simply heard adult songs played through a speaker. I’m pretty sure this was already partly known or suspected, but this new research nails it down.

Mammals 114

Mammals Zebras Birds Primates 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2023

A boat ride into this swamp turns up usual suspects like Pied Water Tyrant and Yellow-hooded Blackbird , but also (and most excitingly) three species of kingfisher: Green, American Pygmy and Ringed Kingfisher. Back in 2014 we stumbled upon a juvenile Double-toothed Kite and that was the first and only time I have ever seen that species well.

Trinidad 29

Trinidad Falcons Primates Monkeys 29

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2024

Familiar, but beautiful regardless: Blue-headed Parrot Another small parrot species landed on a tree in the distance. It was a Black-headed Parrot , a species that I had meagrely attempted to see in Trinidad once without success. In the distance, Capuchinbirds wailed.

Guyana 224

Guyana Parrots Trinidad Woodpeckers 224

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2021

In the Orinoco, the largest observed groups number 30, but average is just above five. We sailed right into a group of more than a dozen Hoatzins (cover photo, by Tyler Ficker) with their orange mohawks and blue facial skin. and near-endemic Golden-backed Uakari monkeys ( Cacajao melanocephalus ). For a breath of air?

Dolphins 264

Dolphins Colombia Otters Birds 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. Mammals of South Asia follows the latest taxonomy, describes all the species recorded within the region and provides a range map for each species. monkeys, deer, gazelles, etc.).

Asia 182

Asia Mammals Sri Lanka Bhutan 182

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2022

There’s an unofficial series of posts on species of birds that occur in threes in T&T (see: bitterns , trogons , antshrikes , spinetails , manakins , hermits , honeycreepers , and resident warblers ). We also saw a small group of Guianan Red Howler Monkeys feeding nearby. Turquoise Tanager.

Trinidad 256

Trinidad Birds Tigers Groups 256

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

There are important details within that dictum that we will ignore here, but this has to do with knowing when a characteristic doesn’t really tell you about the relative position of species on a “tree of life” vs when the characteristic works for that purpose. That was useful, and it is still useful, even if there are often major exceptions.

Monkeys 145

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 145

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 17, 2011

Nonetheless, they adjusted their behavior to allow Babyl to remain with the group. Caledonian crows live in small family groups and youngsters learn to fashion and use tools by watching adults. Harvard University psychologist Marc Hauser observed what could be called embarrassment in a male rhesus monkey.

Emotional 100

Emotional Animal Whales Whaling 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2013

A Long-tailed Sylph, one of the America’s many long tailed hummingbird species, photographed in Colombia by Adam Riley. A Great Argus in full call, this species’ tail consists of the longest feather in the bird world. The 9 species of whydah are brood-parasitic seedeaters belonging to the Indigobird family.

Papua New Guinea 248

Papua New Guinea South Africa Africa Zimbabwe 248

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2014

I was fortunate to spend time scanning open fields, wetlands, and the inlet separating Hong Kong from China with this large group of friendly and avid avian observers. Mai Po Nature Reserve : world famous locale for shorebirds, waterfowl, waders, and wetland birds; wintering grounds for certain endangered species. SPECIES LIST.

2014 226

2014 Eagles Asia Groups 226

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2020

There are three species of crow-like cotingas with odd hairdos known as umbrellabirds, the Bare-necked Umbrellabird is the one that lives in Costa Rica. The bird foraged on fruit in the upper understory, moving the vegetation almost as much as a monkey does. These are some of mine: The umbrellabird. Three days, three hawk-eagles.

Costa Rica 204

Costa Rica 2019 San Jose Eagles 204

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

The birds were too far away to identify, and I know more than one species does this, but if I had to guess they were starlings. One group is trying to make a better list of which species of birds to pretend to be doing something about vis-a-vis imminent extinction using a unique approach: Identifying the most genetically unique species.

Birds 185

Birds Bald Eagle Zoos Philippines 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2017

In fact, we saw two species of monkey, our only sloths, lots of coatis, and my rarest ever mammal sighting—a Jaguarundi —right on site. Plus, we never stopped finding new and better species, which suggests that this place could compile a highly respectable site list. This species is a Summit Ponds specialty. Glossy Ibis.

Panama 100

Panama 2017 Monkeys Family 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

A single large spider monkey, which might be out of view, equals a large number of lightly built and small birds which may be scattered across the landscape. This is also a hard question to address because most data on animal size distribution does not compare across classes of animals, and/or focuses on groups that would not be helpful.

Mammals 179

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

Basically, this species is so dimwitted, it doesn’t know how to survive. Because, Pink Pigeons are not capable of doing the tasks required to create and bring up children of the species. Don’t these birds care about propagating their species? What happened to Thelma and Louise? I know, that’s harsh.

Mauritius 102

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 102

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

Like Kapiti the island is an offshore refuge for many species extinct on the mainland, with a lot of the work being done by the voluntary Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi. One species I really hoped to find on the trip was the Kokako. You start hearing and catching glimpses of birds as soon as you land, particularly the fast moving Tui.

New Zealand 149

New Zealand 2011 Deer Cats 149

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2022

Lango Camp deck overlooking Lango Baï, by Congo Conservation Company The forests of the Congo Basin contain more than a 1,000 species of birds, together with 400 species of mammals, including Okapi, Hippos, Leopards, Chimpanzees and Bonobos. Other primates include Chimpanzee and Putty-nosed Monkey, several duiker antelope species, etc.

Central African Republic 302

Central African Republic Congo Gabon Gorillas 302

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

I was in contact with a group of birders for whom I arranged and guided an annual tour to Africa. Blue-moustached Bee-eater is rainforest species occurring in just a few scattered sites in Ghana, it was previously considered a subspecies of Blue-headed Bee-eater. During each trip we would discuss a destination for the following year.

Ghana 199

Ghana Hunters Guinea Gambia 199

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

They submitted 144 checklists, noting 628 species adding 72 to the year’s running total bringing it to 1890. Monkey Mia. Monkey Mia. Monkey Mia. Lassen Volcanic NP–Lost Creek Group Campground. Those are the numbers, here come the birds; Alphabetic Taxonomic. Great Tinamou – Tinamus major.

2017 100

2017 Australia Sanctuary Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2019

Slightly larger than Wales and about the size of the US state of Maryland, this country’s lure is its 703 bird species and three dozen Albertine Rift endemics among them. Forget the old news, Rwanda of today is one of Africa’s safest, cleanest and most stable countries. are covered in the remaining 49 pages. Published by Lynx Edicions.

Rwanda 216

Rwanda Primates Wildlife Gorillas 216

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2014

USA may get to play there if they make it to the semi-finals as Group G runner up. Open from dawn to dusk 7 days a week, it has an eBird hotspot list of 79 species from 16 submissions. It has an eBird score of 197 species from 25 checklists. Look out for the Howler Monkeys too. Timings are 08.00 ‘til 17.00.

Brazil 160

Brazil Birds Transported Game 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2014

When you read trip reports of birders going to remote and interesting locations to see interesting (and not so interesting birds, I’m looking at you LBJs), these accounts are typically written by people who have either gone with groups of like-minded people or those that have gone it alone. And the birds? I saw plenty.

Birds 190

Birds Bats Elephants Family 190

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2012

These truly are the gentle giants of the forest and with a little careful manoeuvring on our wooden platform; we were all enjoying great scope views of a mixed group of beautiful males with their giant jet black casques and pale blue throat wattles alongside the ginger punk-haired females. Truly fantastic.

Ghana 181

Ghana Guinea Birds Eagles 181