10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Myers, a professional birding guide in “real life,” summarizes the etymology and history of all common bird names (of bird families and groups, not all 10,000-plus species). You don’t need to be a linguist to delight in the diversity and sometimes unexpectedness of these name origins.

Sri Lanka 264

Sri Lanka Malaysia Birds Suriname 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

This species is a southern African endemic, restricted to, but fortunately not uncommon, in dry woodland and sand forest habitats of northern Zululand, Swaziland, scattered pockets of north-eastern South Africa and southern Mozambique. Once their soft trilling call is learnt, they are easily detected.

Africa 250

Africa Somalia Pelicans Mozambique 250

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Ndumo Game Reserve lies in the Easternmost part of South Africa, close to the border of Mozambique and Eswatini. Poor researchers Nicola Coumi and Rob Slotow failed to find anything particularly interesting about vigilance in Bronze Mannikin groups. Pel’s Fishing Owl, where were you? ” I wish I had this kind of optimism.

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa Birds Research 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

Woodward’s Barbet belongs to a group of barbets known as Green Barbets. The sunbird was named in honor of Neergaard, a mining staff recruiting officer for Goldfields based in southern Mozambique who assisted Captain Grant during his expedition. Image by Adam Riley. Image by Hugh Chittenden. Image by Hugh Chittenden.

Mozambique 231

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 231

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2015

This time it is the Old World that has misnamed a group of birds, or in fact several groups. They are also found in patches of Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and also north through Zambia, the Congo and Tanzania (just poking into Kenya). It all comes back to a split in one of the great bird families, the Turdidae, or thrushes.

Mozambique 198

Mozambique Zambia Zimbabwe Namibia 198

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2012

Barbets are a group of medium sized, chunky, generally colorful, frugivorous, hole-nesting near-passerines, that are popular targets for anyone birding in the tropics. The four Gymnobucco species are Africa’s least observed group of barbets as they are restricted to the less visited tropics of central and west Africa.

Ethiopia 252

Ethiopia Tanzania Africa Uganda 252