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The Jewel Hunter: A Book Review About One Birder’s Quest for Pittas and Beer

10,000 Birds

Each chapter of The Jewel Hunter reads like a mini-travel novel. If you want to travel the world birding and drinking beer, The Jewel Hunter is a must-buy. The Jewel Hunter belongs to a singular niche, the Big Year/Big Lifelist book. The Jewel Hunter can be frustrating in this respect. And mosquitos. And leeches.

Hunters 188
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What Exactly is a Pardalote?

10,000 Birds

Insofar as they relate to other bird families, they are perhaps closest to the thornbills, another family that is mostly Australian but reaches as far as Thailand and Fiji. Lerps are the carbohydrate rich protective shells exuded by tiny bugs (hermipteras) that suck sugars out of the leaves of eucalypts.

Australia 170
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Birding Shanghai in February 2023

10,000 Birds

Maybe those should be protected too? Given that the Black Kite is politely described as an “opportunistic hunter” – which includes the fact that they are more likely to scavenge than most other raptors – the name choice of the company protecting the world’s cyber ecosystem is a bit weird.

Birds 130