10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2023

In fact, John MacKinnon (of “Guide to the Birds of China”) in a recent Shanghai presentation called it “not a real woodpecker at all”, and while he is wrong about that, I sort of see his point. At Sepilok, it can be hard to avoid taking photos of some non-birds, such as primates.

Woodpeckers 218

Woodpeckers Birds Eggs India 218

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2015

Flight has evolved multiple times; it has emerged in lizards, snakes, fish, bats, maybe bats again, distant relatives of primates, regular primates, rodents, and a few other unlikely taxa, in a rather half baked fashion, not “true” flight. It has evolved in non-vertebrate animals like insects more than once.

Rodents 191

Rodents Primates Bats Science 191

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

Now that the colony is off limits for hunting, the population has grown and the village is benefitting tremendously from entry and guide fees, and a school is being built courtesy of conservation funds. Official estimates suggest that logging is proceeding at about four million cubic meters per annum – four times the sustainable rate.

Ghana 196

Ghana Hunters Guinea Gambia 196