10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2023

This is how it looks like: Or at sunset: A species I did not come for from Shanghai is the Black-crowned Night Heron. They look crap but presumably offer some protection for the chicks, though not from each other (see the murderous activities within the nests in my previous post ). Yes, we have them in Shanghai as well.

Birds 217

Birds Eagles Elephants Rhinoceros 217

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. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. New World Vultures.

California Condor 181

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 181

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Later, Harry Fuller, President of the Klamath Bird Observatory, led us to an open meadow where we saw a pair of Great Gray Owls hunting in a meadow. Carlos chose a pigeon that pretty much everyone should want to see: My best bird of the year came right at the beginning of January as I was wrapping up my travels in Thailand.

2014 189

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 189

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

There were two species there, even, of a type I had never heard of. 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. You’ll find pardalotes over most of Australia, but only four species in all.

Australia 171

Australia Fiji Hunters Family 171