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The Regal Western Kingbird Can Be Very Aggressive

10,000 Birds

The Western Kingbird is one of eight species of tyrant flycatchers that breed in North America. Many Kingbirds and other species that regularly hawk prey in the air have a large, broad bill that maximizes their chances of seizing at least some part of an airborne insect when they snap their bill shut. References: 1 Sibley, D.A.

2001 168
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The Crocodile Safari (Botswana)

10,000 Birds

Among 60 or so heron species in the world this is the only one using this peculiar fishing technique. It was January, 2001, and here in the southern hemisphere January is the hottest of summer months. Date: January 24th, 2001 (08:30-11:00h). I would not have minded having some shade myself.

Botswana 195
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Birdwatching the Okavango Delta

10,000 Birds

In 2001 I was offered the chance to joint-lead safaris with my good friend Brian Gibson, owner of Capture Africa Safaris , a long established and well-respected Botswana based safari company. The birdlife here is wonderful, a ten-night safari should give you over 200 species, (2018 & 2019 both gave us 242!).

Botswana 181
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No two scaups are equal

10,000 Birds

In a typical birding year, no other month will bring you that many new species as January. At this point, let us travel in time, back to the last day of the year 2001, and down to the Lowveld National Botanical Garden in Nelspruit, in South Africa’s province of Mpumalanga. And I saw them. I felt… I felt like a tourist.

Serbia 185
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Red-crowned Parrots at Irvine Regional Park, Orange County, California

10,000 Birds

Many escapes and introductions have taken place over the years and some species have found the warm, dry climate to their liking. Quite a few species are well-established and breeding from San Diego to Los Angeles and beyond. In particular, subsection iii seems to be the hurdle that most species can’t clear.

Parrots 225
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Exploring the relationship between flamingos and grebes: The wonderful birds

10,000 Birds

But in 2001, Marcel van Tuinen and his colleagues published a DNA study of waterbirds that proposed a then-shocking sister relationship between flamingos and grebes, two groups “which otherwise show no resemblance,” the authors wrote at the time. The diving, piscivorous grebes were usually grouped with loons.

2001 230
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Greater Rheas: Germany’s new Big Bird

10,000 Birds

Greater Rheas, a species the Germans call Nandu, are very popular in Germany and frequently kept in zoos as well as private enclosures. On the contrary, the birds were quite satisfied with their new-found freedom and realms, and started breeding immediately after their escape in the spring of 2001, much to everyone’s surprise.

Germany 251