10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

The Trogon family (and order, since the order only includes one family) is quite widespread, being found in all the tropical (and some subtropical) regions of the world. Honesty requires that I confess to having seen none of these species. These species are visually very similar, with subtle differences in their tail patterns.

Mexico 182

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 182

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2015

In many ways the weaver family is for Africa are similar beasts to the pseudowarblers of North America (sometimes called wood-warblers). If anything, some of the weavers take being gaudy to levels unimagined by America’s ‘weavers’, especially when you consider the widowbirds, bishops and malimbes.

South Africa 154

South Africa Senegal Ethiopia Africa 154

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Not that I don’t enjoy seeing new species myself, it’s just that they are an easy target and I am nothing if not lazy and mean spirited. But there is one kind of tick that I genuinely do enjoy, and as I do more and more birding it becomes harder and harder to get; new families.

Family 163

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 163

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

The text goes far beyond just those two birds, however, as Doug works his way through the puzzles presented by the incredibly wide diversity of bird behavior, even within species, citing current research and new and old theories, reasoning out the most likely and unlikely answers. Why are all the real tanagers in tropical America?

Science 214

Science Albatross Research Birds 214

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2019

However, as DNA and morphological studies have indicated, despite the barbets of Asia and Africa looking quite like the ones in the Americas, they aren’t closely related to each other. The two families of New World barbets, the Capitonidae and the Semnornithidae, are actually more related to toucans.

Costa Rica 167

Costa Rica Colombia South America Ecuador 167

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2015

I’m a big fan of the antelopes, a group that is most commonly associated with Africa but which also occurs in Asia and, if you stretch the term to be cladistically meaningful, Europe and North America. By this I mean applying the term antelope to cover all of the family Bovidae, which would include the sheep, goats and ox.

Africa 165

Africa Hunters Goats Wolves 165

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

It’s a month to I go traveling in Africa again, but between that date and now I have a massive project to deliver, which has reached the ‘invading my dreams’ level of panic. So go to Queen Elizabeth National Park and tick this tricky species (I actually have no idea how seasonal this species is here).

Uganda 193

Uganda Madagascar Buffalo Africa 193

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2022

Instead, they usually just describe species seen at a specific location, with the vague notion that these descriptions might be interesting to other birders. It looks quite distinct compared to some of the other recently discovered species. I guess my sympathy is more with the Plain Bunting, if such a species existed.

China 205

China Birds Asia Vietnam 205

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2015

It can’t have escaped your notice lately that the blog has been overrun with articles about North America’s pseudo-warblers (or wood warblers, as some people, apparently unaware the name is taken by a proper European species, call them), and, even worse, no small amount of poetry.

Africa 174

Africa Feral Ethiopia Tanzania 174

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

I stopped at the Red Crossbill , realizing that the species indeed “occupies an immense range, including North America, Eurasia, and northern Africa” (HBW) – including Baxi forest, China. It is hard to see any scientific value in defining a bird species as a country endemic. Progress of sorts, I guess.

China 227

China Birds Nevada North America 227

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2019

They give short shrift to New Zealand’s birds, lumping them with odd names no one here uses because the names are shared elsewhere and God knows America isn’t going to take a hit for us. Then someone decided that the Canary Island birds were a separate species. I’m not blind to the list’s faults, though.

Iran 128

Iran Barn Owls New Zealand Europe 128

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2017

I was looking for a new project to write about on Wikipedia, something unusual, and this species appealed for reasons I can’t quite define. The migration within South America of local birds, as opposed to North American visitors, is poorly understood for many birds (as in Africa). It was both mysterious and plain. .

Science 108

Science Argentina South America Uruguay 108

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

I found out on my second day in Mkuze, a great game reserve in South Africa, earlier this year when on my first dark night, poor visibility, uneven ground and unsteady footing resulted in a twisted ankle and a day in camp keeping weight off it. And it did so in spectacular fashion, in the form of a mixed-species feeding flock, or a bird wave.

South Africa 145

South Africa Tortoises Woodpeckers Birds 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Africa’s famous Big Five , but do you know there is also an equally fascinating Little Five ? Africa is famous for its large, charismatic mammals, and the Big Five epitomize the most sought-after of these fantastic beasts. This blog post will discuss both the Big and Little members of these quintuplets.

Buffalo 201

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 201

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. millions years ago.

California Condor 180

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 180

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2014

The broadbills are always a family* that birders visiting South East Asia want to see, and who could blame them? I’m not sure if they are as difficult a family to spot in the wild, but I certainly have had little luck with them in the past. I never saw one in all the time I lived in Africa, in forests where they could be seen.

Madagascar 167

Madagascar Malaysia New Zealand South America 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2020

Every year along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from June to November, experienced birders anticipate the exciting possibility of finding rare, tempest-tossed seabirds blown in from the tropics far north of their usual range. Admittedly, I nearly overlooked the bird on the bottle of Tamarindo Gose by Montreal’s Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!

India 167

India Squirrels North America America 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

It seems to me that Lynx Edicions must know Vedran, too, and it was with him in mind that their authors, David W Winkler, Shawn M Billerman and Irby J Lovette, chose the “Bird Families of the World: A Guide to the Spectacular Diversity of Birds” as the full title of their new edition. Families perhaps?

Family 293

Family Birds South America Breeding 293

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

Woodpeckers are phenomenally well-represented in Colombia and the country holds anything from 42 to 44 of the world’s woodpecker species, depending on which list you follow. The piculets are a distinctive and unique sub-family of woodpeckers that are best represented in South America. www.youtube.com/watch?

Colombia 172

Colombia Woodpeckers South America Family 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

Growing up within an hour of one of the world’s premier shorebird destinations -- West Coast National Park in South Africa -- helped for sure. Getting to know the subtleties in differences between closely related species takes years of dedication and practice. For me, there’s a few things that drive this fascination.

Florida 189

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

Primarily, Lapwings are an Old World family with over 20 species including Australasia’s Masked Lapwing , Asia’s Yellow-wattled Lapwing and the Red-wattled Lapwing of the Middle East. Masked Lapwing Africa is the spiritual home of the Vanellus family, boasting as many as 14 species including the abundant Crowned Lapwing.

Brazil 130

Brazil Protection Family Africa 130

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

But I have been sick with different kinds and forms of cold since the beginning of December with no interruption, and so has my entire family. This thrush is extremely common in urban and suburban Germany and one of the most conspicuous bird species here, comparable to the American Robin in North America. I honestly did.

Germany 160

Germany Blackbirds 2006 Denmark 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2011

I mention all of this because we in North America, especially the southern part of North America, have storks too. Wood Storks are an exceptionally old species, and its existence predates the last Ice Age, around 15,000 years ago, by tens of thousands of years more. Where White Storks are beautiful, ours are grotesque.

North America 170

North America Pedigree South Carolina Brazil 170

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Eight days with 20 of the world’s top birding guides looking for some 1,000 species and three dozen endemics. You can see as many hummingbird species as the folks at Magee Marsh are seeing warbler species—during 25 minutes on a Sunday afternoon. As the rally tore through its itinerary, the species piled up.

Peru 254

Peru Birds South America Owls 254

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

I did that with Peacocks & Picathartes – Reflections on Africa’s birdlife (published by Penguin Random House South Africa ). In case you didn’t know, yes, there is an indigenous peacock living in Africa, the Congo Peafowl. He has authored several other books and many articles, largely on natural history.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

a person characterized by reclusive habits or outmoded or reactionary attitudes The wren family is called Troglodytidae. If you are interested in learning where you can find a Winter Wren , especially now that the ones in western North America are Pacific Wrens , may I suggest David Allen Sibley’s range map ?

North America 118

North America Asia New York 2010 118

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

And, I started daydreaming about encountering something a little different, maybe a Horned Frog, Ceratophrys cornuta, a large, squat green and brown frog of South America, with a wide mouth large enough to eat other frogs as well as reptiles. A book about all the frogs and toads of the world is an ambitious undertaking.

Reptiles 184

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 184

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2013

Participating teams include the E-Birders from Cornell University, the Tigrisomas from Louisiana State University, the Forest Falcons from Great Britain, the Zululanders from South Africa, Team Tramuntana from Spain, and the Ararajubas from Brazil. With 1836 registered species, Peru is an ideal place to have this competition.

Peru 177

Peru 2013 Louisiana Birds 177

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

But I do have rules about whether I can have said to have visited a country, ie does the country “count” which I have inherited from my family, particularly my Dad. My favourite was a family of Hartlaub’s Babblers on the Namibian side, and a bright jewel of a Malachite Kingfisher on the Botswanan side.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

This is “the deep cradle of Western ornithology: the birthplace of bird study,” he tells us as he writes about gazing at the 8,000-year old depictions of “flamingos, herons, raptors, avocets and many other species” (p. Birkhead knows that these are sensitive topics.

Dissection 219

Dissection Birds Research Europe 219

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

We saw a smaller member of the potoo family, Northern Potoo , Nyctibius jamaicensis , at Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, boating and birding the Salado River. Our group got to see another species that is a master of camouflage on our trip for the Honduran Emerald. Later on, we saw a second one that was actually moving!

Honduras 248

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 248

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2017

Starting in the mid-1990s, there was a “where to watch birds in…” series of five site guides written by Nigel Wheatley and covering South America (1994), Africa (1995), Asia (1996), Europe & Russia (2000) and Central America & the Caribbean (2001). Family accounts for all 142 bird families recorded from the region.

Africa 169

Africa Botswana Nigeria Namibia 169

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

This is like Sibley calling his bird guide “The Sibley guide to Birds of Massachusetts and North America” The latter sounds silly, right? Those were amongst the most annoying field guides to use on the “continent” as so many potentially confusing species were left out. So what is one to think of the former?

Europe 165

Europe Mammals Animal Birds 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. The African Spoonbill is one of the six global spoonbill species, and the main African one (there are also some Eurasian Spoonbills in Africa).

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

The book is produced by WILDGuides, Ltd, the excellent book company responsible for over a dozen photographic guides on Britain’s natural life ranging from dragonflies to plant galls as well as books on Africa, Australia and other areas we all want to visit, and was published this summer by Princeton University Press.

Ireland 143

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 143

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

That larger clade is in turn sister to a clade containing the four remaining totipalmate bird families, which do still seem to be related, and which needed a new order name once pelicans were removed. But meanwhile, let’s look at the four avian families that comprise the brand new order Suliformes.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152