10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Central Africa has one of those birds. Of course, we did, soaking in that slate blue beauty long enough to observe a successful hunt and more of its rangy, awkward flight. We are incredibly grateful to the Uganda Tourism Board for so generously sharing the splendor of birding and wildlife watching in the Pearl of Africa.

Uganda 299

Uganda Africa Penguins 2019 299

Critter News

AUGUST 4, 2009

Ugly stuff in Namibia, the country with the seal hunting that no one talks about because so few know about it (I mean who thinks about seal hunting in Namibia?) Tags: animal cruelty africa seal hunters seals namibia hunting. From Wildlife Extra News.

Seals 100

Seals Hunting Namibia Animal Cruelty 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2015

As we speak, in Serbia these birds are still hunted in August and September. Local bird protection NGOs have been demanding a hunting ban on both Quails and Turtle Doves ever since. As a result, on June 19 the Ministry announced a two years hunting ban on Turtle Dove. Left: David Lindo, a.k.a.

Serbia 270

Serbia Slaughtered Slaughter Turtles 270

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2022

This is the usual game viewing routine in reserves of Africa and India. In Africa, no one goes at mid-day because of the heat (making animals lazy and people drowsy). Pity, it is the sleeping hours and not the hunting (morning/evening), but at least they are not forced to socialise with people all day.

India 289

India Africa Birds Laws 289

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

All the inhabited continents except Africa have experienced bird extinctions; however the 2012 update of the IUCN Red List shows a startling, but not altogether unexpected, trend in that more and more of our bird species are facing extinction. Around 3,000 birds summered and bred at Birecik in the 1930’s but this declined to only 400 by 1982.

Endangered Species 238

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 238

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

Hence, I was quite surprised with a brave, almost exciting paper by Brown, Forbes and Symes: “Recent history of the Egyptian Vulture in Southern Africa” (Vulture News, 2000). Conservation Africa Balkans Egyptian Vulture vultures' Neighbouring (FYRO) Macedonia nowadays has about 20 pairs, while two decades ago they had 135!

Sudan 252

Sudan Macedonia Botswana Serbia 252

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2012

The Red-headed Weaver hunting silently in the treetops. There are many more Weavers to be seen in East Africa, all lovely and interesting. And the Vitteline Masked Weaver with a buzzing raspy call that is unmistakeable. And the splendid Spectacled Weaver nesting in my mother’s backyard. I highly recommend a trip.

Tanzania 230

Tanzania Africa Hunting Sparrows 230

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. It’s guaranteed to be the trip of a lifetime!

Sierra Leone 274

Sierra Leone Ghana Equatorial Guinea Cameroon 274

Critter News

APRIL 23, 2012

As Spaniards grapple with severe austerity measures and 24 percent unemployment, their king is dealing with a different kind of pain — extreme embarrassment over public outrage upon his return from an elephant hunt in Africa that cost nearly $60,000, or more than twice the average salary in Spain. And the Royal Palace's budget?

Elephants 100

Elephants Hunting Botswana Spain 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2014

The serpent-eagles of the genus Spilornis are an Asian group, not to be confused with two different genera found in Africa or, for that matter, the snake-eagles, a mostly African but also European and Asian genus (simple, right?). They live in forests and along forest edges where they specialise in hunting snakes and lizards.

Eagles 224

Eagles Japan India Africa 224

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Might have something to do with the fact that they were hunted here until quite recently). The Crested Barbet (Kruger Park, South Africa) looks a bit like a pointillist painting gone wrong. Lucia, South Africa) will be your favorite. Future generations of birdcage designers will probably adapt the dimensions of the wire.

South Africa 264

South Africa Africa India China 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2015

The White-backed Vulture is the most common species of vulture in Africa, although these days they are, like most vultures, globally endangered. The populations remain stable in Ethiopia, Tanzania and southern Africa, but have collapsed in West Africa and have declined in other parts as well. Word spreads.

Africa 189

Africa Ethiopia Feral Tanzania 189

Critter News

APRIL 20, 2012

King Juan Carlos of Spain, Honorary President of WWF Spain, is recovering in hospital after breaking his hip in Botswana where he was on an elephant hunt. Apparently it isn't the first time the King has been shooting big game in Africa, or elsewhere (Apparently he killed a bear in Russia a few years ago too).

Spain 100

Spain Elephants Hunting Botswana 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

Only in Africa is it really easy to see a big variety. Lion – much easier to see than an Aardvark In contrast to East Africa, encounters with mammals while out birding in Europe are relatively few. I viewed them at dusk, through a telescope, from a ridge overlooking the area they were hunting.

Fur 245

Fur Otters Bulgaria Estonia 245

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2020

What happens when you put a naturalist in a kayak, adrift in Africa? I have read canoeing articles from Africa and knew that the Nile Crocodile ( Crocodilus niloticus ) pays no attention to the boat and, in theory, as long as I’m inside I’m safe. nubicoides ) using them as a high viewpoint to hunt dragonflies. Oh, my big mouth!

Botswana 259

Botswana Africa 2001 Monkeys 259

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2023

This is the usual game viewing routine in reserves of Africa and India. In Africa, no one goes at mid-day because of the heat (making animals lazy and people drowsy). Pity, it is the sleeping hours and not the hunting (morning/evening), but at least they are not forced to socialise with people all day.

India 243

India Africa Serbia Birds 243

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

The scope is worldwide; of the 24 birds depicted, five are from the Americas; five from Eurasia; three from New Zealand; two from Australasia; three from Africa; one from Africa and Asia; one from Antarctica; two worldwide, and two from Asia, introduced worldwide. Oilbirds roost in their cave, forming a puzzle of shapes (see above).

Barn Owls 244

Barn Owls Chicago Penguins New Zealand 244

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

What a way to sum up what is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest birding sites and certainly my favorite in southern Africa. The Mountain Pipit is one of Africa’s least known birds, appearing annually in the Sani Pass environs every summer and pretty much disappearing in winter. Image by Adam Riley.

Lesotho 225

Lesotho Rats Africa Woodpeckers 225

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

Now and then individual catfish of various species hunt nearer the surface and larger catfish such as the American Channel Cat will take a duck or other water bird. So, the modal catfish is a fish that hunts from below, can take large prey, and occasionally eats a bird. Note that the three prey types have distinct isotopic signatures.

Fish 261

Fish Whales Whaling France 261

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2015

Another day, another dead lion erupting in the world’s media, another opportunity for me to annoy my few remaining anti-hunting friends. Often just for being a woman (its telling how many of these “outrages” about hunting involve women, not men. Go read his take. I’ll wait. . Or make us better people.

Hunters 210

Hunters Animal Cruelty Sharks Hunting 210

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2012

It’s a mini-Africa Week at the moment on 10,000 Birds, with Adam talking about spectacular bee-eaters in his post and James discussing the diminutive African Pygmy-geese. Kibale National Park, in the west of the Central African nation of Uganda, is home to a 13 primate species, from Common Chimpanzees to bush-babies.

Monkeys 187

Monkeys Uganda Primates Cameroon 187

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2014

It’s six weeks to the day till I go to Africa, and of late conversations about the subject have taken a reliable and predictable detour. ” I’ll sometimes add “It’s in West Africa, I’ll be in South Africa. There will be outbreaks like the one happening in Africa, we can’t control that.

Humane 196

Humane Animal Ukraine Africa 196

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

The survival of songbirds depends in part upon eliminating illegal hunting. It all seems like such a charmed life … until you have to fly down to Africa for the winter. That means passing over the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, where you’re liable to get shot, trapped, or otherwise hunted.

Cambodia 173

Cambodia Slaughtered Slaughter Cyprus 173

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2011

When skimmers are hunting even the most jaded birder has to watch them and the vast majority of the time a smile will be on that birder’s face. Africa has the African Skimmer R. A bird such as Rynchops niger is a testament to the marvels of evolution. flavirostris and South Asia has R. albicollis , the Indian Skimmer.

Niger 190

Niger New York Asia Fish 190

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

Our first Day In South Africa, I spotted the Burchell’s Courcal, as it flew across the road in front of us we entered Kruger National Park. We were able to photograph 6 different hornbills in South Africa, but these regal little Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills quickly became an all time favorite.

2018 203

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 203

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2019

Matt was working on his own US Big Year, and wanted to join me for the hunt. South Africa Total: 219. Murray Hunt – Daintree River Guide Caines, Australia – Boatman@daintreerivertours.com.au. Nick Coetzee – South Africa. Phumula Kruger Lodge – info@ phumulakruger.co.za, South Africa. New Zealand Total: 104.

Costa Rica 190

Costa Rica Tucson South Africa Bahamas 190

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2015

For both forms, their little patches within the WP are but outlying exclaves of a much wider range elsewhere in Africa and Asia, respectively. This may not sound like much, but it is really good compared to just a few decades ago, when hunting had significantly reduced its range and overall population.

Spain 157

Spain Hunters Africa Hunting 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

The first was Lewis Binford, who noted, correctly, that if you look at actual animal bones from actual archaeological sites, you could not objectively see clear evidence that would distinguish hunting from scavenging, and if you compared these “food remains” to hyena food remains, they looked roughly the same. Hyena crazy.

Humane 165

Humane Lions Buffalo Hunting 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

Despite filling very similar garbage disposal related niches, the vultures in North America and the vultures in Eurasia/Africa are really not that closely related. Large, hulking, and menacing, the Old World Vultures , who reach their greatest diversity in sub-Saharan Africa, had a reputation, maybe undeserved, for viciousness.

California Condor 236

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 236

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

The majority of wildcats live today in Africa, and virtually none of them have provided the DNA from which supposed histories of domestication have been constructed by researchers. And I think he was speaking only of our American Kitties not the Wildcat of Africa. But they don’t live in North America. Unless we put them there.

Feral Cats 257

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

I had seen Thick-Knees in South Africa, but I was very excited to see this species, which is the only member of its family found in Central America. (Full disclosure: Both close-up photos were also cropped, slightly brightened and contrasted, in the interests of presenting a bird that is difficult to differentiate from its background.).

Honduras 263

Honduras Birds Costa Rica South Africa 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

Hunting and disturbance, deterioration, fragmentation and destruction of habitat were the forces behind the decline of this, once widespread species, making it Critically Endangered on the IUCN Global Red List. We come a little closer, but not closer than 100 meters, admiring the sight in a religious silence, careful not to disturb them.

Gazelles 264

Gazelles India Pakistan 2012 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

While much of the attention that Africa’s tourism industry gets is for its (deservedly) popular national parks and game reserves, a lot of wildlife viewing is possible away from the big name places. Brown-hooded Kingfishers hunt far from water. I mean education. Red-faced Mousebirds are common African specialities. You decide.

Zimbabwe 108

Zimbabwe Botswana South Africa Endangered Species 108

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2024

They are probably hunting for herring or some other hapless little fish. As an adult I learnt the signs in Africa with jumping Kudu are more truthful – I have seen that sort of showjumping happen several times. The sea is frothing with Great Cormorant and Herring Gull , with more than 100 birds diving into the water. What’s that?

Sweden 242

Sweden Birds Porpoises Deer 242

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2016

This is the usual game viewing routine in reserves of Africa and India. In Africa, no one goes at mid-day because of the heat (making animals lazy and people drowsy). Pity, it is the sleeping hours and not the hunting (morning/evening), but at least they are not forced to socialise with people all day.

India 166

India Birds Africa Serbia 166

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2024

Anyone who has enjoyed a safari in East Africa will be familiar with the pleasing song of the Laughing Dove, which is the background soundtrack to every day spent in the bush. One September I watched a pack of seven Eleonora’s hunting a juvenile Swift. It was strange to hear it here in Cyprus.

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Breeders Falcons Hunters 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2013

The Sacred Ibis in Africa – Susan W, The Nature of Framingham. They are birds of the march, with long billed particularly adept at probing mud and extracting prey critters from well-dug trenches. Banded Glossy Ibis – Drew Weber, The Nemesis Bird. Early Morning Bird Walk – Charlotte Wasylik, Prairie Birder.

North America 250

North America Charlotte Birds Miami 250