10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2020

North America is home to many amazing bird species, including several which require a special effort to see and appreciate. Trogons and quetzals are an ancient, colorful bird family that occurs in forests and other wooded habitats from the American tropics to Africa to Southeast Asia. Elegant Trogon by Homer Gardin.

America 262

America Arizona North America Texas 262

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical description of the family is that of “a tropical African and Asian songbird that typically has a melodious voice and drab plumage”, another is “small, dull-colored passerine birds of Asia and Africa”, yet another states that they are “often rather plain” Individual species get even harsher reviews.

South Africa 222

South Africa Malaysia Africa China 222

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 Eggs Africa 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2022

Every place has its common birds, the species that do very well in a given habitat. As we like to say, these are species that are “hard to miss”, birds that, if you are watching, will be seen. Bird in southern Asia and there are mynas and magpie-robins. Bird in southern Asia and there are mynas and magpie-robins.

Costa Rica 147

Costa Rica San Jose Asia Geese 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2022

At this moment, Baihualing is the eBird hotspot in China which has by far the largest number of species – 486. With 398 species, Nanhui is trailing far behind despite being covered by a much larger number of checklists (2225 compared to 608). So, it is certainly justified to cover this spot in more than one post.

Litter 209

Litter China Abandoning Abandonment 209

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2020

A metaphor for life, I am tempted to say, if this wasn`t such a meaningless thing to say … November is a good time for several species of buntings, of which I am quite fond of. While Long-tailed Shrikes are the second hand car dealers of the Nanhui bird world, some of the other members of the shrike family are a bit more subtle.

Stray 238

Stray Asia Industry Family 238

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

The HBW even mentions the importance of Ruoergai for this species: “Key sites for migrants include the Ruoergai Plateau (China), which is also an important breeding area” Common Mergansers also seem to use these wetlands as breeding area. The raptors of Ruoergai deserve a separate post.

China 171

China Mongolia Russia Birds 171

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2015

A new paper out this month attempts to paint the most comprehensive picture yet of the origins and diversification of the American sparrows, wood-warblers, blackbirds, cardinals, tanagers, and their kin, an enormous group of birds more than 800 species strong. We now know a lot more about who is a tanager vs. a sparrow vs. a cardinal.

Sparrows 250

Sparrows North America South America Blackbirds 250

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Lees and Gilroy delineate vagrancy status and trends for every bird family worldwide, highlighting examples, synthesizing research, and framing it all with their own thoughts and conclusions. The guide covers 265 of Maine’s 461 bird species: common nesting species, common migrants, and wintering birds.

Sri Lanka 223

Sri Lanka Malaysia Suriname Malawi 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2015

While there as some very attractive members of the family (or families, scientists can’t make up their minds) in Asia, in Africa the babblers tend towards the restrained when it comes to plumage. Like others of the genus Turdoides it is also a very social species, found in often noisy groups.

Africa 162

Africa Asia Family Groups 162

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. and the Prong-billed Barbet.

Costa Rica 165

Costa Rica Colombia Ecuador Panama 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

Or would be, had I encountered more of them – so far, I have seen only a very small share of the approximately 233 woodpecker species, and got decent photos of an even smaller number – not much more than 10% of all of them. So, writing a post about them is easy.

Woodpeckers 228

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 228

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. The Hainan version is sometimes considered a separate species, in which case it is classified as Near Threatened. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump.

San Diego 204

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 204

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. Hummingbird species, on the other hand, number in the hundreds. So, when British natural history writer Jon Dunn (not to be confused with U.S.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Bolivia Ecuador 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

To us on the traditional side of the Atlantic, they’ll always belong to the family Iznogoudae , the birds who want to become warblers instead of the warblers. The genus Passer has several well-recognized and recognizable species in Europe, and still holds several enigmas. And do they ever try so hard.

Sparrows 214

Sparrows Italy Kyrgyzstan Asia 214

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

Just last year, 5 new bird species and 5 new subspecies were discovered in a few short weeks of fieldwork on the islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka. In recent years Indonesia has been competing with the Andes as the region giving rise to the biggest number of undescribed bird species (naturally, all of them endemics).

Indonesia 264

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2014

I love babblers, and whether you treat them as a single family or several (and I understand the jury keeps getting called back on that one), its a hard family not to like. It can reach quite ludicrous levels in some places, like in Danum Valley where you can see ten different species of a morning.

Malaysia 189

Malaysia Squirrels Asia Africa 189

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2016

The Azure-winged Magpie is a pretty member of the crow family found in Eastern Asia, from Siberia and Japan down to Hong Kong. It was in Hong Kong that I caught up with the species, as it is easy to find in the splendid wetlands of Mai Po. Azure-winged Magpie. As you can’t see from the wings.

Spain 103

Spain Portugal Asia Japan 103

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. It seems that this is another species for which the standard phrase of scientists anywhere, “more research needed”, applies.

Myanmar 147

Myanmar Birds China Chicago 147

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 164

Africa Wolves Goats Sheep 164

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 168

Africa Botswana Nigeria Namibia 168

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. The six middle chapters are my favorite reading. ” (p.

Science 211

Science Albatross Research Owls 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

These bark-burrowing beetles, which apparently hitched a ride in cargo shipments from their native Asia, have been starving the ash trees of eastern and midwestern North America to death for a dozen years now. … Here at 10,000 Birds 20 July – 26 July is Invasive Species Week.

Woodpeckers 273

Woodpeckers Illinois Chicago Kentucky 273

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2020

The third weekend of January, I travelled to the coastal city of Acapulco to give a seminar on family finances at a church there. It originally served as the port of entry for goods brought from Asia by Spanish galleons. And my one lifer for the trip was a family of Rufous-naped Wrens that apparently live in the same garden.

2006 160

2006 Morocco Birds Mexico 160

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? Not a great place for a family vacation, though I think Duncan will disagree. The field guide differentiates itself from other guides to birds of Borneo and Southeast Asia ( Birds of Borneo: Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kalimantan by Susan Myers (Princeton Univ.

Brunei 174

Brunei Asia Birds China 174

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. It is also related to Wood Stork of the Americas and Milky Stork of Asia.

Africa 238

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 238

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago covers 1,417 species, 601 endemics, 98 vagrants, 8 introduced and 18 undescribed species. Only one bird species has become extinct (Javan Lapwing), but many others are endangered, with some considered close to extinction (not surprising in an area with species restricted to one or two small islands).

Indonesia 124

Indonesia Brunei Malaysia Papua New Guinea 124

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. This isn’t even the prettiest species they have!

Madagascar 167

Madagascar Malaysia New Zealand South America 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

The wonderful family Meropidae contains 27 dazzling species, of which Africa is endowed with no less than 20 species, the balance occurring across Asia and with one as far afield as Australia. We have both resident and migratory species, and this post will briefly discuss each of the 20 species of African bee-eaters.

Africa 263

Africa Gabon Uganda South Africa 263

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

This group — dubbed the bombycillids , from the waxwing genus and family name — appears to fall near kinglets and a large group containing thrushes and muscicapids (Old World flycatchers and chats) in the passerine tree. Here’s the only known video footage of that species: Kauai Oo. Spellman et al. Spellman et al.

Saudi Arabia 213

Saudi Arabia 2008 Indonesia Colombia 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. In early November 2020, there were 15 countries with more than 1000 species eBirded so far. Other than that, there are barely a few hotspots with over 500 species.

Asia 270

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 270

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2012

I also know the field guides I use very well, and I know where to find which bird species in the book. You see, the species in my field guides, as in the vast majority of field guides everywhere, are in taxonomic order. Then came April, and with it my first ever trip to South-East Asia. I knew nothing about their vocalizations.

Indonesia 234

Indonesia Family Asia Groups 234

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2015

You’d think that dressing in green to hide from predators inside a dense rainforest is as a strategy as plain as day, yet only a surprisingly limited number of bird species on Borneo have ventured down that evolutionary road. Interestingly, the females are more varied between the species and are far more readily identified.

Indonesia 165

Indonesia Asia Birds Groups 165

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 Asia 172

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2012

Jays are among the most charismatic and appreciated families of birds in the world. Posts from the Neotropics and Asia will be most appreciated, but we’ll take a wide variety of North American species as well. Unicolored. We love their attitudes. We love their colors. We love their intelligence.

Asia 118

Asia Birds Family Species 118

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

From a birder’s perspective however, this is both a shame and a blessing, as I will show below based on my observations of the species on the island of Java in November. The prinias are a group of around 25 Old World warbler species found in Africa and Asia. The Brown Prinia is an Asian species with a very peculiar range.

Burma 160

Burma Laos Cambodia Indonesia 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

The Edwards’s Pheasant is a rather smart blue-black member of the pheasant family and it may be on the edge of extinction. It has recently been reclassified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List; this category is reserved for only the most threatened species in the world.

Vietnam 154

Vietnam 2000 Germany Asia 154