10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

so I’m a bit behind in my intense pursuit of scientific findings related to birds. First, the bird butts. It is interesting to note that the vast majority of birds flying by out there are going the other way. But I do have a few items. All I see are their buts. But that’s not the most interesting thing I’ve seen recently.

Bald Eagle 213

Bald Eagle Zoos Philippines Birds 213

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2011

Last week I introduced the Great Frigatebird , one of five species of man-o-war bird. Here I’ll finish off what I started, looking at the lives of these amazing birds, using the pictures I took working on Tern Island in French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii. In summary then, these are awesome birds! Frigatebird with a stick.

Albatross 181

Albatross Philippines Hawaii Hunting 181

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

It feels good to start a post with some truly attractive birds – such as two species of broadbills. If you like cute birds, you will probably like the Black-and-yellow Broadbill. Homework assignment: Is the bird in this video a male or a female? Maybe the birds I saw were not real. You can see why here.

Sri Lanka 246

Sri Lanka Taiwan Birds Cats 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It took me a while to wrap my mind around the concept of Birds and People , Mark Cocker and David Tipling’s book that, in 592 pages, explores the intersection of just that—birds and us. Nor have I overlooked “sightings” of birds in movies mouthing other birds’ calls. I’m not sure why.

Egypt 243

Egypt Birds Albania Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2011

The birds have historically been found from the Philippines south through central Indonesia to Papua New Guinea though they recently colonized remote parts of the west coast of Australia’s Cape York peninsula.

Papua New Guinea 154

Papua New Guinea Ducks Philippines Indonesia 154

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2012

Both new species were recently peeled off from the Philippine Hawk-owl , which may have a few more species to contribute before all is said and done. While you’re at it, you might also say hello to the Cebu Hawk-owl.

Owls 166

Owls Philippines Species 166

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2017

BIRDING WITHOUT BORDERS: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World. The most impressive photograph in Noah Strycker’s new book is not one of a bird, but of the author. He’s standing next to a pile of several dozen birding guidebooks — the stack is fully as tall as the 5’9” Strycker himself.

Sri Lanka 178

Sri Lanka Cleveland Philippines Birds 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Mantanani is a biological link between Borneo and the islands of the Philippines. Like many small islands that fringe the Philippines side of Borneo, it has a handful of species that are mostly found in the Philippines, or species that are supertramps, meaning they occur on many of the smaller fringing islands in the Indo-Malayan archipelago.

Philippines 160

Philippines Turtles Owls Fish 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2011

Sadly, as I’ve explained before , most of these species became extinct as humans arrived on the islands, and with it one of the most astonishing radiations of birds imaginable. I wasn’t there for birding per se, just a chance to get away from New Zealand’s winter in a sunny tropical island.

Tonga 174

Tonga New Zealand Samoa Fiji 174

Critter News

FEBRUARY 21, 2009

A rare quail from the Philippines was photographed for the first time before being sold as food at a poultry market, experts say. A precious thing, possibly the last of its kind, enjoyed for a few minutes by a human being, then destroyed by another.

Philippines 100

Philippines 2008 Collecting Humane 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2014

When birding, as in life in general, it is important to stop occasionally and smell the metaphorical roses. This isn’t just because roses smell nice (although many do) or even because we need to remember that almost all birds depend in one way or another on plants (although they mostly do). Sure, they aren’t birds.

Philippines 168

Philippines Malaysia Indonesia Thailand 168

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

I’ve never been to the Indonesian Archipelago, but I really like the birds there. Lynx Edicions, the ornithological (and now mammal) publisher that gave us the Handbook of the Birds of the World , has now published Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea , by James A. So, this is no ordinary bird guide.

Indonesia 168

Indonesia Brunei Malaysia Papua New Guinea 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2023

When birding Sabah, Borneo, one almost inevitably passes through Kota Kinabalu, the biggest city and the destination of almost all international flights. While no birder would come here just for the birds of the city, some of them are worth spending a few hours on. There, you may find the Java Sparrow.

Zebras 244

Zebras Thailand Philippines Dissection 244

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2024

Tan Phu Forest is about 2 hours North of Ho Chi Minh City, and the location of a few bird blinds set up by a Vietnamese who used to be a park ranger at Cat Tien National Park and probably learned about the economic potential of attracting foreign birders. My way of squeezing more blog posts out of my birding trips.

Vietnam 246

Vietnam Birds Woodpeckers Bangladesh 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2017

Our plan was to head north for a few days and observe the concentrated bird-life around the remaining ephemeral lakes and observe some of the birds that had arrived in the north of Australia over the past few weeks. We don’t “twitch” birds, but it would be a bird to look out for during our visit.

Australia 108

Australia 2006 Japan Cambodia 108

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2022

The name is a puzzle though – even the HBW states that the bird has “small or no crest” These photos were taken on Sep 26, indicating that the birds passed Shanghai rather late (according to the HBW, “autumn migration from early to late Sept”). The Japanese Paradise Flycatcher is listed as Near Threatened.

China 234

China Birds Ukraine Killing 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

Picidae, Woodpecker, is one of those charismatic bird families that everybody gets excited about. He was also an early social media adapter, and currently maintains eight nature and birding web sites, including one based on this book. The poetry is in the words themselves and the photographs.

Woodpeckers 264

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Philippines 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

Rather, during autumn migration, it first flies to east Siberia, then turns south across eastern China, and finally turns west (source: Birds of Two Worlds: The Ecology and Evolution of Migration). There is also another study also looking at the migration routes of Siberian Rubythroats based on light-level-based geolocation.

Russia 262

Russia Asia Philippines Taiwan 262