10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2024

This is the home of the Rusty-naped Pitta , admittedly one of the less glamorous of the family, particularly the subspecies found in Yunnan, but still a nice sight and still a pitta. He published a number of books on birds of India and Burma, making me wonder how hard all these overseas civil servants really worked in their day jobs.

Burma 242

Burma India Indonesia Thailand 242

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

It inhabits rather dry areas within a region notorious for being one of the rainiest parts of the world, and is thus patchily distributed from Burma through Laos, Cambodia, parts of Thailand and south China, all the way to Vietnam. Just don’t try this with a Brown Prinia, unless you have life insurance and a family in need.

Burma 169

Burma Laos Cambodia Indonesia 169

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2024

In this case, the correct one (according to the HBW) is Sir Herbert Thirkell White (1855-1931), a British colonial administrator in Burma. He also wrote some books on Burma, one of which (“A Civil Servant in Burma”) Wikipedia calls a classic.

Burma 238

Burma Vietnam Birds Laos 238

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2023

Apparently, he used his various army postings in Afghanistan, Burma and on the Andaman Islands to study local birds whenever his busy schedule governing or fighting the locals allowed it. The species name ramsayi is presumably derived from Robert George Wardlaw-Ramsay (the length of this name being comparable to the tail length of the bird).

China 253

China Burma Afghanistan Taiwan 253