10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

Like many birding locations in China, it has been somewhat under birded in the past 18 months or so, as travel restrictions have kept most foreigners away and only some of the younger Chinese birders actively use eBird. It is hard to see any scientific value in defining a bird species as a country endemic. Progress of sorts, I guess.

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

What is your favorite bird species? I would always say the Black-throated Tit, not just because it is the first bird I identified in the field, but also simply because it is cute. I have a soft spot for cute passerines. What is your name, and where do you live?

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China Birds Species 233

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2021

While Baihualing is much better for birds, foreigners are currently prohibited from going there, presumably as we all carry Covid-19, even if like me we have been in China the whole year. I am always happy to see Black-throated Bushtit, even though it is not really rare in China. Better safe than sorry, I guess. Does this sound bitter?

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China Birds Zebras Germany 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

As often in China, the choice seems to be between terrible infrastructure and almost no people or great roads accompanied by caravans of tour buses. If ever birds will get into the habit of having Halloween parties, this species will not have to spend resources on costumes. However, leaf warblers still look all the same to me.

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China Birds Research Rights 226

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2021

Located about 2 hours from Xining by car, Qinghai Lake is China’s largest lake. Pallas’s Gull also breeds at Qinghai Lake, though the numbers are sadly much reduced: “The numbers breeding at L Qinghai, China, has apparently fallen from > 87,000 in 1970s to c. 15,000 in 2006” (HBW). I cannot understand why.

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China Birds 2006 Fish 227

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Species formerly referred to as P. One recent study found that this species was sister to P. perdix , and also that race przewalskii (sometimes subsumed within suschkini , but generally paler) was basal to other taxa included within the present species. barbata , but present name has priority. So, I later looked this up.

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China Austria Birds ALA 254

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

To say that an update of John MacKinnon’s “A Field Guide to the Birds of China” (2000) has been highly anticipated by birders interested in Chinese birds is almost an understatement. While there are some decent Chinese-language guides, they are of limited use for (local) illiterates like me.

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China Brazil 2000 Birds 209

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

Grey-tailed Tattler: I already made fun of this poor species in my last post. Asian Brown Flycatcher: The most boring flycatcher here in Eastern China is also by far the most common one. Cuckoo species (Common?): The post Birding Tiaozini, Jiangsu, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. Kentish Plover: Looks like a toy.

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China Birds Asia Fish 282

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 post Birding Ruoergai, Sichuan, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2021

China’s massive investment in infrastructure has indirectly benefited birders. Mid-May to Mid-Jun is the best time to see some of the most exciting species here, as this is the prime breeding time. On Balangshan, two species of accentors similarly utilize different levels of altitude. And it is a great place for birding.

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China Vietnam Birds Fast Food 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2020

That means it also has many tropical birds that a foreigner living in China can see without risking to leave the country (which would mean 2 weeks of quarantine on reentry at best and complete exclusion at worst, depending on the ever-changing regulations). Predictably, the flowers attract several species of sunbirds.

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China Barn Owls Laos Myanmar 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

In China, wherever there is one real tourist attraction (like the Great Wall), the local strategy seems to be to add some fake attractions – replicas of palaces or tombs, amusement parks, shopping centers – in order to maximize the income from tourists. Sir James McGrigor (1771-1858) Director Gen.

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10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2019

Spoon-billed Sandpiper at Tiaozini, Jiangsu, China. The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is probably the most iconic bird species in China – to the point that some bird guides I know are quite tired of looking for it. And yet, I have now birded China for almost 5 years without ever really trying to see one.

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China Endangered Species 2016 Species 193

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Unfortunately, sometimes this strategy fails, when even the best two out of 100 photos of a species still are not very good. The post Birding Gonggangling and Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. I present to you: Chinese Fulvetta. A White-throated Redstart gave me an easier time.

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China Russia Birds Owls 221

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Quite a few bird species have crests. Their main use is to display – either to communicate with other members of the species or to scare other species, as a raised crest makes the bird appear larger. In fact, crests occur in at least 20 of the 30 orders of extant birds, and in all major groups of passerines.

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South Africa China Germany Africa 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2019

I suspect the bird was looking for conspecifics, as the other times I encountered the species they always seemed to show up in slightly larger groups. The post Amur Paradise Flycatcher in Jixi, Anhui, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. A village about 1.5 Red-billed Blue Magpie. Collared Finchbill. Ashy Drongo. Red-billed Starling.

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China Breeding Owls Groups 149

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

The Spring Festival – or Chinese New Year – is a big period for traveling in China. This species seems to enjoy being in mixed flocks with the White-shouldered Starling. While not on the scale of bird migration, it is routinely and somewhat lazily described as the biggest annual migration of humans in the world.

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China Pythons Birds Rabbits 214

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2021

High up at almost 4500 meters, some Alpine Accentors were posing in the sunshine, justifying the description in the HBW as “large, attractive accentor” (though eBird seems to disagree, instead characterizing the species as a “stocky, stout, and unobtrusive bird”). I side with the HBW on this issue.

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2019

These days, quite a few species are breeding at Nanhui, Shanghai. But not all species do this in such a spectacular fashion as the Barn Swallow. One would think that this is not easy for a relatively colorful species as the Barn Swallow. The post Air Show at Nanhui, Shanghai, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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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. T he Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Tengchong, China) is a tiny bit bigger and looks much soberer.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

In 2022, the 10,000 Birds eBird Collaborative submitted 1,837 checklists from 9 countries ( Australia , China , Costa Rica , Mexico , Saint Lucia , Serbia , Trinidad and Tobago , United Kingdom , and the United States ) and observed 1,273 species. The Collaborative life list increased to 4,140.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

A nicer name for the species is Chinese Painted Quail (since when are kings so diminutive in size?). Quite successfully, it turned out (note: to be honest, successful does not mean that I found the birds but that somebody else found them and I got to see them as well). The King Quail is cute and surprisingly small.

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Lemurs China Owls Birds 226

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2023

Yibin is a typical smallish Chinese city (which in China means slightly above 850,000 people in the metro area, which would make it the fifth-biggest city in Germany but does not get it into the top 100 in China). The Latin species name alphonsiana refers to Prof. What a pity.) And it doesn’t even have a forked tail.

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10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2024

The Amur Paradise Flycatcher is another species breeding in Shanghai. Some herons: a beautiful adult Black-crowned Night Heron … … and a rather less attractive kindergarten of the same species. A Chinese Pond Heron … … and the same species pretending to be a giraffe.

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Giraffes Rabbits Birds Breeding 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2022

The first four were seen in Trinidad and Tobago and the last in China. The Collaborative’s all-time country with the most species observed is Costa Rica , with 784 species, out of 911 observed on eBird overall! Costa Rica has 1,264 hotspots , and the top hotspot ( Rancho Naturalista ) has a remarkable 517 species observed.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

The Purple Swamphen now is considered a superspecies, with each of its six races are designated full species – and in the strange world of birding, a superspecies is rather less than a species, not more. This is despite the most likely African origin of the species. Swamphen yes, but Grey-headed? Again: Grey-headed?

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China Kenya Florida India 262

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

If you want to pretend to combine learning Mandarin and learning about this species, watch this video. There is also the usual article about the first sighting of the species at a new location. If you want to guess the name of this species, please follow my instructions. How exciting. Take out a magnifying glass. Here they are.

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Deer China Birds Owls 228

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2022

It is now almost exactly two years that I last was outside of China. At some point, my stock of memories of birds seen outside of China will be used up, I am afraid. While I write this, the vessel is on a trip from Shekou, China to Callao, Peru, presumably to pick up some ore, most likely copper ore.

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South Africa Africa Seals China 216

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2024

And now we get to the part of the post in which I briefly and unscientifically mention a few research papers on the species to have a reason to post a few more of my photos. in migratory whooper swans ( Cygnus cygnus ) in China” And if a swan looks at you in a particularly arrogant way, show it these papers too.

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China Iceland Whaling Whales 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

While I am still not so sure about China’s sense of humor – though admittedly, the issue is mostly a mismatch between what I think is funny and what the average Chinese thinks is funny, an issue that I have had in other countries as well – the country sure has its fair share of Laughingthrushes. This post shows some of them.

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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.

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South Africa Malaysia Africa China 233

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2023

The Chinese Hwamei is a second-level protected species in China – as a consequence, according to Chinese law on wildlife protection, it is prohibited for local people to capture and keep the species in captivity without a permit. Still, a few spend the summer here.

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Indonesia Thailand Legislation illegal 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2022

During the second quarter of 2022 (April, May, and June), the Collaborative submitted 581 checklists from 7 countries ( China , Costa Rica , Mexico , Trinidad and Tobago , Saint Lucia , the United Kingdom , and the United States ). The 2022 year list is up to 1,124 species. 4,115: Lesser Antillean Flycatcher (Saint Lucia).

Saint Lucia 147

Saint Lucia United Kingdom Costa Rica Trinidad 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2021

So, I asked around and was told that Qinghai is the place to go to for birds in China in August. Similarly, the Alpine Leaf Warbler is one of the more attractive species in an otherwise almost indistinguishable family of identical leaf warblers. (“But the difference in wing bars, Kai!”). of the Large-billed Crow.

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North Korea Birds China Woodpeckers 246

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Sadly, the HBW states that the species is “almost extinct in some areas in China owing to hunting and trapping for the cagebird trade and taxidermy” The Maroon Oriole looks much more interesting, though my photos do not really do it full justice. when living in suburbia. How is that for a link?

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Nepal Birds Owls Nigeria 167

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Good habitat, apparently, for a Pacific Reef Heron , though the East China Sea is only a peripheral arm of the Pacific and there are no reefs to be found here. In the same location, a Blue Rock Thrush benefits from the liberal Chinese use of concrete, which seems to be a sufficient substitute for rock for the species.

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China Reptiles Birds Sparrows 184

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Shanghaibirding describes the Brown-headed Thrush as “a scarce passage migrant through northern and central coastal China, including Shanghai” – given that I only saw it once on Tianmashan, that is probably correct, though the date (January 09) seems rather late for a migrant.

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China Birds Reptiles Killing 147