10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2021

Of course, I also go there several other times each year; I have, after all, seen 160 species at this endemic-rich site. The reason for this annual pilgrimage is a single species, the Sinaloa Martin. All sightings southeast of the species’ Puerto Vallarta-to-Los Mochis breeding area are of migrating birds.

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Nicaragua 2015 2016 Mexico 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

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China Birds Pythons Eagles 261

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2020

For several years, I had seen photos of this species posted by my friend Julio Álvarez, from the state of Jalisco, just to the west of my state of Michoacán. And while its wings move in a blur, of course, its body moves very slowly from one point to another. I have yet to take a decent photo of the species. This photo is mine.

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2020 Birds Mexico Species 260

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2021

The males can compete with Painted Buntings for their neon colors, and the females, like those of that related species, have their own subtle beauty. (It’s It is always a species they have dreamed of seeing for years.). Of course, plenty of non-endemics also turned up to have their picture taken.

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Woodpeckers Hunters Falcons Breeding 259

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2024

While I have visited a few birding sites around the Netherlands during the course of my Bachelor studies, I did not go birding a lot around the city where I lived, Maastricht. I was very happy about this lifer as I had been hoping to see this species in autumn during my stay on Heligoland.

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Netherlands Birds Ducks Hunting 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2024

One always wants to see as many species as possible in a single day, whether on an ocean island with few species, or in Suffolk, England. It was in this latter region that he reports seeing 60 species on his first outing of this year. But how many species can one see over a few hours in the highlands of central Mexico?

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Mexico Birds Woodpeckers Sparrows 244

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Fortunately, other spots in the same area offer similar birds, which of course I would not have known without our guides. 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!”).

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North Korea Birds China Woodpeckers 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2019

Of course, the California Condor is listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and it has been famously subject to some of the most ambitious conservation efforts (including litigation ) ever undertaken for a bird. And some “incidental take” ( i.e., unintentional harm to a listed species) is allowed.

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California Condor California Endangered Species Oregon 248

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2020

A cuckoo (don`t ask me about the species) sat in a daze on the ground, having apparently been attacked. Of course, the adult male also got angry with people discarding their trash. My favorite species is the Oriental Scops Owl , a small owl that can be almost invisible if given the right motivation (e.g., too many birdwatchers).

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Birds Owls Rights Species 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2021

We have observed huge flocks of Galahs there on previous visits and other times there are more bird species, but only one or two of each species. Walking out onto the bridge we soon observed a good mixture of other bird species. Brolga had come into drink and there were all three species of Ibis present.

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Cattle Ducks Zebras Australia 297

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

Of course, that means that the birds I saw on September 30 are now somewhere in blogpost limbo, not having appeared in the September post but also not legitimately belonging in the October one. If you want to pretend to combine learning Mandarin and learning about this species, watch this video. The male, of course, I am afraid.

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Deer China Birds Owls 245

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2022

The exploration of triads within the avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago has taken me through various families and species groups on this blog. On the smaller island of Tobago there are three species of woodpeckers and three species of woodcreepers – one of each is found on Tobago but not Trinidad. Red-crowned Woodpecker.

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Woodpeckers Trinidad South America Hunting 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

Last weekend I ended up spending some time with a few Glossy Ibises at a nearby wetland here on Trinidad and it got me thinking about some of the other ibis species I’ve managed to see. They are the most widespread ibis species, occurring in every continent except Antarctica. Glossy Ibis. Hadada Ibis.

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Trinidad Adoptable Species Rights 241

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

Well, busy observing the Great Indian Bustard, of course. 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. After my trip, I followed the news of this species closely.

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Gazelles India Pakistan 2012 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

As is my self-declared tradition of speaking of groups of birds within the species gamut of Trinidad & Tobago, allow me to introduce you to yet another group of three. While the entire Tyrannidae family of Tyrant Flycatchers is massive, the Myiarchus group of those recorded on these two islands comprises just three species.

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Trinidad ALA Groups Family 254

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2021

The severe drawback of course being that the birds were covered in heavy fog too. The HBW has two interesting bits of information on this species. Of course, just when we were leaving, the fog cleared up. Apparently, the location was the scene of a fight between Tibetans and Han Chinese a long time ago. At least a little bit?

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Birds Species 250

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

The Avibase China birdlist counts 7 species of minivets for China – one of which is the Ashy Minivet. For Japan, there are only two species listed – again the Ashy Minivet, but also the Japanese Minivet (mostly called Ryukyu Minivet elsewhere), a Japanese endemic which is not on the China list.

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China Japan 2020 2019 258

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

Ducks and divers The bottom of the city is, naturally, the lowest point or course of the Danube (around 74 m / 240 ft above sea level), the best area being the confluence of the Sava and the Danube, around the War Islands Reserve. Although many of them can be found in city parks, too, at the top of Avala your chances are higher.

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Serbia Woodpeckers Ducks Birds 306

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

These species should all be slam-dunks for Lake Cuitzeo in the fall. Still, what is bad for one species may be good for another. And Dowitchers, of course. But, as always, new sites bring new species. Nor did I see any Green Herons , or Least or American Bitterns. Puddleglum indeed! That was to be suspected. Brine Flies.

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2020 Ducks Sparrows 2019 292

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2020

In fact, it is a perfect name, since this species has a clearly rolled “r” sound in the middle of its call. Mexican Whip-poor-wills , of course, have a Spanish accent! (As As, of course, are Vermilion Flycatchers. Fortunately, I knew that Cuerporruín is the local name for the Mexican Whip-poor-will. cuerpoRRUÍN!

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Mexico Family Laws Ducks 279

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2021

I pointed at the bird shown below but he insisted it could not be that species – no long tail … For people of a certain age, gender and background, at some point The Smiths were the most important band in the world. I guess the whole point about this band name is to suggest -ironically, of course – utter blandness.

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LACS Birds France Japan 262

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Of course, this would probably get me a telling off from Mark J. Chinese Grey Shrike is now monotypic as the larger, much darker Tibetan Plateau species Giant Shrike has been split off. Population conjectured to have been in the order of 100 million birds in 1980s” The reason, of course, is the usual one: human beings.

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Birds Tail Banding Buffalo Psychology 262

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2024

Although by this time we had already clocked around a hundred species after a day and a half in Guyana, we were understandably eager to explore the famous rugged interior of the country. Unless, of course, a small aircraft is involved. It was only after reading up on the species I realised that it was not only me who thought this way.

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Guyana Litter Owls Trinidad 243

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2021

It helps that there is a little bird hide almost on top of the hill, guarded by a Chinese lady and attracting a substantial number of species of birds and birders. Even though this is no challenge at all, of course. The hide also attracts three species of minla – Blue-tailed Minla , Chestnut-tailed Minla and Red-tailed Minla.

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China Birds Zebras Germany 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2021

Each of these habitats has its own rich mix of bird species. But, of course, any and all birds are welcome. Still, the newly dead trees seem to be of interest to many bird species. Of course, no matter how good the hummingbirds are, there is always something more to see. A female Archilochus also posed nicely for me.

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Species Birds Rights Mexico 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

The Latin species name is dissimilis (different, unlike), possibly because the female looks quite different from the male (though based on that explanation, dissimilis would have to be a very common species name). The Blue Whistling Thrush is of course named for its whistling – you can hear it here. Then it is tame.

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Horses Family Blackbirds Species 235

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2020

While the 480-odd species recorded within T&T may outstrip our fellow Caribbean islands by leaps and bounds, it pales in comparison to the massive lists of mainland South and Central America. T&T boasts a fascinating level of biodiversity, however the relatively small size of the islands puts a limit on individual species diversity.

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Trinidad Family America Species 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

This can mean some interesting birding, if you can bear the Shanghai heat … Of course, the egrets and herons described in my last post are still around. Webster`s Dictionary defines Cuculophotobia as “The fear of bird photographers to post cuckoo photos online due to the high likeliness of getting the species assignment wrong.”

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Tigers Cattle Breeding Bears 221

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Western” refers to a two-species complex, the Cordilleran Flycatcher and the Pacific-slope Flycatcher. So, of course, I managed to find a bit more time before I really had to start work and I headed back to the park where the bird was quickly in my binoculars. Awesome, right? A new bird for Queens! I’m glad you asked! What could we do?

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Collecting Birds 2015 Species 281

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2020

Most of the ground-feeding seed-eaters fit solidly within the Hot Country species, with really large numbers of Stripe-headed Sparrows and Blue-black Grassquits. No photos, of course… and no second chance for years, until last week! The Lesser Roadrunner … running on the road, of course.

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Mexico Woodpeckers Zebras Sparrows 257

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Conceptualizing a plumage aberration such as leucism, where pigments are prevented from reaching some (or all) feathers (in the case of birds) may be a feat of the imagination that can most easily be applied to one of the more common species – maybe an American Robin , or a Rufous-bellied Thrush.

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Paraguay Trinidad 2006 2016 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2024

Now that this bird has seemingly moved on, I had to find other species to distract me, but fortunately that was not too hard. Fortunately, I did not only see the standard species, but was also rewarded with less regular species. Perhaps the scaups are bad luck for me, but I’m sure I’ll get my bittern one day.

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Birds Ducks Groups Species 242

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2020

My area of central Mexico is rich in Hummingbird species, but I do not know any places that are year-round sure things for large numbers of Hummers. Which, it turns out, suits one Hummingbird species just fine. Still, when a site gets good, it really gets good! I was surrounded by loud, piercing EEP!

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Mexico Species Breeding Family 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2019

That’s where Costa Rica is situated of course and is partly why so many birds live here. It’s par for the course in December, Costa Rica, and unfortunately, often coincides with our annual bird counts. It’s also why 60 degrees f. is considered “cold” by many locals and why 50 is downright frigid.

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Costa Rica Birds Owls Bats 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2024

While I’ve heard and seen both species multiple times, these atmospheric songs in the humid dawn, with songs of other species and the sound of water dripping through the foliage in the background, was already a highlight of the day. Common Nightingales and Common Cuckoos where calling everywhere.

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Sri Lanka South Africa Transported Africa 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2021

On the way, I pass through a wonderful mixed habitat with lots of native trees that keep fruit-eating birds happy, and flowers that attract all of our region’s hummingbird species. Of course, the sparrows can’t have the thorn forest entirely to themselves. When I say “thorn forest”, I really mean it.

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Sparrows Birds Virginia Protection 261

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Of course, you can just recklessly say that you like music – but that would be foolish and almost guarantees you will have to listen to a mix of local folk music (preferably modernized by some electropop elements) and Celine Dion. I am not sure there is a good answer to the question above. Indeed, I fared a bit better this time.

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China Russia Birds Owls 255