10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2023

Before I was born, it used to be a rare breeding species in mountainous areas south of Belgrade, but became extinct after the 1960s due to intensive poisoning of wolves. Stopping for a large cappuccino at a drive-in McDonalds en route, soon I entered a hamlet of a dozen family homes mixed with a dozen small apartment buildings.

Bulgaria 264

Bulgaria McDonalds Eagles Wolves 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

In 2008, with my family decided to build the Limneo Lodge , a small accommodation with only 9 rooms. With more than 312 so far recorded bird species, Lake Kerkini National Park offers great birding year-round. Other important breeding species include Black and White Stork , Lesser Spotted , White-tailed , and Booted Eagle.

Greece 264

Greece Wildlife Boars Otters 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

August is possibly the best month there, because you gradually observe the rise and fall of numbers of various migrating species, which use it as a stopover site to fatten up ahead of the long hauls further south. Before I start, my readers are already asking themselves why are they familiar with the name of this locality? Photo: VICE.

Serbia 298

Serbia Boars Otters Birds 298

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2011

Feeding birds is generally regarded as a harmless past-time, a wholesome way for people to share nature and enjoy wildlife with the family. Another example would be the Eagle Lady in Alaska. The Eagle Lady has also died and now the town bans the feeding of eagles and other birds. She added more corn. Grackle Guy?

Bald Eagle 262

Bald Eagle Deer Minnesota 2000 262

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

Since we’ve covered some generalities already, once a month I’ll be exploring how a species, genus, or family of birds got its name, and how those names fit in with our larger understanding of, and relationship with, birds. No one calls you a doofus when you have a Golden Eagle at the ready to eat their face.

Falcons 260

Falcons Eagles Meat Geese 260

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2021

That’s because this fascinating part-Caribbean, part-south American country holds well over 800 species of avifauna making it without doubt one of my top three countries in all of the continent to visit. Ok, maybe not the vampire bat…but some of the more “cuddly” species are actually quite easy to see.

Guyana 279

Guyana Otters South America Colombia 279

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Raptors to look for in this reserve are Golden Eagle and Short-toed Snake Eagle , European Honey-buzzard and Peregrine Falcon. The commonest owls are Eurasian Scops Owl and Tawny Owl , while rare ones include Ural Owl and Eurasian Eagle Owl. About 120 species have been recorded so far.

Serbia 264

Serbia Woodpeckers Owls Eagles 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2024

Visiting Guyana brought with it the unavoidable expectation of seeing some mind boggling species – some endangered, some emblematic, others downright bizarre. Before we boarded the flight to Guyana we already knew that probabilities of seeing one of the target species was slashed to near zero. Which birds? And waited.

Guyana 245

Guyana Brazil ALA Eagles 245

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

This country boasts over 1,000 bird species, vast wildernesses, a superb network of protected areas, the greatest concentration of large game and predators on the planet, excellent lodges and friendly people. The Baobab-studded woodlands and wetlands of the park harbor over 550 bird species and they sure come thick and fast!

Tanzania 248

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 248

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

My target at the start of the year was 200 species in the UK and 300 in Europe, so I’ve achieved the latter, while the chances of reaching the former are pretty good. Nor have I see a skua (jaeger) of any species. I haven’t done well with Golden Eagles, with just a single bird, seen briefly, in Greece, in May.

Cyprus 245

Cyprus Greece Spain Europe 245

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2021

Where a birder goes in the Caribbean determines which birds are seen including toy-like todies, Carib hummingbirds, cool pigeons, quail-doves, unique avian families and outrageous woodpeckers. One such special place is the Centro Manu, a small family run reserve that features several star bird species of Costa Rica’s Caribbean lowlands.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Puerto Rico Birds Owls 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Ecuador is one of the world’s leading destinations for birdwatchers, and no wonder: with more then 1,600 bird species found throughout the small country, Ecuador has the world’s highest density of bird species found per acre. In fact, 1,600 different bird species accounts for almost 20% of the species known to exist in the world.

Ecuador 264

Ecuador Birds 2019 Cattle 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2024

Taking inspiration from Matthiessen’s 1967 book (long out of print), which combined his natural history essays with species accounts by Ralph S. Species Profile, Black-necked Stilt, p. 57; © 2024 by Pete Dunne and Kevin T.

North America 264

North America America 2006 Delaware 264

Critter News

MARCH 21, 2009

I come from a Portuguese family and I have no problem dumping on the Portuguese. Portuguese environmental groups - including SOS Lynx, A Nossa Terra and Almargem - have denounced the deliberate shooting of the country's only nesting male Iberian Imperial Eagle. Tags: Stupid eagle portugal fox hunting. This makes me angry.

Portugal 100

Portugal Eagles Spain Fox 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

It was also great to finally travel overseas again, meet a lot of people I did not know (and some I did), to be in a new country… and not just the new country, but its best birding area, where almost all local hotspots are yellow (150+ species) and several are ochre (200+ sp.), impressive for Central Europe.

Austria 299

Austria Factory Asia Battery 299

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2021

The eggs hatched out around 20th June after 28 days of incubation and the Pied Oystercatcher family were soon on the move. This moves the family closer to a reef that gets exposed on low tides and better feeding opportunities. Usually the first thing we look for when we visit Pied Oystercatcher families is look for footprints.

Breeding 264

Breeding Feral Cats Eggs Feral 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

Shorebirds – or “shorbs” for the cuteness factor (as if that needed any enhancement) – remain one of the most fascinating families of birds for me. Obliging species like Grey-headed Kingfisher , Long-crested Eagle , and even a pair of Greater Blue-eared Starlings ensured we didn’t get anywhere quickly.

Buffalo 264

Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2018

Through multi-partnerships, cooperation, federal funding, and the private conservation efforts of one family, 616 acres were officially added to the Cherokee National Forest in September 2018. In the area live 15 species from Tennessee’s threatened and endangered list, as well as 11 aquatic species from the federally endangered list.

Georgia 214

Georgia Bald Eagle Tennessee 2018 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2021

I was asked by a new birder about the site’s potential and I remarked we should expect between 40 to 50 species for our circa two kilometre stroll. Red backed and Variegated Fairy Wrens reeled as they hopped through the undergrowth while a family of Grey Shrike Thrushes took to feeding. I was wrong. A male Figbird upon his nest.

Koalas 262

Koalas Birds Zoos Hunters 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2022

As this African Green Pigeon shows, the color should offer good camouflage for species living on trees. In case you do not know that brimstone is sulfur, the Brimstone Canary brings the point home by having the Latin species name sulphurata. Different bird families, I know. Lucia for the birds. Celebration everywhere.

South Africa 250

South Africa Africa Saint Lucia Camels 250

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.

China 263

China Birds Pythons Eagles 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2020

Over the years birding Willow Lake I had added nearly eighty eBird checklists at the preserve and netted myself 127 species, good for number two on the eBird hotspot list. Since the pandemic I’ve added one new species to my personal list for Willow Lake Preserve, a Field Sparrow.

Bald Eagle 233

Bald Eagle New York City New York Birds 233

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2011

This ruled out some excellent species like Cape Eagle Owl, Violet Wood-hoopoe, African Finfoot and Half-collared Kingfisher and I was still left with 36 species. This was tough because this excluded species that occur in two countries within South Africa’s geographical area, Lesotho and Swaziland.

South Africa 256

South Africa Africa Swaziland Parrots 256

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

So much so that the two species are placed within their own family, Chaetopidae. The species is insectivorous and nests amongst the scree and boulders on the steep mountain slopes. Another highlight is the eyrie of a pair of Verreaux’s or Black Eagles , one of the handsomest eagles on the planet!

South Africa 257

South Africa Penguins Africa Birds 257

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2018

White-tailed Eagles normally take flight silently, yet, while checking some Common Starlings and hoping for Rosy Starlings , I heard a few noisy wing-beats, enough to turn and see a young eagle flying with a wing tag. To prove more how young and inexperienced it was, the eagle even landed on the ground a mere 15 metres behind my car.

Eagles 207

Eagles Otters Serbia 2016 207

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2019

Collared Scops Owl – A Cat Head Eagle. For some of the more common or exciting birds, I know the Chinese names as well, such as Maotouying for owl (literally “cat head eagle”, which I think is both cute and accurate) or Xianbasedong for Fairy Pitta (“eight color fairy thrush”). Well, no more!

China 203

China Eagles Cats Owls 203

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2021

For birders who have visited T&T in the past, the livestock station has always been a staple site for several key species that would be fairly difficult elsewhere. Safe to say no species was left behind! As it had done in every previous count at almost the same time, a hulking Black Hawk-Eagle glided into view.

Trinidad 264

Trinidad Livestock Groups Eagles 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

His obsession with all things feathered has led him to visit 20 countries around the world in the pursuit of thousands of different species of birds to watch, photograph, and enjoy. On Hokkaido there are three primary species that people go to see in the winter – the Big Three as I think of them.

Japan 202

Japan Massachusetts Asia Birds 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa). Quality time was spent with a friendly Hamar family at their homestead of grass huts surrounding their cattle corral. Yellow-billed Stork.

Ethiopia 255

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Cattle 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2011

Before my trip to Washington the only species of puffin I had ever seen in the wild was the puffin of the Atlantic Ocean, the appropriately named Atlantic Puffin. The first obstacle was getting to the general range of the species, which is the west coast from northern California to Alaska and across to Russia.* I love puffins.

Washington 190

Washington Protection Puffins Rhinoceros 190

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2011

On a trip to Suriname to find and film some of these spectacular species I was blown away by the birding. Suriname has approximately 735 recorded species, with many more to still be added to its total list. The surrounding grounds are a great introduction to some common, but nonetheless interesting, species.

Suriname 249

Suriname Guyana Birds South America 249

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2021

Brasserie au Baron has its origins in a bistro run by the Bailleux family since 1973 in Gussignies, a small French town along that lies along the river Hogneau right at the border with Belgium’s Hainaut province in the Francophone south of that country. Good birding and happy drinking! Brasserie au Baron: Saint-Médard Cuvée de Noël.

France 246

France Eagles Shelters Suffering 246

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2014

En route, the teenagers were chatting away when suddenly I screamed “Eagles!”, Bald Eagles ,” I said encouragingly/defensively/lamely. From June 1 to September 26, Hog Island offers week-long residential birding and nature programs for adults, teens, and families. Soon the girls emerged.

Puffins 274

Puffins Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eggs 274

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. millions years ago.

California Condor 219

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 219

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

But this book taught me about eagles, owls, storks and herons. Not all the birds, of course, but many of the distinctive and conspicuous species. Very soon, the other members of this unique family were on my radar. T&T has five recorded species of woodcreeper, all resident. Straight-billed Woodcreeper.

Trinidad 226

Trinidad Laws Family Hunting 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

I was planning a trip to South Africa, I had about five days to fill, I wanted to get a bunch of desert species (particularly the Springbok – not a bird) in a way that wasn’t too hard to reach from Johannesburg. A Shaft-tailed Whydah, a member of a small African family of cuckoo-finches. And lo, it was good. Or Cheetahs.

South Africa 184

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 184

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

We got good looks at Yellow-breasted , Crimson-breasted , Yellow-vented , and Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers along with more mundane representatives of the sunbird family, Plain Sunbird and Thick-billed Spiderhunter. We saw a number of these distinctive raptors, along with Crested Serpent Eagles and Oriental or Crested Honey Buzzards.

Malaysia 207

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Asia 207