10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2012

While New Zealand is famous for its endemic oddities, once upon a time New Zealand also had many birds from groups and families that are no longer found here. There were once two species of goose, a merganser, and a pair of raven species. And eagles. New Zealand had eagles.

Eagles 102

Eagles New Zealand Bald Eagle Collecting 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

One of the reasons that I usually start each year’s species list with a visit to the wetlands of Lake Cuitzeo is that the site offers so many species that I can find nowhere else. Not all the colorful species have feathers. There are several, almost identical, species of Flycatchers in the Myiarchus genus.

Eagles 227

Eagles Falcons Sparrows Species 227

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 263

Serbia Woodpeckers Owls Eagles 263

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Recently, while guiding on the slopes of Poas, without too much effort, we had more than a hundred species. Such a birdy day and yet, one that still lacked quite a few species. Poas itself seems to be pretty straightforward but I wondered how far down both sides of the mountain should be included in my species list. Two hundred?

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 100

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

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 278

Guyana Otters South America Colombia 278

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

DECEMBER 20, 2014

processed the entire genomes of 48 bird species and compared nearly 42 million base pairs of DNA (Hackett et al. ’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. Now we move on to the Neognathae , which also has two very deep branches that lead to all the other living species of birds. Open Jarvis et al.’s

Family 279

Family Parrots 2014 Birds 279

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 240

China Birds Pythons Eagles 240

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2023

Since I have limited experience with eastern Mexico, and even less experience with tropical species, I enthusiastically accepted. By week’s end I had 30 new species on my life list. And the final species, seen in the neighborhood in which I was housed, gave me my 500th species in Mexico. Good choice!

Mexico 130

Mexico Tigers Cows Birds 130

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. The African Spoonbill is one of the six global spoonbill species, and the main African one (there are also some Eurasian Spoonbills in Africa).

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Eggs Africa 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2022

There are quite a few raptor species around Skukuza. Most likely, the devil, not god created this species. While some bustards are the largest bird species capable of flight, the Black-bellied Bustard is only mid-sized. A Barn Owl slept peacefully on the inside of the roof of a well-visited tourist cafe.

Africa 147

Africa Eagles Birds Barn Owls 147

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 262

Ecuador Birds 2019 Cattle 262

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 258

Breeding Feral Cats Eggs Feral 258

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

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 281

Serbia Boars Otters Birds 281

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 298

Austria Factory Asia Battery 298

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 212

South Africa Africa Saint Lucia Camels 212

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 236

Koalas Zoos Birds Hunters 236

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

Guyana had been suffering from an extensive period of drought when we visited, this lack of water ultimately was the primary reason which prevented us from searching for the Harpy Eagle. Another cotinga that is arguably the most popular member of that family – for its voice more so than its looks – is the Screaming Piha.

Guyana 230

Guyana Woodpeckers Shelters Suffering 230

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2022

The area is used as a hunting ground for large raptors including the White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Brahminy Kite. As the tide drops the birds all move forward to bathe and feed and the Pied Oystercatcher family becomes more visible. Pied Oystercatcher family with two chicks. Pied Oystercatchers on the move.

Breeding 147

Breeding Family Hunting Eagles 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

By the cliffs we find several Eurasian Crag-Martins and a consolation species – a family of Golden Eagles in the air! The next morning is for the Kerkini Lake, one of the youngest national parks of Greece, protected only ten years ago, in 2006 and inhabited by 11 amphibian, 27 reptilian, 44 mammal and 312 bird species.

Greece 256

Greece Boars Woodpeckers Eagles 256

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 210

Georgia Bald Eagle Tennessee 2018 210

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 240

France Eagles Shelters Suffering 240

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

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 196

China Eagles Cats Owls 196

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 194

Bald Eagle New York City New York Birds 194

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 188

Trinidad Laws Family Hunting 188

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

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 178

Eagles Otters Serbia 2016 178

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2016

One of the most impressive birds in North America is the Golden Eagle. In fact, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology , “The Golden Eagle is the most common official national animal in the world – it’s the emblem of Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.” ” The bird is massive.

Albania 101

Albania Mexico Kazakhstan Austria 101

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2019

In addition to spotting exciting new species in Florida, including the rare Snail Kite, travel across the country brought me into contact with birds in Oregon, California, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, and more. With my new job, I feel privileged to work towards protecting vulnerable species each and very day.

Bald Eagle 152

Bald Eagle Alabama Kansas Wisconsin 152

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2020

Conservation status is Least Concern: “This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion” Or to put it more personally, I saw it in Shanghai yesterday. A resident in India but also included in the list of the world`s 100 worst invasive alien species.

India 170

India Zoos Birds 2019 170

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

AUGUST 3, 2019

It would be uber cool to lay eyes on a rare lifer, on species that only seem to live on the pages of a field guide but isn’t that somewhat discriminatory? And why spend time only looking for one or two species when those hours could be used to put binos focused on a few dozen? This is what a Black Hawk-Eagle shape looks like.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Panama Birds Nicaragua 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2021

and 180 bird species ( Ferruginous Duck , Black Woodpecker ; Icterine , Eastern Olivaceous and Barred Warblers ) recorded so far. I made this tour myself several days ago (late July), and will report mostly on the species I actually found, as well as some mammals. It is a spacious floodplain between the River Danube and the levee, 2.1

Farming 264

Farming Fish Birds Boars 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

Getting to actually see four species, in the last two weeks, and to hear two more is almost unheard of in my experience. Last week, a good friend, Dan Weisz gave me a tip on the location of a family of Burrowing Owls that were extremely easy to access. It all started in getting to photograph the Northern Pygmy-owls in Madera Canyon.

Owls 160

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 160