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The subject was not hunting; it was contest killing. Contest killing – where individuals or teams gun down as many of a single species as they can within a specific time period, with prizes going to the winner(s) – is legal all over the country. As a group, yes, we are anti-hunting,” she said. It will never happen.
I get that you’re really angry, I mean, he was a popular lion and yes, his cute widdle cubs will probably die to, but I can’t help feeling you’ve kind of missed the point a bit, and well, ending all hunting in Africa will not solve much and maybe make things worse and… No, no, I’m not a hunter. I’m sorry.
It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death. With the proposed hunting seasons on sandhill cranes being discussed in Tennessee, Kentucky and Wisconsin, we must not forget the whooping crane, which travels and winters in the big sandhill crane flocks. Speculation is useless in acts of vandalism.
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.
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.
China is not that well-known for its hornbills, but in Yunnan province, on the border to Myanmar, some species can be found. Visiting the family. The bird in the photo is a male, as indicated by the yellow rather than blue throat sack – and by the fact that it is outside of the hole at breeding time (the female is in the hole).
The month and this particular period is all the more auspicious for me and mine, as so many friends and families celebrate spring birthdays. My family took our annual post-Easter Egg hunt hike at Powder Mills Park, where I spied several gorgeous matched pairs of Wood Ducks along with lots of different woodpecker species.
With that logic those trees, if left to grow, should produce something of use to at least one or two species of birds. It’s been some years since I’ve seen any Short-tailed Hawks as the entire valley is now overrun with concrete – but I’m trying my best to create some sort of oasis for any species.
We are too far into the year for many FOY sightings, but not quite far enough for most migratory species to make their return appearances. No surprise to that; these two species always initiate the migratory season here. I’m no expert, but I strongly suspect Rusty Sparrows only hunt for grubs when they are feeding babies.
Local guide and birder David Mora Vargas has been spending much of his time at his family’s farm in the Sarapiqui lowlands. With around 400 species recorded for the area, yeah, it’s where we might all like to quarantine for a bit! A Fantastic Day of 200 Plus Species. An adult Tiny Hawk from another day and place.
The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. I have only seen this species in the massive and beautiful Korup National Park in Cameroon.
While the P-a-P Wildfowl Trust’s main thrust is the breeding and release of five duck species, the habitat encourages a number of native wetland birds to inhabit and proliferate the area. Due to the plethora of bird species around, invariably we were to experience something breathtaking.
The wonderful family Meropidae contains 27 dazzling species, of which Africa is endowed with no less than 20 species, the balance occurring across Asia and with one as far afield as Australia. We have both resident and migratory species, and this post will briefly discuss each of the 20 species of African bee-eaters.
Of course this is nonsense, and they are clearly close to swifts, but with a hind toe that lets them perch like a swallow, they sit outside the family as well, in their own, rarely thought about, family. There are four species in the family, ranging from India to the Solomon Islands. Whiskered Treeswift.
It’s the boar hunting season. By the cliffs we find several Eurasian Crag-Martins and a consolation species – a family of Golden Eagles in the air! There are three species of which two closely fit that description, and if you do not see them well, the third can be equally confusing! Enough of the mountains. What to say?
Some call them trash, tours might not visit, but they can host more than the expected and common species. Some such vegetated spots can also attract oddball birds, species that wander to find a home in urban circumstances. Three species of seedeaters sing from the tall grass, one of them being the Yellow-bellied Seedeater.
In other words, millions of people got together with family and friends for a cozy day of mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, naps, football, and some serious turkeyliciousness. The turkeys I’m talking about up in here are three of the five members of the Cracidae family that occur in Costa Rica. The Near Threatened Black Guan.
Originally a hunting term, the Big Five were the most dangerous and prized targets of the great white hunters on safari. Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant.
On my 21-day Kenyan safaris we reckoned to find around 600 species of birds and around 60 mammals, both impressive totals. In 2023 I attempted to keep a year list of mammal encounters: the list barely exceeded 20 species, while it became complicated by seeing bats and voles that I was unable to name specifically.
The Hyacinth Macaw is more than just another pretty face; these birds are social with strong family values. The Hyacinth Macaw doesn’t start a family until it is seven years old. Such cavities are hard to find and are sometimes disputed by more than one species.
Around Broome we have several members of the Kingfisher family, with the most common being the Sacred Kingfisher and the Red-backed Kingfisher. The Red-backed Kingfisher hunts large insects and small reptiles and can often be seen perched on open dead trees.
We saw a smaller member of the potoo family, Northern Potoo , Nyctibius jamaicensis , at Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, boating and birding the Salado River. Our group got to see another species that is a master of camouflage on our trip for the Honduran Emerald. Later on, we saw a second one that was actually moving!
They are endemic to New Zealand, but unlike many endemic species that have not suffered at the hands of humans, in fact they have expanded their range as forests have been opened up for pasture. They are the only endemic duck species that hunting is permitted for, in fact, the other species being either too rare or outright extinct.
Just last year, 5 new bird species and 5 new subspecies were discovered in a few short weeks of fieldwork on the islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka. In recent years Indonesia has been competing with the Andes as the region giving rise to the biggest number of undescribed bird species (naturally, all of them endemics).
Many birds around the world in the Robin family ( Turdidae ) are favorites due to their musical songs. The quail, guans, ducks and pheasant are hunted for their meat. The introduction of exotic animals has extirpated and continues to threaten hundreds of species. Little boys kill thousands of birds each year with slingshots.
The Edwards’s Pheasant is a rather smart blue-black member of the pheasant family and it may be on the edge of extinction. It has recently been reclassified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List; this category is reserved for only the most threatened species in the world.
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. The scientific species name of the Rusty-naped Pitta oatesi honors Eugene William Oates (1845-1911), an English civil servant in India and naturalist.
Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. Penguins are flightless, but some species locomote over long distances on antarctic ice to travel between breeding grounds and the sea.
Not all the birds, of course, but many of the distinctive and conspicuous species. I got a picture and sent it to a birder friend of mine who unforgettably remarked “any woodcreeper is a good woodcreeper” A comment that stirred my interest in the family more than anything. And what a massive bill to boot.
According to the HBW, there are 41 species of African Barbets and 34 species of Asian Barbets. There are also 14 species of New World Barbets and 2 species of Toucan-Barbets (all in South America). Might have something to do with the fact that they were hunted here until quite recently). Pernice Brothers).
Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. It is also related to Wood Stork of the Americas and Milky Stork of Asia.
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? Aren’t all birds worth watching?
Here, thousands of Amur Falcons hunt for insects during the southern summer, Wattled Cranes and Denham’s Bustards may be seen, impressive Long-tailed Widowbirds display over the grasslands and the waterbodies are a haven to many hundreds of waterbirds, including Maccoa and White-backed Ducks. Photo by Adam Riley. Photo by Adam Riley.
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.
One – the Takahe is far too cool a species to lose. Two – there is so much distinctness amongst the different forms of the Purple Swamphen that lumping means we may as well lump all the world’s reed warblers into one huge species and be done with it. This is ridiculous for two reasons.
How excited we were to see what was for us a new species as we drove up into Olympic National Park on the road to Hurricane Ridge. The deer walked down the road, seemingly unconcerned with being so close to an open car window that revealed an excitedly babbling family and a clicking camera. A Black-tailed Deer !
Navarro’s exceptional drawings illustrate the species accounts. Forty-eight species. Compare, for example, the species account illustration of the Cuban Trogon with the photo that opens up the introductory chapter. The luxury of space means that each species can be shown from various angles and in distinctive poses.
They portray the nesting cycles of Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk, and American Robin, illustrating the various ways in which birds create families. Do they have families too and do they take care of them? Some of the chapters focus on a specific bird, most are about bird families like hawks, tanagers, wrens, etc.,
It can’t have escaped your notice lately that the blog has been overrun with articles about North America’s pseudo-warblers (or wood warblers, as some people, apparently unaware the name is taken by a proper European species, call them), and, even worse, no small amount of poetry. And they are always a pleasure to see.
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.
On the first day, before the sun was even properly up, I already had one of my target species under my belt: the storied and spectacular White Stork. But I saw some really cool things, and now I am going to tell you all about them! My journey started off in the city of Leon. My life White Stork.
Within its European range, it was heavily hunted until the late 19th century, and the Mute Swan was subsequently a very rare bird to encounter in the wild. Starting in the 16th century, the species was released widely on ponds and parks and rivers throughout Europe where it flourished remarkably and continues to do so to this very day.
Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? Not a great place for a family vacation, though I think Duncan will disagree. The Indexes show images of the most common birds of the area against a painted background, with page references to species accounts. Now, I’m not so sure. Back to the field guide!
Here in Shanghai, December is the month that a birder’s addiction cannot be satisfied by the increasingly meager assortment of species at Nanhui – we have to go to other places as well. This includes the Common Pochard , a species classified as Vulnerable despite a relatively large population that is, however, declining rapidly.
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