10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2013

A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in South Africa, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. We wait for a while, but they do not reappear.

Africa 234

Africa South Africa Elephants Rhinos 234

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

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!

Brunei 203

Brunei Asia Birds China 203

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2011

And where will I be going that will have the birds I want to see and be acceptable destinations for a non-birding family? Heck, I’m looking forward to seeing Cassin’s Auklet and Rhinoceros Auklet again, birds I have seen one and two times, respectively, to say nothing of Pelagic Cormorants and Brandt’s Cormorants.

Seattle 160

Seattle Rhinoceros Puffins United States 160

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

MARCH 11, 2011

That larger clade is in turn sister to a clade containing the four remaining totipalmate bird families, which do still seem to be related, and which needed a new order name once pelicans were removed. But meanwhile, let’s look at the four avian families that comprise the brand new order Suliformes.

2011 172

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea California 172

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 23, 2010

It is common for other members of the giraffe family to become involved with the care of newborns, and this baby will be joined by another new baby giraffe before summer. A giraffe’s gestation period is approximately 15 months, and the new baby will nurse for about one year.

Giraffes 100

Giraffes Gestation Tampa Rhinoceros 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

There wasn’t much around, and aside from a lifer Yellow-bellied Bulbul the two most impressive species were heard not seen – a Blue-headed Pitta an a Banded Kingfisher. The highlight again happened before we left the camp, a family of Crested Firebacks. An oversubscribed night drive didn’t help.

Lemurs 163

Lemurs Rhinoceros Uganda Leopards 163

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Bad developments indeed, particularly as the White-backed Vulture was found to be a good avian biomonitor species – if it does badly, most likely the environment as a whole will do badly, too. I could immediately tell them it was an Egyptian Goose – an invasive species in Germany but not at Kruger.

Elephants 147

Elephants Congo Birds 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. Skukuza is the largest camp and the administrative center of Kruger Park. Consistency is overrated.

Africa 147

Africa Eagles Birds Barn Owls 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. In early November 2020, there were 15 countries with more than 1000 species eBirded so far. Other than that, there are barely a few hotspots with over 500 species.

Asia 279

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 279

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

Each species account includes common and scientific name, size and weight (all metric), and information boxes on Key Identification Features (including how to differentiate the species from similar creatures), Habitat in Kruger, Habits (nocturnal or crepuscular or diurnal, social or loner, feeding behavior) and Diet.

Rhinos 252

Rhinos Animal Mammals White Rhinos 252

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2014

This is not to say, however, that birders on holiday are, should they choose to travel with family, friends or other assorted loved ones, resigned to seeing nothing, or even nothing except the common stuff. I was thus able to pick an off-the-shelf ecotourism route and, having selected a company, customise it to my family’s needs.

Bats 220

Bats Birds Elephants Family 220

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2014

For the moment I’ll stick with the split babbler families although I may relump the laughingthrushes, ground and tree babblers per Molye et al (2012). Since I’m the New Zealand beat writer I’ll be using their names for their species, but for clarity I will give other commonly used names if a species has them.

2014 150

2014 New Zealand Singapore Rhinoceros 150