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There is a thing parents know very well – how important it is to choose the right name for a child. Presented in numbers, Bird Families of the World has 2417 field guide style paintings, plus 797 bird photos, followed by 252 distribution maps. But why am I even interested in bird families in the first place? Families perhaps?
So naturally, I got to thinking about kinglets, and their Palearctic kin, the “crests,” and where they belong in the avian family tree. The family Regulidae comprises six small, hyperactive species that range through the great boreal and temperate forests North and Middle America, North Africa, and Eurasia.
Last week during a camping trip to Kununurra we encountered a Radjah Shelduck family in one of the irrigation channels around town. The Radjah Shelduck family last week were swimming in the irrigation channel right against the road and so we could pull over and admire them. Radjah Shelduck family.
That’s because the game isn’t in full production right now but Teale is trying to get it there through a Kickstarter campaign which runs through 2 April. ” That’s right, Desi, you are. I got the American Bittern ! ” Now you’ve probably noticed that I referenced that we were playing with a prototype.
There has been a family of Tawny Frogmouths at our local supermarket car-park in other years. The Tawny Frogmouth on the right became aware of me and one eye was on me followed by two eyes! I left the family of Tawny Frogmouths to sleep during the day and they will be out after dark feeding. Tawny Frogmouths. Tawny Frogmouths.
It was soon obvious that one of the trees right on the edge of the road was not empty and we pulled up just before it. I have shown you a few times over the years various families of Tawny Frogmouths. There is also the family of Tawny Frogmouths at Cygnet Park. Occupied tree. Tawny Frogmouth on a nest.
On a rising tide the Pied Oystercatcher family soon found a good position to watch and wait until the reef was exposed once again. The fully fledged Pied Oystercatcher chick is the bird on the right. Pied Oystercatcher family at roost. The Pied Oystercatcher family will remain together for some time yet. Oriental Plover.
The header photo above shows where the family rested shortly after the two chicks left the nest on Tuesday. The egg had a clear hole in the upper right where the egg tooth was breaking through the shell. The following day we returned to see if the family of Pied Oystercatchers had moved away from the nest site yet.
The Crested Pigeon family remained in the tree away from danger for quite some time with both parents present. Although Crested Pigeons are quite a common bird Australia-wide you don’t always find a nest, so that you are able to observe the family grow.
I am puzzled as to why Gulls and Terns are almost passed over, with less than two pages of text devoted to a family description and only six species accounts (four gulls, two terns). Family follows family with no page break, making this section a little dense. Woodpeckers are a family of focus for Tuttle-Adams.
There’s a ( Eurasian) Blue Tit ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) flitting around some flowers and butterflies, while what is likely another European member of the family Paridae – possibly either a Willow Tit ( Poecile montanus ) or Marsh Tit ( Poecile palustris ) – seems to alight on the letter “T” in “Natura”.
Funny how sometimes you search for birds for ages and when you’re in the right area, or by chance, they are almost too easy to see. I experienced a perfect illustration of this many years ago when I was traveling in New Zealand with my family. My family still regularly reminds me of that sighting when I get excited about birds.
So best of luck to any and all creatures striving towards a distant horizon right now. But Corey also hit up the Forest Park bird feeders with his family Saturday afternoon and Desi, his five-year-old, was so taken with a Red-bellied Woodpecker (the one above) that Corey had to choose it as his favorite bird of the weekend too.
Local guide and birder David Mora Vargas has been spending much of his time at his family’s farm in the Sarapiqui lowlands. As it learns to hunt and live on its own, the young bird has taken up residence in a tree right in front of the farm. Check it out: Juvenile Tiny Hawk Show in Sarapiqui. Las Arrieras Nature Reserve.
While I was on a call with Corey, what should fly into the tree right outside my window but a Yellow-throated Warbler ? This species is quite rare during migration in my area and this bird was, in one sense, way too early but, for my purposes, right on time.
One such star avian family is the Setophagidae, the birds known as wood-warblers. No, not a warbler but big enough to be one and a star in its own right. Yes, you read that right. Despite being a bird that lacks bright colors commonly found in other members of this famed family, the “Wormer” is one of my favorites.
But, unlike most books focused on a bird family, this one is organized geographically. They are sized variably, often filling both pages with a series of story-telling images like the Southern Rockhoppers walking right, then left, then a single individual jumping down, or taking our breath away in a single image spread out over two pages.
Red-billed Curassow ( Crax blumenbachii ), a large, ground-dwelling bird belonging to the same family as the more familiar Plain Chachalaca of southern Texas, was never a very widespread species. Having a family of endangered Red-billed Curassow willingly approach me to within such a short distance is definitely one of them!
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. They are usually found in small family groups perched atop bushes or short trees, from whence they sally out to catch their prey.
While the entire Tyrannidae family of Tyrant Flycatchers is massive, the Myiarchus group of those recorded on these two islands comprises just three species. Simple and straightforward enough, right? Notorious for being difficult to identify, the ideal situation would be to have no possible overlap of species.
And now we enter into a family of birds more or less unknown to non-birders. And truth told, over the years they’ve been something of a square peg for ornithologists too, not fitting precisely into any of the known families of birds. A Family of Little Grebes – YC Lee, Bird Ecology Study Group. Not enough for you?
Taxonomically, swallows are one of the few families of birds that has seen little change in its ranks. For centuries, it seems that ornithologists and naturalists have correctly pegged swallows to the rightfamily. The family is global in its distribution, with 83 species of around 19 genera.
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.
Whether you are traveling with your family, in a small group, or alone, our tours are customizable to suit your every need and wish. We work closely with Mayan communities where local expert birders are permanently monitoring the forest to know the right time and place to spot our unique birds.
Wildlife Explorers, amongst the numerous trips organized every year, has incorporated some that are designed for both the photographers and their families. A second guide, exclusively dedicated to family members of the photographer, accompanies them to other, separate points of interest.
Hey, in 1959 Walt Disney set up a studio on the island and filmed Swiss Family Robinson there! I did however manage to be in the right place at the right time to experience a gang of Magnificent Frigatebirds that had a Red-footed Booby surrounded. Today, it very much retains its wild side.
It devotes two pages to each bird, a full-page drawing of the bird on the left, a description of the bird, including singing and nesting behavior, on the right. Scientific names don’t reflect the massive changes to species in the warbler family. North American Songbirds is clearly oriented towards beginning or backyard birders.
The best test of that proposition, of course, is to repeat it to any one of the hundreds of thousands of birders who have, say, a family. The medieval flint churches of Norfolk stand right in the center of the most exciting birding in England, and our Black Sea cruises from port to historic port feature Dalmatian Pelicans and Audouin Gulls.
Arriving at the beach as the tide pushed in yesterday we soon found the Pied Oystercatcher family had left footprints in the wet sand. We then moved slowly through the rocks until we found the family. You will notice the Common Sandpiper in the photo to the right! It is hard to tell which footprints belong to the chick now.
The losing streak of the bulbul family continues with some other species such as the … … Dark-capped Bulbul (Drakensberg area, South Africa; eBird: “a rather nondescript thrush-sized brown bird”) … … White-eared Bulbul (Mumbai, eBird: “a dull gray-brown bulbul). Thus the Cape Bulbul.
Few if any species are as emblematic of the Neotropics as Ramphastidae, the family that includes the toucans, toucanets, and aracaris. In addition to the serrated bill, Collared Aracaris have a barbed tongue, which you can see in the bird on the right. Even non-birders can appreciate the huge-billed and colorful birds. Disturbing, no?
The Great Horned Owls that live in the palm trees right above our RV have returned and brought with them a pair of fledglings. 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. That was no deterrent from landing right in the middle of the road.
The Pheasant Coucal family have moved on from the last place that we observed them. Whiskered Terns will breed in this area if the conditions are right. There have been literally thousands of Whiskered Terns feeding close to the highway as you can see by all of the tiny dots in the header photos. Whiskered Terns feeding.
We moved back and sat on the sand and watched the Pied Oystercatcher family. As we sat observing the Pied Oystercatcher family the adult with the chicks moved down onto the sand below us and the other one stood guard. Pied Oystercatcher family. Pied Oystercatcher chicks with right feet up! Pied Oystercatcher family.
For a few years now, every time they visit their family here, he or they go with me to bird my favorite sites. Birding on Lake Cuitzeo is a real challenge right now, because what little water has gathered in the center of the lake is surrounded by extensive mud flats. His wife, Fany, is also a biologist, and is from Morelia.
They are one of the most famous families of birds, and for good reason. Extremely visible White-necked Jacobins and Black-throated Mangos tussle over canopy feeding rights, both species also frequent artificial feeders quite regularly during the right time of year.
These also show up, often in family groups, from the east and steadily approach the point before turning south-west towards the Atlantic. Eleonora’s Falcon is always a possibility at Europa Point in the summer Sea-watching from the coast is great fun right now and it keeps me cool. Next week I’ll take a step further.
We are very lucky that here in Broome we have Tawny Frogmouths right in town. I didn’t hang around, but took a few photos to capture the Tawny Frogmouth family that has once again bred close to home. One of the adult Tawny Frogmouths appears to be blind in its right eye. Tawny Frogmouth with an odd right eye.
We saw ravens in southern Manhattan through the winter and spring of 2015 (I even saw one with a bagel , confirming that they are right at home here in New York). The family has continued hanging around Chelsea since, and it’s a lot of fun watching (and hearing!)
In fact, if I were to leave China right now, they would not let me back into the country. There are even some warblers that look a bit less anonymous than the majority of the family. Winter is not the greatest time for birding in Shanghai, and this year, there was no escaping to Southeast Asia due to Covid-19. Witness the.
The eggs usually hatch out quite close together and then the family can all move away from the nest site. There are dangers around the nest site and the sooner they could move the family away from the exposed nest site the better. In the header photo the Pied Oystercatcher chick is only just to the right of the adult.
Way back in January, my wife and I welcomed our second child into our family. The Drinking Bird may have seen a drop-off in content starting right about then. Savvy readers of 10,000 Birds and mostly defunct (but not yet dead!) everything else, per usual).
When you travel north along the highway from Broome towards Willare and Derby you come to a wide bridge with a sign that says “Cockatoo Creek” I would highly recommend that you pull up on the right after you have crossed the bridge and park where the plaque is for the official opening of it. There was also a Black-necked Stork.
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