10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2012

Before self-rule it was administered by South Africa and known as South-West Africa. After a brutal colonization that included genocidal campaigns against the Herero (80% killed) and Nama (50% killed) tribes, the Germans lost control when South Africa invaded soon after the declaration of the First World War.

Namibia 270

Namibia Angola Lovebirds South Africa 270

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

A family motel and passion for responsible ecotourism brought her home to the Oregon Coast where she and her husband, Erik, adventure and record a podcast ( Hannah and Erik Go Birding ), created in an effort to inspire others to get out and bird. Marion has a fascinating history with invasive species.

South Africa 264

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical description of the family is that of “a tropical African and Asian songbird that typically has a melodious voice and drab plumage”, another is “small, dull-colored passerine birds of Asia and Africa”, yet another states that they are “often rather plain” Individual species get even harsher reviews.

South Africa 263

South Africa Malaysia Africa China 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2023

At vulture family gatherings, it is always a bit of a bother for the organizers to cater to the needs of the Palm Nut Vulture. The White-eared Barbet is another bird species with an annoyingly sensible Latin species name, leucotis (white-eared). But the same species was never found again. It must be frustrating.

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa 2018 Birds 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

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.

Africa 266

Africa Gabon Uganda South Africa 266

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

Or would be, had I encountered more of them – so far, I have seen only a very small share of the approximately 233 woodpecker species, and got decent photos of an even smaller number – not much more than 10% of all of them. Also, the cap of the females is not even red but black.

Woodpeckers 260

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 260

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. Trips Mammals South Africa'

Africa 219

Africa South Africa Elephants Rhinos 219

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

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). The Crested Barbet (Kruger Park, South Africa) looks a bit like a pointillist painting gone wrong.

South Africa 245

South Africa Africa India China 245

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on my home patch of Cape Town, South Africa. The little seaside village of Rooiels is famed for being a wonderful location to pick up some choice South African endemics but it is also one of the most beautiful spots in the Cape.

South Africa 256

South Africa Penguins Africa Birds 256

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2016

There are few families of birds where despite a cosmopolitan distribution I’m always so pleased to see any species of the family. This was only the second time I had ever seen this species in all my time on the continent. Who doesn’t love a good owl? owls aren’t rare, but they are seldom easy.

Owls 223

Owls Somalia Gambia Sudan 223

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

Madikwe , in South Africa, wasn’t a site of importance before it came into existence. And so South Africa’s fifth largest park came to be (it’s worth remembering that its largest park, Kruger, is the size of Israel) on marginal land that no one in particular could do much with. Yes, there are birds.

South Africa 178

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 178

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

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.

Africa 250

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 250

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2020

I feel that like most bird families (with the obvious exception of pheasants), buntings are somewhat underrated. At my regular birding spot at Nanhui, Shanghai, five or six species of buntings can be seen fairly regularly, and about the same number very occasionally. In other words, they are my kind of birds. Pallas Bunting.

South Africa 211

South Africa China Germany Africa 211

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2013

Of course Africa could not to be left out of the pink weekend so I have researched all African species whose official or alternative names include the word “pink”. Definitely my personal favorite of Africa’s pink birds is the delicate Pink-throated Twinspot. Another not very pink species is the Pink-footed Puffback.

Africa 239

Africa Somalia Mozambique Pelicans 239

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

I did that with Peacocks & Picathartes – Reflections on Africa’s birdlife (published by Penguin Random House South Africa ). In case you didn’t know, yes, there is an indigenous peacock living in Africa, the Congo Peafowl. So, could sunbirds actually have evolved in Indomalaya and spread west into Africa?”

Congo 264

Congo Africa Madagascar Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the area they inhabit. ” (Woodward brothers, “Natal Birds”, 1899) The mighty Drakensberg Mountains run along the western boundary of KwaZulu-Natal province.

Mozambique 213

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2020

This week’s wine is a very easy-drinking white blend from the South African winery A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines. The wine is called The Curator, and on the attractive, vaguely Art Deco label we get a yellow cockatoo of indeterminate species in a cage. The Curator is an annual release from A.A. Good birding and happy drinking!

2016 164

2016 Family ADI 2008 164

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

Growing up within an hour of one of the world’s premier shorebird destinations -- West Coast National Park in South Africa -- helped for sure. Getting to know the subtleties in differences between closely related species takes years of dedication and practice. For me, there’s a few things that drive this fascination.

Florida 220

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 220

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

I’ve been fortunate to see two Penguin species in the wild (African and Galapagos) and have dreamed of seeing more–maybe even all!–especially –especially when reviewing books like A Field Guide to the Wildlife of South Georgia or Far from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds.

Penguins 279

Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 279

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

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. The African Elephant used to occur throughout Africa outside of the rainforest zones, where its close relative the Forest Elephant replaces it.

Buffalo 232

Buffalo Rhinoceros Leopards Elephants 232

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2015

In many ways the weaver family is for Africa are similar beasts to the pseudowarblers of North America (sometimes called wood-warblers). They are also generally easy to see, especially species that construct huge colonies of woven nests in villages and farms (or even cities). They also have messy nests for the family.

South Africa 154

South Africa Ethiopia Senegal Africa 154

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

True geese belong to the tribe or sub-family Anserini within the larger family Anatidae that encompasses ducks, geese and swans. And the Magpie Geese of the same country are believed to be neither ducks nor geese nor swans and are now placed within their own family Anseranatidae.

Geese 199

Geese Ducks Botswana Madagascar 199

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2011

By age 2 she could identify over 10 species of birds in our Johannesburg, South Africa, yard by call alone. Astounding because she picked up birding before she could speak and surprising because this ability was definitely not inherited from anyone in my family, myself included. And perhaps 20 others by sight.

Birds 279

Birds Game South Africa Wildlife 279

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

The Peru Birding Rally Challenge is a joint initiative between PromPeru and the Inkaterra Family of hotels. The idea is to hold the event bi-annually, once a year in the south of Peru and once in the North. In early December of 2012 we had the opportunity to cover this hard-core rally in the south of Peru.

Peru 252

Peru 2012 Bears Falcons 252

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2014

I actually have many targets, in a way, a I want to see lots and lots, but there is one species that the reason that the trip is even happening, the animal that has been pretty much the top of my animal bucket list for well over a decade. It’s a species that has bedeviled and bewitched me over the years. The African Wild Dog.

Sharks 188

Sharks Leopards Snow Leopard Whales 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2015

They are typically easy places to reach, easy to get about in, safe, and serve as a natural primer for many of the species you’re going to be seeing on a trip. This Cape Francolin was raising a family less than a hundred metres from the main gate. Birding Cape Town South Africa Urban Birding' I don’t know.

Africa 207

Africa South Africa Mongoose Birds 207

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

I found out on my second day in Mkuze, a great game reserve in South Africa, earlier this year when on my first dark night, poor visibility, uneven ground and unsteady footing resulted in a twisted ankle and a day in camp keeping weight off it. They are large groups of birds of all different kinds of species.

South Africa 145

South Africa Tortoises Leopards Woodpeckers 145

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2015

Early starts are the rule when monitoring endagered species in Mkuze Game Reserve, in South Africa, but there’s a particular urgency to this morning’s start. And the two species were not inclined to get on, by which I mean that Lions will kill other large predators including Painted Wolves. Resilience.

Wolves 199

Wolves Lions Vet Dogs 199

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 181

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 181

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

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!

Honduras 262

Honduras Birds Costa Rica South Africa 262

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2016

A couple of years ago Adam posted a story on this site that so entranced me that when I went to South Africa a bit over a year ago the location he described was top of my bucket list. But I did visit it, and saw many of the incredible species he described, one of which, my major target of the day, was the Drakensberg Rockjumper.

South Africa 107

South Africa Africa Family Groups 107

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Eight days with 20 of the world’s top birding guides looking for some 1,000 species and three dozen endemics. You can see as many hummingbird species as the folks at Magee Marsh are seeing warbler species—during 25 minutes on a Sunday afternoon. As the rally tore through its itinerary, the species piled up.

Peru 255

Peru South America Birds Kenya 255

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 209

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 209

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2013

Participating teams include the E-Birders from Cornell University, the Tigrisomas from Louisiana State University, the Forest Falcons from Great Britain, the Zululanders from South Africa, Team Tramuntana from Spain, and the Ararajubas from Brazil. With 1836 registered species, Peru is an ideal place to have this competition.

Peru 201

Peru 2013 Louisiana South Africa 201

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

Ethiopia, a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. 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).

Ethiopia 254

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Cattle 254

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2015

Mousebirds are a uniquely African family and they really brought it home to me that I was back in Africa after a decade. Another group that sings Africa to me are the antelopes. Yes, they’re not birds, and yes, they aren’t restricted to Africa, but it is Africa that they are that their most diverse and most common.

Africa 177

Africa South Africa Stud New Zealand 177

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

Or, one of the 145 species of Glass frogs living in the Cental and South American rainforests, I could look through the transparent skin on their undersides and see their internal organs. All species of frogs and toads share the fact that they are amphibian creatures, they have two types of skin gland, four legs, and, well, they jump.

Reptiles 202

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 202