10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2014

So, on seeing my lifer Bassian Thrush in Sydney, I was glad to have a) finally seen that species and b) finally glad to tick that arbitrary odometer up to a meaningless milestone. We seem to live in an age of splitting, only last week it was announced that another 460 odd species have been split. An armchair split, no less.

Tonga 175

Tonga Fiji Samoa Vanuatu 175

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2011

Although the only pine forests found in New Zealand are recent plantations of Northern Hemisphere Pinus species like the Monterey pine, the country does have native conifers. Some of these are found throughout the country, but the most impressive species is found in the north of the island, around the Coromandel and in Northland.

New Zealand 164

New Zealand Fiji Protection Rats 164

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

There were two species there, even, of a type I had never heard of. Insofar as they relate to other bird families, they are perhaps closest to the thornbills, another family that is mostly Australian but reaches as far as Thailand and Fiji. You’ll find pardalotes over most of Australia, but only four species in all.

Australia 172

Australia Fiji Hunters Thailand 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

A combination of extinctions and proximity to Fiji means that a trip to that island group would net you pretty much all the same birds plus a whole raft of others. According to the guides it is a forest bird in Fiji (and an elusive one, I never saw one in my week there in 2005) but in Tonga I saw it in the towns and country gardens.

Tonga 163

Tonga Fiji New Zealand Parrots 163