article thumbnail

Ten Birds That Changed the World — a review

10,000 Birds

Hundreds of millions of sparrows were killed, almost to the point of extinction. But Mao had apparently never conceived that sparrows and their chicks fed on insects – insects which, in the absence of their natural predators, destroyed the next year’s rice crop. Millions of Chinese died in the ensuing famine.

article thumbnail

Birding Sarajevo or the sentimental journey home

10,000 Birds

The series of birding workshops and meetings continued across the map, through Ulcinj, Montenegro, then Samobor, Croatia and Stip (described here ), North Macedonia, leading to Brussels, the unofficial capital of EU. I remember the look on the face of the RSPB representative at the meeting, seeing us all like that. He couldn’t understand.

Bosnia 142