10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2024

Tucked away at the extreme eastern end of the Mediterranean, Cyprus is regarded politically as part of Europe, but when it comes to birds it’s very much Middle Eastern in flavour, with a number of species that are hard or even impossible to find in Europe, plus a trio of endemics. The song is highly distinctive.

Cyprus 213

Cyprus Breeders Falcons Italy 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2014

Later the continents broke up into smaller regions such as South America, Africa, Asia and such, an a few smaller pieces like Madagascar and New Zealand as well. To be more specific, the Kiwi descends from a bird that FLEW there from Africa or Madagascar and then became the kiwi. Like nothing had happened. Hoping to not be noticed.

Madagascar 200

Madagascar Ostriches Elephants New Zealand 200

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2022

Being an island, Mauritius has its share of endemics, extinct endemics (the dodo again), and introduced species. The Red Fody is an introduced species, though from nearby, sort of (Madagascar). Of course, the Common Myna is not a native species either. Quite nice looking, though.

Mauritius 221

Mauritius 2000 Birds Madagascar 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

Here are the results: 3 per cent of respondents (in no particular order): Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Tanzania, Madagascar. Yet, the fact that tiny Panama is as popular as huge Brazil, with twice as many bird species, speaks volume for Brazil’s stage of ecotourism development. 8%: Brazil, Panama. 10%: Australia, Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2018

1300kms off the coast of East Africa and over 1000kms NE from Madagascar is a tiny speck in the ocean. They are all recognisable from their families in Africa and are simply referred to by prefixing with “Seychelles” With most species being the only representative of their family, it made identification easy.

Seychelles 100

Seychelles Madagascar Africa Zebras 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

It divides countries into categories, where the next category has 200 more species. In some cases the data are outdated, e.g. Costa Rica has 900 and not 800 species, but I made no corrections, remaining faithful to the original map data. Shown as a list, it looks like this: Less than 200 bird species: Antarctica; oceanic islands.

Equatorial Guinea 193

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Central African Republic Guyana 193

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

At any rate there are three species, the Black Skimmer (which isn’t that much blacker than the others) which is found in the Americas, the Indian Skimmer, which is the most vulnerable member of the family, and the African Skimmer, which is widespread but nowhere common in Africa. Euphorbias at sundown. Birding skimmers Uganda'

Uganda 192

Uganda Madagascar Buffalo Africa 192

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2016

And the missed Alaotra Grebe of Madagascar. It’s Critically Endangered, and that’s about as bad as it gets before a species is lost. The Atitlan Grebe is sadly extinct. So is the Columbian Grebe. And the Junin Grebe of Peru? It clings to life, tenuously, but live it still does.

Peru 170

Peru Madagascar Campaign Species 170

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 263

Africa Gabon Uganda South Africa 263

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

I am exhilarated – I have had only a handful of chances to observe this species! Such a fascinating species. It really puzzles me, why they go all the way across the Sahara and Eastern Africa to overwinter as far as Madagascar, instead of staying somewhere closer, in continental Africa? How old are they as a species?

Greece 222

Greece Falcons Madagascar Africa 222

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

MARCH 27, 2014

It is also known for the 500 exotic species of animals and plants that now call the Sunshine State home. Exotic species are animals that did not historically occur in Florida. One such species is the familiar mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). The New Zealand Grey Duck is nearly extinct as species.

Florida 203

Florida Ducks New Zealand Feral 203

Critter News

JUNE 19, 2010

Enforcement agencies discovered 300 tortoises from Madagascar bound and packed in two suitcases that also contained drugs at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last week. The tortoise- and drug-filled bags had come in on 1 June on an Air Mauritius flight and were discovered by Customs officers at the airport.

Tortoises 100

Tortoises Mauritius Madagascar Wildlife 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2014

Before I visited Borneo over Christmas I had only seen the one species, but I had a great deal more luck with the family on this trip, seeing four species and hearing a fifth (the famous Whitehead’s Broadbill eluded me, mind). This isn’t even the prettiest species they have! For best effect see one at Christmas!

Madagascar 167

Madagascar Malaysia New Zealand South America 167

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

At some stage, in the darkness with Claire and Callan, Tim Dee was stalking a nightjar in Madagascar. …hundreds of working man and boys would take advantage of the free hour at dinner time to visit the bridges and embankments, and give the scraps left from their meal to the birds.”

Angola 183

Angola United Kingdom Mozambique Botswana 183

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

It doesn’t seem to offer food or shelter for birds; but, being the tallest tree on the block, is an important stopover for lots of species. Jacaranda: The jacaranda, from Madagascar, is a spectacularly beautiful tree when in bloom here in March and April. Ash: My ash tree is at least 50 feet tall. It keeps my wife happy.

Birds 155

Birds Madagascar Woodpeckers Nashville 155

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 171

Sharks Leopards Snow Leopard Whales 171

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

We nature lovers, celebrants of life in all its exquisite multiformity, feel more keenly than most the loss of even the most undifferentiated species. The prehistoric extinctions most famously include the megafaunal assemblages of Europe, the Americas, Australia and Madagascar. Australia’s extinct and threatened bird species.

Marsupials 167

Marsupials Costa Rica Elephants Cuba 167

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

The species ranges widely across the Pacific, as its scientific name suggests, from the Revillagigedo Islands off Mexico to the Japanese Bonin Islands to New South Wales in Australia. But it also occurs in the Indian Ocean, from Aldabra near Madagascar to Western Australia.

Albatross 169

Albatross Madagascar Breeders Mexico 169

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

African Pygmy Geese are one of a number of waterfowl species that have a rather misleading name So where does that leave the Pygmy Geese, of which there are three distinct species? And of the the three species, the African species is without debate the most gorgeous. But they are not just any ducks.

Geese 179

Geese Ducks Botswana Madagascar 179

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

A quite uncommon bird – there are only about 6000 pairs on the planet and this is one of only a handful of my observations of this species. Young Eleonora’s Falcons must develop quickly because they are migrants themselves, moving across the Sahara and down the Swahili Coast to Madagascar.

Falcons 175

Falcons Greece Madagascar Game 175

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. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. This is another wetland species that nests in sometimes huge colonies atop trees bordering rivers and lakes.

Africa 238

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 238

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”. This attractive (for a lark anyway) species is restricted to the dry savannah Somali-Maasai biome of north-east Africa (northern Tanzania, Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia).

Africa 207

Africa Somalia Mozambique Pelicans 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

One of these clades holds a diversity of Old World species in several distinct groups, including an Australasian clade, the green-pigeons, the emerald- and wood-doves, the imperial-pigeons and fruit-doves (favorites of mine), and the subjects of our investigation today, the 15 known members of the Raphini. ” Beehler et al.’s

Solomon Islands 275

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius 2006 275

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. This still leaves the user flipping through sections, looking for the species in question, though I don’t think there are many species with this habitat overlap.

Ecuador 170

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Mammals 170

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2013

Despite their predilection for the watery realm, there are some species of grebes that are long-distance migrants. Larger species like the Western and Clark’s Grebe of western North America, the wide-ranging Great Crested Grebe of Eurasia and the beautiful Giant Grebe of South America, are strong flyers and e xcellent dispersers.

Jordan 191

Jordan Guatemala South America Birds 191

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 184

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 184

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

Nick finds a bird-shaped protrusion at the top of the rock – Black-eared Wheatear , not exactly a species I expect to observe from a boat deck. A few weeks from now (it was early April), Eleonora’s Falcons will become a possibility, too, once they return from Madagascar. The Sun already sets and I haven’t seen a new species in a while.

Greece 231

Greece Malta Croatia Italy 231

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Not that I don’t enjoy seeing new species myself, it’s just that they are an easy target and I am nothing if not lazy and mean spirited. At this point if I want to make any dent on the remaining families I haven’t seen I’d really need to go to either Madagascar or South America.

Family 163

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 163

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

The Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching offers two types of information: Species Accounts–descriptions of 112 birds within 15 families as they appear over and on the water, and Where to Watch, brief descriptions of 47 sites on the North American eastern coast and interior recommended for seawatching. No rails or gallinules.

Ducks 230

Ducks Groups North America North Dakota 230

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

Getting to know the subtleties in differences between closely related species takes years of dedication and practice. Thirdly, many species of shorebirds display such vast differences in their summer and winter plumages that it is always interesting to note how some birds in the same flock are in contrasting stages of plumage.

Florida 187

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

The countryside too is full of signature European species like European Bee-eaters, European Rollers and Great-spotted Cuckoos … Within a shortish drive of the lodge is an unusual birding spot called Pulo do Lobo or The wolf’s Leap. This is worthwhile to pick up some rocky terrain species and the scenery is stunning.

Portugal 171

Portugal 2011 Deer Africa 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

On the grounds, Punta Cana has preserved a 1,500 acre Ecological Park that is an excellent place to view the local endemic bird species and enjoy nature. This project has ensured that this critically endangered bird is being brought back from the brink of extinction.

Dominican Republic 184

Dominican Republic 2011 Deer Kuwait 184

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2024

Kind of an innocent version of tropical China, but I guess that is a rather naive view … Most birders coming here presumably do not have babblers as their main targets, even though there are quite a few species here, and some of them are quite attractive as well. Take the Scaly-crowned Babbler , with its chestnut crown.

Vietnam 212

Vietnam Birds Woodpeckers Bangladesh 212

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2014

2014) — attempts to answer it by ranking species according to their “evolutionary distinctiveness,” or how distantly related they are to all other living birds. is not primarily a measure of the divergence dates of major clades of birds but rather of individual living species. ’s list.

Madagascar 276

Madagascar Comoros Ecuador South America 276

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2012

The IOC world birdlist recognizes 90 species that bear the name “weaver” or “malimbe” Not all of these are true weavers as we will discuss below. There are currently 64 recognized species in this genus, a remarkable number indeed, and this includes the 5 Asian and 2 Malagasy species.

Tanzania 219

Tanzania Buffalo Kenya Namibia 219

4 The Love Of Animals

MAY 17, 2010

Lemurs are a species of primate, and reach sexual maturity between 2 and 3 years old. All species of lemurs are native to the island of Madagascar. Red-ruffed lemurs are one of nearly about 50 lemur species. Busch Gardens is home to five lemur species. 17 of a pound, at birth. They grow to be about 8 to 10 pounds.

Lemurs 100

Lemurs Madagascar Tampa Rescue 100