10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 7, 2021
I birded savannas of Southern Africa, I birded India and Central America, and I always missed having a local mammal guide with me. No, Madagascar is the most famous for an endemic group of mammals: lemurs, sifakas, indri, aye-aye – in total, 112 endemic species and subspecies of lemurs alone! Yet, those bird guides are hefty.
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 22, 2020
Ahead of the first trip, I wasn’t thinking much about mammals, and yet, you cannot miss them, from Nilgais near villages to Indian Flying Foxes in town centres, not to mention those ubiquitous and irresistibly cute Palm Squirrels eating seeds left for parakeets. I clearly needed a mammal book.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 22, 2012
I’ve written at length in the past about the circumstances of that extinction event, how the rich endemic fauna was utterly vulnerable to introduced mammals and how waves of invaders wiped out different groups of species. Hit the rats hard and quick in a single hit. But while obvious this was also a much harder proposition.
10,000 Birds
JUNE 4, 2015
The long, sharp, and barbed thorns discourage rats and other small mammals from climbing the cacti to reach the eggs and chicks. If small mammal predators are a worry for a mother hummingbird, the tall vertical wall and rushing water at the bottom of it would nearly ensure that no mammal can reach the nest.
10,000 Birds
JUNE 28, 2013
Normally I feed vultures, as well as hawks and owls, defrosted mice and rats. My mammal-rehabber friends give me their unfortunates, as well. He ate through my remaining supply of rats and mice, as well as all my pinkies (hairless, day-old rodents, easily digestible and good for starvation cases). Did I have an answer for him.
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 25, 2016
The relevant numbers involving cats, the people that cherish them, and the birds (and small mammals and reptiles) that they kill are all too large to mean much; you might as well use the funny word “gazillions.” Infected rats, for example, no longer shun cat urine but find it an aphrodiasic.
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 27, 2013
The island was mostly forested through its history and never had introduced browsing mammals, meaning it had an intact flora. Little Barrier had rats at one point, so it may have re-colonised, or may be still recovering from the rats.
Let's personalize your content