10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2012

A Dominican missionary in Mozambique in the 16th century was astounded to find honeyguides eating the wax from his altar candles! But certain bird species go against the grain here and some even appear to have a better sense of smell than many mammals, humans included. Honeyguides, for example, are strongly attracted to the smell of wax.

Mammals 243

Mammals Mozambique Birds Colombia 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2015

It was founded as a safe place for refugees from the Mozambique Civil War , which ran from 1977 to 1992. It is a good place for South African birders, as several species are found here and nowhere else in South Africa, and it holds a small number of endemics that it shares with the Mozambique lowlands.

South Africa 154

South Africa Elephants Africa Lions 154

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

Claire didn’t stopped there, but repeated the same kind of rediscovery after the war in Mozambique. Into her copy I slipped a note congratulating her on the rediscovery of a Lazarus taxon. Callan is my FB friend and occasionally I see something about him, but Claire had all but disappeared.

Angola 213

Angola United Kingdom Mozambique Botswana 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

And what I am saying here doesn’t only apply to his Sri Lanka guide, but to all the others as well (these include the first dedicated guidebooks to Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Suriname).

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Malaysia Suriname Malawi 257

Critter News

OCTOBER 2, 2009

In July, Kenyan authorities intercepted 16 elephant tusks and two rhinoceros horns being illegally exported to Laos from Mozambique. So far this year poachers in Kenya have killed 128 elephants for their ivory; last year 98 were killed.

illegal 100

illegal Kenya Laos Elephants 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Ndumo Game Reserve lies in the Easternmost part of South Africa, close to the border of Mozambique and Eswatini. It is not particularly big but has a reported 430 bird species including migrants, though during my short stay it seems I missed most of the key attractions among them. Pel’s Fishing Owl, where were you?

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa Birds Fish 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2024

Just the other day we had an extensive lunch with my Mozambican in-laws. To make things even better, a family member I had not yet met (after close to four decades of marriage) joined us. The reminiscing started.

Portugal 241

Portugal Laws Family Mozambique 241

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2024

And then I realized: he had waded through the river… On another occasion I found myself in the Chimanimani Mountains on the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe. My Mozambique project concerned Lake Chicamba Real – a big reservoir behind a dam in the River Revué. There were still no tracks to be seen (I double-checked).

Mozambique 243

Mozambique Ghana Namibia Birds 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

601-800 sp: Canada, Costa Rica, Panama; Russia; Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa; Laos, New Guinea (PNG); Australia. Shown as a list, it looks like this: Less than 200 bird species: Antarctica; oceanic islands.

Equatorial Guinea 224

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Central African Republic Guyana 224

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

And so, back to political entities, this field guide covers Namibia , Botswana , Zimbabwe , the southern half of Mozambique (south of the Zambezi River), South Africa , Lesotho and Eswatini ( Swaziland ). Yet, unless you live in the region, you are likely to have a vague idea where the Zambezi flows and no idea where Kunene is.

Africa 264

Africa South Africa Swaziland Lesotho 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2024

Lack could only surmise where his Swifts wintered, but thanks to the use of geolocators we now know that British-breeding birds migrate to the Congo, before moving east to Mozambique. On their northern passage they migrate across the Gulf of Guinea, refuelling in West Africa before making the final move back to Europe.

Liberia 241

Liberia Africa Mozambique Breeding 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2015

Square-tailed Nightjar , or Mozambique Nightjar ( Caprimulgus fossii ); Mkuze GR, South Africa, 31 January. Spotted Wood-owl ( Strix seloputo ); Paser Ris, Singapore, 26 February. Caprimulgidae (Nightjars). Firey-necked Nightjar ( Caprimulgus pectoralis ); Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa, 17 January. APODIDAE (SWIFTS).

2015 198

2015 South Africa Botswana Singapore 198

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2015

The most outrageous of these was in Victoria Falls, where the smart list had the Livingstone’s Turaco (actually found on the other side of Zimbabwe on the border with Mozambique) but didn’t have Schalow’s Turaco , which does occur there. Overall, I found the function worked best in South Africa compared to other countries.

Africa 156

Africa South Africa Zimbabwe Penguins 156

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

These include the first dedicated guidebooks to Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ghana, Mozambique and Rwanda, among others, all of which are regularly updated for new editions. In recent years he authored the first English-language guidebook to Suriname and an overhauled 600-page guidebook to Sri Lanka, both published by Bradt.

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Protesters 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2012

The next isolated populations are several thousand miles northwards in Malawi, northern Mozambique and the Rondo Plateau in southern Tanzania. In South Africa Green Barbet occurs only in Ngoye Forest, a tiny forest patch in Zululand, and this form is often split off as Woodward’s Barbet.

Ethiopia 250

Ethiopia Tanzania Uganda Africa 250

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

In addition the Selous Game Reserve is functionally linked with the 42,000 km2 Niassa Game Reserve in Mozambique, and this is another important factor that ensures its integrity. With no permanent habitation inside its boundaries, human disturbance is low. I think you could make a good case that this reserve is important.

Lions 199

Lions Killing Hunting Hunters 199