Birds and Books of 2023 (and 2024)

Dear Reader,

It’s been a while. I’ve been busy in the background, reading more from around the world. Thanks to presents, particularly from my parents, I managed to read books from several more countries and I also took the time to put the list on the blog in a more readable format.

There are still countries, territories or dependencies for which I could do with some reading suggestions. Please leave a comment if you can recommend a book. I’m particularly interested in women writers. This is the list:

1. Central African Republic
2. Comoros
3. Guinea-Bissau
4. Honduras
5. Maldives
6. Mauritania
7. Nauru
8. Niger
9. Palau
10. Panama
11. Republic of Moldova
12. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
13. Sao Tome and Principe
14. South Sudan
15. Tajikistan
16. Turkmenistan
17. Tuvalu
18. Vanuatu
19. Akrotiri and Dhekelia
20. French Guiana
21. Mayotte
22. Netherlands Antilles
23. New Caledonia
24. Norfolk Island
25. Pitcairn Island
26. Reunion

In terms of birding, 2023 was a great year. I saw lots of new species and learned plenty about bird photography in coaching sessions with a great teacher, Chiara (https://www.chiaratalia.com/).

So, I wish you a wonderful new year, happy reading and happy birding!

Dinosaur of the week: House Sparrow

This Passer domesticus has been a regular on our newly put-up bird feeder. At least, I think I recognized the pattern behind the right eye. House Sparrows in this region often hybridize with Spanish Sparrows.

The numbers of House Sparrows are in decline. This is due to lack of suitable food to feed the young ones – invertebrates are being killed off by pesticides (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103818789/129643357#threats).

Dinosaur of the week: African Silverbill

• 

• 

Having observed Euodice cantans in Tamanrasset in mid-December caused quite a bit of a stir in the world of birding (http://www.magornitho.org/2019/01/african-silverbill-south-algeria/). I had been totally oblivious to the fact that this is a much sought-after species and also that this has been the first record of the species in southern Algeria in about a decade. According to the IUCN the species is least concern but more research is needed (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22719761/131997328).

Here some facts for birders: I saw the flock of about half a dozen birds in the garden of our hotel in Tam (http://bois-petrifie.org/hotel.php). They seemed to be fairly settled in one of the big trees, moving to the neighbouring garden every now and then, but returning regularly. The hotel has a café and I’m pretty sure if customers ask nicely they can enjoy the garden and its inhabitants.

Dinosaur of the week: Common Blackbird

I think Turdus merula is quite often under-appreciated. They sing so marvellously it’s just always a joy and I’m happy that we’ve got a resident pair around. Overall, the species is doing fine apart from Britain, where agricultural intensification is playing a part in its decline.

Dinosaur of the week: Long-tailed Tit

Aegithalos caudatus is one of my favourite species. They’re quite social birds and also, as you can see in this photo which I took in Slovakia, pretty acrobatic.

The species is not threatened at the moment. Having said that, habitat fragmentation and replacing old forests with monocultures have a negative impact (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103871923/874710819).

Dinosaur of the week: Egyptian Vulture

Neophron percnopterus is an endangered species. Oman, where I saw this individual, seems to be the only place where the birds are not dropping in their numbers (yet).

The list of dangers is incredibly long and includes poisoning, antibiotics in lifestock, electrocution, collisions with wind turbines, reduced food availability and habitat loss.

For more info, head to http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22695180/0.

Dinosaur of the week: Kurrichane Thrush

As you’ve noticed, this Turdus libonyana is out of focus because I had aimed for the glossy starling, which you can see as a blue blob in the bottom right. This species of thrush seems to be fairly common in southern Africa. However, we don’t know much about the population trend.

Dinosaur of the week: Wandering Albatross

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Diomedea exulans has one of the biggest wingspans of all flying birds, up to 3.5 meters. The Southern Royal Albatross can apparently be even larger. I saw this Wandering Albatross when crossing the Drake passage on my return from a trip to Antarctica.

All species of albatross are in danger, mostly because of fishing methods and plastic.

Here’s a recent account by Ben Lecomte who is swimming across the Pacific:

That was amazing to be in the water with four wild birds of that size just a few feet away from me. I got a fist-beck bump with two of them. Brian jumped in the water with a GoPro and started filming the when one of them went for a red piece of plastic and tried to eat it. Brian reached out and retrieved a small red plastic basket. A couple of minutes later I spotted two of them going after a white small plastic pouch. I quickly got to it, grabbed it and passed it on to Mark in the dinghy.

I can now better understand why so many albatrosses are found dead with their stomach full of plastic debris. A piece of plastic at the surface of the water stands out and easily get their attention. http://benlecomte.com/day-94-albatrosses-and-plastic/

Dinosaur of the week: Brown Skua

 

Skua taxonomy is a wee bit confusing, but I think this is a Stercorarius antarcticus which I saw on King George Island on my trip to Antarctica a few years ago.

Skuas seem to have amazing cognitive abilities. Like crows and pigeons, they can recognize individual humans (doi: 10.1007/s10071-016-0970-9).

Dinosaur of the week: Common Ringed Plover

Small birds and waders are tricky to catch, and small wading birds in full camouflage even more so. I almost overlooked this Charadrius hiaticula which I encountered around sunset some years ago on the west coast of Scotland.

Among other issues this migratory species is threatened by petroleum pollution and wetland drainage for irrigation. We really need to get on with the Half-Earth project and population control of Homo sapiens.