Bulletin 342 - 100 Birds to See Before You Die - # 3

I discovered this book "100 Birds to See Before you Die" by 2 Brits David Chandler and Dominic Couzens about 11 years ago while browsing in a bookstore on vacation. The sub title is "The Ultimate Wish List for Birders Everywhere". It sort of peaked my interest as a 'bucket list' of the rarest and most unusual birds in the world, according to the 2 authors.

It has the smallest (Bee Hummingbird)  and largest (Ostrich) birds, some of the most beautiful (Birds of Paradise) and some quite ugly (Shoebill) and strange (Hoatzin). There are birds on all the continents as well as Arctic and Antarctic regions. 

There are also a number of island endemics. In the south Pacific, there are entries for Hawaii (1), New Caledonia (2) , New Guinea (3), Sulawesi (1), Mindanao (1), and New Zealand (2). The Galapagos has 1 entry.  Madagascar has 3. The Caribbean is well represented with Cuba (1), Hispaniola (2) and Montserrat (1).

There are about 240 families of birds, so obviously they are not all represented on this list. There are 3 each of Birds-of-Paradise, Gulls and Terns, Cotingas, and Tyrant Flycatchers. There are several unique birds that are sole members of their family. These are the Hoatzin, Kagu, Oilbird, Crab Plover, Ibisbill, Wallcreeper and Shoebill, For those of us in North America, not a single New World Warbler is on the list.

Each entry has a full page photograph and facing page article of what makes the bird rare, unusual or interesting to warrant its inclusion.

This is the third group of 10 birds. The first installment is here. And the second is here.

Number 86 is the Paradise Tanager (Tangara chilensis). This very gaudy bird is what everyone thinks jungle birds should be like. It is a resident in Amazonia.

Paradise Tanager

Number 68 is the Golden-headed Manakin (Ceratopipra erythrocephala). These 3.5" birds are resident of northern South America. The males are black with a yellow head. the males perform elaborate dance displays on the lek to attract a female.

Golden-headed Manakin - male

Number 62 is the Little Forktail (Enicurus scouleri). This 5" black and white cutie is a resident along fast flowing streams in high mountains at an altitude of 5,500 to 11,000 feet in southest Asia. It is one of 8 species of forktails in the old world flycatcher family.

Little Forktail

Number 56 is the Pearled Treerunner (Margarornis squamiger). This brown bird with spotted breast is a common bird in the montane forests of the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. I have seen it several times. It is a member of the ovenbird family.

Pearled Treerunner

Number 53 is the magnificent Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna). It is resident in Amazonia and south-central South America. 

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

Number 51 is the Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops). This 11" bird has a huge crest and long thin bill. It is a common bird across Eurasia and one of 3 species of hoopoe. The photos in the book show it with its crest elevated but I have not seen that yet.

Eurasian Hoopoe

Number 36 is the strange looking Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoatzin). This prehistoric looking bird resides along slow moving streams in Amazonia. It is the sole member of the Hoatzin family.

Hoatzin

Number 29 is the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruvianus). This is one of the 3 cotingas in the book and the most beautiful with his bushy crest and red and black with silver plumage.

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock - male

Number 27 is the huge Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus). It is the worlds largest bird of prey with a length to 50 inches, weight to 33 pounds and wingspan of 10.5 feet.

Andean Condor

Number 19 is the Oilbird (Steatornis caripensis). It is a noctunal bird related to nightjars, but it is a fruit eater. It is unique in its own family. They roost in caves during the day. This one was photographed in Colombia. It is a resident from Panama across northern south America and on Trinidad.

Oilbird

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2019 David McDonald

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Bulletin 313 - China #13 - Pheasants, Hoopoe, wagtails, shrikes, woodpeckers and minivet

I had an 8 day birding to trip in eastern China with a wonderful guide Lin Zhang based in Shanghai. He is perfectly fluent in English. We visited 5 different locales. His website is here. FYI making contact within China by email is a problem as the government blocks some email accounts coming in including gmail.  So I had to contact him using MS Outlook. His email is zhanglinas@hotmail.com.

The pheasants are all native to Asia. In the east Asia field guide, there are 9 species. The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) has been introduced widely as a game bird including USA. It is known here as the Ring-necked Pheasant. it was nice to see in his native area.

Common Pheasant - male
AKA Ring-necked Pheasant

The other pheasant I saw, was the bird of the trip. The 82" male Reeve's Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) has the longest tail of any pheasant species (62"). We has a pair of males right beside the car. They have a black and white face and golden body feathers. It is listed as vulnerable. They have a reserve for them and a captive breeding program.

Reeve's Pheasant - male

As they walked further away, I was finally able to get the whole bird in the photo.

Reeve's Pheasant - male

The 3 species of new woodpeckers were also a treat on the trip. The males all have some red on the head, but the photos are not oriented in a way that I can distinguish the sex of the 3 species. 

The smallest (6")  is the Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos canicapillus)

Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

In the same genus is the 8" Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). It has a red belly.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The largest was the 12" Gray-headed Woodpecker (Picus canis) . It is a green woodpecker with a gray head.

Gray-headed Woodpecker

The most unusual bird on the trip is the 13" Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops). It is one of 3 living hoopoe species. I knew this bird from looking at the guide book before the trip. It seems to be a common bird and I saw perhaps a dozen during the week. It is beige bodied with black and white wings, black tail, large crest and a long bill. It is an easy ID even for me who had never seen it before. The long crest is only elevated when the bird lands. I did not know that and missed the chance to see it raised.

Eurasian Hoopoe

And a few songbirds to finish up all the China birds from the trip. The 8.5" Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) has a gray crown, black mask, wings and tail and rusty back.

Long-tailed Shrike

The 7.5" Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus) is a brown bird with a gray mask.

Bull-headed Shrike

The 7" male Gray-chinned Minivet (Pericrocotus solaris) is the second member of the cuckooshrike family I have see. The male is black and orange.

Gray-chinned Minivet - male

The female is yellow and gray

Gray-chinned Minivet - female

The last 3 birds are all in the same family..wagtails and pipits. The 6" Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens) is a brown bird with streaked chest and buffy belly. It is the same bird as the American Pipit here in North America but a likely future split according to the guide.

Buff-bellied Pipit
AKA American Pipit

The 6" Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) is streaked and olive coloration.

Olive-backed Pipit

The 7" White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a dapper black and white bird.

White Wagtail

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 12 of the 182 species of pheasants, turkeys and partridges.

I have photos of 48 of the 234 species of woodpeckers

I have photos of 4 of the 34 species of shrikes

I have photos of 2 of the 92 species of cuckooshrikes

I have photos of 5 of the 34 species of wagtails and pipits

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe