Barbets are a group of medium sized, chunky, generally colorful, frugivorous, hole-nesting near-passerines, that are popular targets for anyone birding in the tropics. They occur in three biogeographic regions: the Neotropic, Afrotropic and Indo-Malaya ecozones, basically tropical South and Central America,...

(This blog first appeared in 10000birds.com) “There is, perhaps, no better place in the world for birds than this country. Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the...

Often inhabiting forests with dense understory vegetation, the secretive habits of antpittas have rendered representatives of this unique bird family to be among the most sought-after species in the world. Although many are relatively easy to detect by their distinctive voices, actually seeing these mega-skulkers...

Rated as possibly the world’s rarest and most endangered bird, the Madagascar Pochard population has just increased by 30% with the hatching of 18 chicks at a specially built captive breeding centre in Antsohihy, Madagascar. Incredibly, this brings the entire world population to a mere 60 birds!Led by...

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds: White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes, endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Grey-necked or Red-headed, restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. Their strange appearance and habit of communally nesting in rock...