Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Furthermore, we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill, previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and...

The world’s 28 Ibis species form the bulk of the family Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills), and comprise an interesting group of long-legged, long-beaked, wetland, grassland and forest species. Some are on the brink of extinction (for example Crested, Sao Tome and Giant Ibis), yet others have taken to...

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 article first appeared on focusingonwildlife.com) It has been said that our generation lives at the optimal time of the world’s history for birding and wildlife watching. Although vast parts of our natural heritage have been destroyed over the recent few centuries (sadly most rapidly during the...

(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...