GetBirding.com

A bird tour in Gambia (a humorous account from a novice birding spouse) “It’s more than 40C (104F) and I’m not in charge of anything. I’m ducking from one inadequate scrap of bushy shade to the next behind a straggle of sweating binoculared figures chasing Hassan, our local bird guide. Hassan runs marathons in the [...]

  Birding big year in the US “It’s a Big Year for Dr. John Spahr, a pathologist who retired from Augusta Health last year, and he’s spending 2010 doing one of his favorite things: birding. “They’re colorful. They fly. They’re just fascinating,” said Spahr, who explains that birding is more than casually watching for birds [...]

They’re now strapping cameras to the backs of Black-browed Albatrosses. Check out the results below from Birdlife International: Find more photos like this on BirdLife International

Nest box sharing between species Desperate measures for desperate times…? “The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says it has received a surprising number of reports of different species sharing nest boxes. It says barn owl nest boxes attract the most unusual tenants, with reports of kestrels and jackdaws moving in.” [BBC] Do [...]

They certainly won’t win any beauty pageants, but vultures play a critical role in the ecosystems they inhabit. September 5th is International Vulture Awareness Day. Below is some more information: Vultures are an ecologically vital group of birds that face a range of threats in many areas that they occur. Populations of many species are [...]

Natural history museum at Tring robbed The Bucks Herald The Natural History Museum at Tring has been targeted by thieves who have stolen a number of bird ‘skins’ from the ornithological collections. They were found to be missing following a break-in on Wednesday June 24. The specimens stolen comprise a number of brightly-coloured tropical birds, [...]

Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport (NRETAS) scientists and Yirralka Rangers have found a new population of the threatened bird species, the Northern Shrike-tit, during a recent survey of Laynhapuy Homelands in North-east Arnhem Land. NRETAS research scientist Dr Simon Ward said that it is an exciting find because these rare birds, [...]

This is most bizarre. Not only has a new bird species to science been discovered, but it has a featherless head! Here’s an extract from the press release: An odd songbird with a bald head living in a rugged region in Laos has been discovered by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and University of [...]

Toco Toucan uses bill to keep cool Science Now Daily News When it comes to keeping cool, toucans get top billing in the animal world. New research shows that the colorful bird uses its massive beak to rapidly radiate away heat, allowing it to chill out in tropical climates or when expending a lot of [...]

With less than 500 individuals left in the wild, Northern Bald Ibis is in bad shape.  It’s quite disturbing when one reads messages like the one below where birders are disregarding the needs of these birds. These are excerpts of a message from the RSPB‘s Chris Bowden: “I want to thank the 95+% of birders [...]