Gunnar Engblom

One bird – two names. Bitter feud in the Colombian ornithology/bird conservation scene.

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Last May, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and its partner in Colombia, Fundación ProAves, announced the discovery of a new species of Neotropical bird. ABC touted the feat as “remarkable” for being one of the first times a new species had been scientifically described from an individual captured, measured, photographed, and then released. For George Fenwick, head of ABC, it was a proud moment: The bird, Fenwick’s antpitta (Grallaria fenwickorum), was named in honor of his family.

Oh my! Myiarchus identification problems

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Identification Quiz. What Myiarchus Flycatcher is this? There are 22 species of Myiarchus Tyrant-Flycatchers. In many places they present no problems in identifying as only or two species occur. However, […]

Northern Shoveler – New species for Peru

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Pete Morris, guide from Birdquest, made a fantastic discovery in Lima in mid Janaury. When birding Ventanilla marshes – conveniently north of Lima and easily accessible from the airport without […]

Stunning Agami Heron

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The most beautiful of the Neotropical Herons. I got these stunning pictures from Rafael Cortes – a Mexican birder now based in Bogotá – Colombia. The pictures are taken by […]

Punk-chicken

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Hoatzin  Opisthocomus hoazin – What a strange bird! Just as I thought I had it figured out and preparing for this post, I decided to check the references on the […]

1000 birds to see before you die

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I just initiated a short 6 day holiday with my family in Tarapoto, so this will be a shorter post -and as some of my collegues here on birdingblogs, I […]

Long-whiskered Owlet

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Mythical Owl now easier to see than ever This rare Owl discovered only in 1977 and until recently just not wanting to show to birders. This year there has been […]

Birding with an iPad

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Ipad for birders So did you get a new iPad for Christmas? Are you thinking of getting one? I wrote some first thoughts about the Ipad for birding when it […]

Jocotoco Christmas

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Jocotoco Antpitta was sensationally discovered in 1997 by Bob Ridgely in SE Ecuador. Money was raised to buy land where it occured to form a private reserve. This was the base of Jocotoco Foundation. Now at the Tapichalaca reserve there is a comfortable lodge and the Jocotoco Antpitta can easily be seen at the worm feeding station.

Eye-ringed Thistletail Schizoeaca palpebralis – Threatened?

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Eye-ringed Thistletail of the Satipo road and which Birdlife International presently consider Least Concern, should maybe best be considered threatened, since the restricted area where it occurs, is under threat from quite immediate rural development through agriculture and livestock. Money is being poured into the rural areas through the mining compensations and compensation to the victims of terrorism of the 80s and early 90s. Check out the great pictures of Hadoram Shirihai.

Central Peru birding videos

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I would have liked to write a long post about Satipo road, where I shall be heading in a couple of days, since there now is a basic lodge to […]

Sira Tanager. Does it really exist?

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Sira Mountains, Peru – revisited! I have just come back from my third trip to the wilderness area of Cerros de Sira not far from Pucallpa. Sira has a familiar […]

Multi-author birding blog launched

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A brand new blog for birders with many well known names such as Kenn Kaufman, Jeff Gordon, Martin Garner, Tom McKinney among the 11 birders participating in the birdingblogs.com project that is being launched today. This is going to be a great ride. Fasten your seatbelts.