Author: Whitehawk Birding
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Burbayar: a refuge for Panama’s biodiversity
Not too long ago we were checking out some interesting birding sites in Panama. More and more I have come to realize how amazing the birding is in this country. Many great birding sites are easily accessible and it is easy to get around. Panama also offers great hotel options. The country has excellent guides…
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Senegal Part III: Raptor Haven and Dense Mangroves
As our tale of birding in Senegal continued and one of the spectacles we most wanted to see was the gathering of Lesser Kestrels and Scissor-tailed Kites. A roost site was discovered less than ten years ago. These birds gather in overwhelming numbers, over 15,000 kites and almost 30,000 kestrels have been counted in this…
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Senegal Part II: From Sahel to the Jungle
Senegal’s biodiversity is incredible. The road from Saint Louis to Wassadou produced some very attractive species, even without making frequent stops. In fact, our long drive couldn’t have started better. We spotted a carcass alongside the road which had attracted Rüppell’s Vulture, African White-backed Vulture, Eurasian Griffon and Hooded Vulture. The nearby acacias were covered with…
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Senegal: Africa’s Best Kept Secret
My first visit to Senegal left me wanting more. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in such a friendly and extraordinarily diverse country. Senegal is extremely rich in wildlife. Thus it is an attractive destination for anyone ready to experience the natural wonders Africa has to offer. The Democratic Republic of Senegal makes up…
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Wildlife audio library available on-line
Cornell Lab of Ornithology has been compiling audio archives from all around the world for decades, The renowned organization has made the wildlife audio library available for everyone on-line through the Macaulay Library. This amazing work contains nearly 150,000 digital audio recordings, more than 10 terabytes of data with a total run time of 7,513 hours.…
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Watching Barbary Macaques in northern Morocco
Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus) can be found in Morocco and Algeria. There is a small population in Gibraltar as well. They are the only species of primate to inhabit Europe beside humans. Barbary Macaque numbers have shrunk over the years due to habitat loss and persecution. Today, most of them survive in small and increasingly…
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Wildlife photography: a tool for research & conservation
Today I received an e-mail with some information regarding a Black Kite that I saw in Tarifa. The Black Kite had a wing tag. It is a piece of plastic with an alphanumeric code that is attached to the wing of the bird. I promptly took several pictures of it. It was nearly impossible to…
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Petrels, Albatrosses & Storm-Petrels of North America
Steve N. G. Howell is certainly one of the best-known ornithologists and one of the most versatile. One example of this is the wide variety of books he has written on different groups of birds such as: Gulls of the Americas, Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide, Peterson Reference Guide to Molt in North…
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Post-fledging behavior and prey of the Solitary Eagle
With just a few nests discovered to date, the Solitary Eagle (Harpyhaliaetus solitarius) is one of the least known birds of prey in the world. As such, there is very little information on the ecology and behavior of the Solitary Eagle at any stage in their lives. In 2009, our team of biologists was working…