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#
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Species [range]
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Photo/art
[see credits]
all photos taken in the wild
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Summary of reasons for this choice
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DR
seen?
+
point
total
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1
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Philippine Eagle
Pithecophaga jefferyi
[Philippines]
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The largest and most spectacular raptor in the world is also among
the rarest; it is threatened with extinction as the Philippine forests
are destroyed. Perhaps only 250 adults remain in isolated & difficult
to reach remnants.
See my "Seeing
the Philippine Eagle" page for my personal experiences. I chose this
as my #1 most wanted bird back in 1975, and it remains the best bird in
the world.
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Yes
[23]
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2
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Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise
Cicinnurus respublica
[Batanta & Waigeo Is.]
[off w. New Guinea]
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Of all the incredible birds of paradise, none is more remote and
spectacular than this species whose latin name commemorates the French
revolution. Its bare crown glows neon-blue as the male performs on his
carefully tended forest floor display site. An almost unbelievably wonderful
bird to watch (which is not at all easy to do); see
my Birds of Paradise
page for a bit more
|
Yes
[22]
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3
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Gray-necked Rockfowl
[Red-headed Picathartes]
Picathartes oreas
[w. central Africa]
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Huge predators and gaudy passerines are wonderful, but few birds
capture my imagination as the elusive ground-dwelling enigmas of tropical
forests. None are more unique, impressive, and rare than the two rockfowl
of Africa. The adventure to reach a cave in which they build mud nests
is a peak experience of any life; see my Rockfowl
page for much more about this fabulous central African bird, best searched
for in Cameroon or Gabon.
|
Yes
[21]
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4
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White-necked Rockfowl
[Yellow-headed Picathartes]
Picathartes gymnocephalus
[west Africa]
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Along with the Congo Peafowl (#7 below), African field ornithologists
have long considered the two rockfowl to be the best birds of Africa. This
west African representative is now very rare in the fragments of forest
still extant; see my Rockfowl
page for details on the many unique attributes of these picathartes
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No
[21]
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5
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Kagu
Rhynochetos jubatus
[New Caledonia]
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Once considered virtually impossible to see, this exceptional bird
of very uncertain affinities is making a good recovery in the forest remnants
due to predator removal and captive breeding. Still a shadowy ghost on
the forest floor; see my Kagu
page for more. Only a few hundred in the wild, it rates very high on uniqueness.
|
Yes
[21]
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6
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Horned Guan
Oreophasis derbianus
[sw. Mexico & Guatemala]
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This huge near-mythical guan lives only in remote cloud forests
atop extinct volcanoes; the bare vivid red horn is completely unique. Even
a 40+ mile trek to its habitat does not guarantee finding any; it took
me two trips 16 yrs apart. Much more on my Horned
Guan page.
|
Yes
[21]
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7
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Congo Peafowl
Afropavo congoensis
[central Africa]
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Someone with enough time and money might be able to acquire the
guides or information to find any other bird on this page, but you can't
"buy" a look at a Congo Peafowl. Only recently have Western researchers
seen any in the wild. Almost nothing is known of its behavior. Perhaps
things will change in the Democratic Republic of Congo where it is endemic,
but this has been widely considered the most elusive bird on earth.
|
No
[21]
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8
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Western Tragopan
Tragopan melanocephalus
[w. Himalaya]
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Any of the five tragopans is a spectacular & elusive prize
of the montane forests of c. Asia. In my initial picks 25 years ago, this
and all 4 others (Blyth's, Cabot's, Temminck's & Satyr) made the "top
50." This was just "too many chickens" so this rarest & most isolated
species -- limited to high elevation forest fragments in n. Pakistan &
Afghanistan -- holds this high rank to represent them all.
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No
[19]
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9
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Long-tailed Ground-Roller
Uratelornis chimaera
[sw. Madagascar]
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Of all the great birds in Madagascar, this is the one that captured
my imagination 25 years ago. It is the strangest of this Malagasy endemic
family: a unique mix of a roadrunner, pitta & roller. It is the headline
species of the unworldly spiny desert. It is decidedly rare and elusive;
see
my Ground-Roller
page for more details.
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Yes
[19]
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10
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Harpy Eagle
Harpia harpyja
[s. Mexico to Brazil]
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The second largest eagle in the world and the king of the Neotropics,
this is the ultimate prize on any New World lowland forest visit. Its range
is widespread but it requires huge swathes of jungle full of monkeys to
survive. It is everywhere thinly spread and thus missed often even in prime
habitat; see my "Seeing
the Harpy Eagle" page for more.
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Yes
[19]
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