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The Collins Bird Guide, 3rd edition

10,000 Birds

Introduced breeding species and species recorded only as escapees now have all species illustrated (they were not in the #2) and those illustrations larger than before. Forget occasional escapees, there is an established feral population successfully breeding in the north of Germany, which was 131 birds strong last year.

Europe 247
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The Rose-ringed Parakeets of Heidelberg

10,000 Birds

Here in Germany, we don’t wish we had. Yes, Germany has parrots, or parakeets to be more precise. Unlike North America, Germany has never had naturally occurring psittacines that went extinct, and the one we have is a true and complete invasive alien introduction. Because we never have had.

Germany 238
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The Gawky Guillemot

10,000 Birds

However, one of the little sweet candies Germany still enjoys today from its own disastrous colonial past is the Common Guillemot, or Common Murre. Germany has only one high seas island it calls its own, the mighty (from a birding perspective) island of Heligoland. kmĀ²) in the German Bight, approximately 70 km off the coast of Germany.

Germany 100
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Birding Singapore

10,000 Birds

Please keep that in mind if you ever think that Germany’s only contributions to the world are highways and world wars. If you take a feral pigeon, bleach it and then batik it using the right colors, the result might be a Pink-necked Green Pigeon (1). Next to me, a local birder tried to get a photo of a Common Iora.

Singapore 210
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Baby Mute Swans ā€“ ā€œimmutabilisā€ morph

10,000 Birds

Contradicting this relentless shooting were efforts to establish feral populations in many regions of Europe, both within and outside its natural range. It is very likely that the white morph was directly promoted in captive breeding and favoured in releases to establish feral populations. So much for the blessings of beauty.

Feral 168
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The Domestic Turkey and the First Thanksgiving

10,000 Birds

The chance that this was a real Turkey are not great, and the chance that Columbus actually brought breeding stock from Honduras to Spain is not great, so maybe, maybe not. Dates of first arrival listed by Schorger (1966) are: Italy 1520, Germany 1530, France 1538, England 1541, Denmark and Norway 1550, Sweden 1556.

Turkey 198
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How many birds do we see?

10,000 Birds

The Wagbachniederung is reknown for its waterfowl, shorebirds, and good breeding populations of several species that are very localized in Germany. Below is a long, long list of the species I encountered (66, which is a very respectable species count for the middle of March in southern Germany) and the totals for each species.

Germany 176