10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2019

Barn Swallows are pretty much anywhere in the world (I just saw them back in Germany). But the way it is, familiarity breeds (relative) contempt. The Chinese Pond Heron is another attractive bird, particularly in its breeding plumage. During my last trip to Germany, several people pointed out locations of Common Kingfisher.

Germany 128

Germany Cattle Blackbirds Birds 128

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

Here in central Europe, dippers – more precisely the White-throated or European Dipper – are rather common breeding birds in many areas. In Germany for example, they are breeding in practically every hilly or mountainous region south of the North German Plain and are not really rare if they occur in a certain region.

Germany 100

Germany 2016 Hamburgers Austria 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

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. km²) in the German Bight, approximately 70 km off the coast of Germany.

Germany 100

Germany Denmark Namibia Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2015

Germany is currently experiencing something for which the English have no nice expression. The specificities of languages … Anyway, so Germany this year is essentially filled with mice, like the one shown here, which – so far as I know – is a vole where you come from. You’re not a vole or a gerbil.

Fox 164

Fox Rodents Gophers Germany 164

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2023

Of course, for countries with mostly moderate climates such as the US, China, Japan, or Germany, it is always easier to claim that the winter range is the problem (i.e., not their own). Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16 How to distinguish the two species, as they look somewhat similar?

Japan 130

Japan China Guinea Germany 130

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

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 245

Germany Netherlands Zoos Geese 245

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

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 254

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 254

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

I am not entirely sure whether most birders outside Germany know or realize that Germany still has a decent population of one of Europe’s most attractive and desired bird species: the Great Bustard Otis tarda. Now that I might have wetted your appetite, here’s where and how to find them in Germany: 1.

Germany 101

Germany Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 101

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2013

Germany is not really within the species’ breeding range, and there is only one area where the herons have bred continuously and successfully since the 1970′s: Waghäusel, an area of former waste water ponds of a – now closed – nearby sugar plant. Birds Germany herons and egrets Waghäusel'

Germany 153

Germany Asia Europe Africa 153

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2013

It breeds in a broad and not quite coherent band from Iceland in the west through central Europe and southern Scandinavia all the way to eastern Russia, wintering in Africa, parts of India, and Southeast Asia to Australia. Birds Germany godwits shorebirds' Somehow – given our current weather – I can relate. .

Germany 175

Germany Russia Iceland India 175

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

In the non-breeding season, Common Merganser all look pretty much like females. Not a bad look though – more attractive than the male breeding plumage, I think. Upon learning about my background, he asked me whether we have Yaks in Germany. Carrion Crows like to think of themselves as very modern birds.

Birds 212

Birds Germany India 2018 212

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2011

Germany currently has a population of around 500 breeding pairs, which is a significant improvement over the 50 pairs left in the early 1970s. This bird, a migrant from further North or East in Germany, was the first Black Stork I saw around Heidelberg since moving here in the summer of 2008.

Germany 151

Germany Asia China Russia 151

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2016

The key to solving the puzzle of Germany’s large white-headed gulls was banding juveniles of all forms in their breeding colonies and the fact that some humans find immense joy in driving around garbage dumps, looking at birds with pricey scopes and trying to decipher tiny codes on plastic or metal rings of various shapes and sizes.

Kazakhstan 114

Kazakhstan Germany Ukraine Asia 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2023

Yibin is a typical smallish Chinese city (which in China means slightly above 850,000 people in the metro area, which would make it the fifth-biggest city in Germany but does not get it into the top 100 in China). But then, would a lady pheasant be pleased to be described as “large”? What a weird world.

Italy 188

Italy Birds China France 188

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Always interesting to see the same species both in Germany (in my parents’ garden) and in Shanghai. Not that easy to spot outside of the breeding season, though relatively quite common. Raptors are relatively rare at Nanhui, so to get a good shot of an Eastern Marsh Harrier in the nice early morning light is a joy.

2019 191

2019 Japan Birds Owls 191

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2024

This species breeds quite close by in a quarry in the Siebengebirge and I am planning to visit this site on an upcoming weekend as I expect them to have started occupying their nest.

Falcons 205

Falcons Owls Eagles Species 205

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2022

Please keep that in mind if you ever think that Germany’s only contributions to the world are highways and world wars. Finally, the Yellow Bittern is one of my favorite birds in Singapore, and it is much easier to see here than in its breeding grounds in Shanghai.

Singapore 220

Singapore Birds Zebras Feral 220

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2020

It can still be an entirely opposite end of a continent, but – if you are residing in Europe – the flight can be as short as one (from Germany) to two hours (from UK). Only this time, you do not feel like inhaling the same air circling through the plane on a ten hour flight. Top-5 hotspots.

Serbia 317

Serbia Sanctuary Birds Bosnia 317

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2022

According to Tim Low (in “Where Song began”), “so easy were they to breed that by 1859 they cost less to buy in London than in Sydney.” ” Funny how the difficulty of breeding a species can be illustrated in simple monetary terms. Is it offensive to say that Australian Zebra Finches breed like rabbits?

Birds 147

Birds Australia Sheep Zebras 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Driving from France or Germany to Greece, you are likely to pass through my hometown of Belgrade and continue south following the E75 through the FYRO Macedonia. Other species of interest include the southernmost breeding population of Greylag Goose in Europe, Goosander (at bigger and deeper Megali Prespa), Hazel Grouse (at Mt.

Greece 177

Greece Albania Macedonia Europe 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2016

In fact, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology , “The Golden Eagle is the most common official national animal in the world – it’s the emblem of Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.” ” The bird is massive.

Albania 101

Albania Mexico Eagles Kazakhstan 101

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

Birders in Europe mostly see Great Egrets outside their breeding season, when their legs are mostly black with a hue of orange on the upper parts, their bill is yellow and their cere is, too. Until a friend sends you pictures of a very small Great Egret in Germany in winter – with bright pink legs, a black bill and a turquoise cere.

Asia 179

Asia Europe Germany Breeding 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2016

Europe has five regular grebe species, and all of them can be found as breeding birds in Germany. The rarest of the trio, Slavonian or Horned Grebe , only has a very small breeding population with a handful of pairs in Germany’s far North. Additionally, they mostly leave Germany during our winter.

Germany 100

Germany Europe Breeding North America 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

Leading scientists, conservationists and aviculturalists from Europe and South-east Asia met at Walsrode in Germany recently to formulate a rescue plan. Concern for the future of this species is such that the WPA and BirdLife International-Vietnam Programme are working together to organize immediate action.

Vietnam 154

Vietnam 2000 Germany Asia 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2016

In July 2013, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources held a meeting in Bremerhaven in Germany, to decide whether to turn the Ross Sea into a marine protected area. There are 11 species of birds that breed in the Ross Sea region. The region is also a major habitat for petrels. And the Mammals.

Russia 172

Russia Penguins Whales Whaling 172

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

Its closest living relatives are the Chinese and the Japanese grosbeak of East Asia” The main difference is that I have seen the hawfinch – but only the hawfinch – in both my parents’ garden in Germany and in Shanghai. Great Cormorants are also very good at just loafing around.

Birds 234

Birds Humane Japan Ducks 234

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2012

It also used to be a rather common bird in the South of Germany, but the German population has crashed and collapsed (almost?) If it still breeds in Germany at all, which it might do, it is so rare by now that pairs do not get reported to anywhere except to the relevant nature conservation authorities. That was it.

Cattle 118

Cattle Germany Iran Breeders 118

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

While the differences are restricted to just a few features, they give the birds such a distinct appearance that we (a group of three seasoned birders from Germany on a trip to Kyrgyzstan in the late 1990s) failed to identify our first indicus as a House Sparrow.

Sparrows 216

Sparrows Italy Asia Austria 216

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

This bird used to be quite common in Germany, but now it is rare. The Olive-backed Pipit is a small songbird that in Shanghai can only be seen in winter – in summer, it breeds further north. The Red-flanked Bluetail is only in Shanghai in winter, as it breeds far further North – even further than Beijing.

Birds 162

Birds Fish Germany China 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

It is very likely that the white morph was directly promoted in captive breeding and favoured in releases to establish feral populations. A happy family of Mute Swans at Waghäusel in south-western Germany, post-trading era. Furthermore, it is more frequent in females than in males. So much for the blessings of beauty.

Feral 169

Feral Europe Asia North America 169

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2016

First, most of Europe’s owl species are breeding in Germany anyway and are better found at other times of the year. I am not aware of a single twitchable Snowy Owl in Germany in the 21st century, and Great Grey Owl isn’t even on the German list. Well, very recent years.

Germany 102

Germany Owls 2013 2006 102

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2014

They need to go north to breed and we will anxiously await the return of the adults and the juveniles later in the year. You have to have a lot of respect for all migratory birds when you imagine the lives they live and the incredible journeys they make to enable them to breed and to continue to survive in a changing world.

Belarus 162

Belarus Cameroon Taiwan China 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2011

One of Britain’s recent colonisers the Mediterranean Gull begins to arrive in bigger numbers every year as post-breeding dispersal takes hold. To date individuals have been recorded from nine different countries in Europe; our Med Gulls are coming from Germany, Holland, Poland and other countries as far east as Serbia.

Poland 157

Poland 2009 Europe France 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

Quite recently, it has started to expand inland, along the river Rhone and to the South of Germany, where it is now an uncommon but conspicious breeder. A different form ( atlantis ) which may or may not constitute a separate species, is found on the Azores, Fuerteventura, and the Canary Islands.

Europe 122

Europe Spain Italy Ireland 122

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2011

The Common Swifts have left Germany behind as their journey South has begun. Now, I can see how this may surprise some readers, but the underlying reasoning is quite comprehensible: Common Swifts breed in small crevices and cavities of cliff faces, and old buildings make for some terrific secondary habitat. That is early.

Elephants 167

Elephants Neglecting Europe Birds 167

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2015

With its proven track record of adapting and spreading in areas with cold winters such as Germany and England, it might even be able to colonize large portions of the southern United States. Outside of Florida, there are also growing populations in Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Houston.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Miami San Francisco Florida 154

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2018

It is the largest woodpecker in Europe (to describe its size, I’ll tell you that Goldeneyes breed in the holes this pecker makes). Yet, this is also a part of the international cycling route from Germany to the Black Sea. A sudden flight of a forest ghost, the Black Woodpecker goes from one side of the gully to another.

Serbia 119

Serbia Woodpeckers Birds Bears 119