10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2019

And here in Europe, they are the real deal, an indigenous species and not domesticated animals gone wild. These handsome finches breed in the far north of Europe and come here for the winter only. Annex II of the Bern Convention lists 45 of Beljarica’s bird species, with a further 91 species in Annex III.

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Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Its mood is not helped by the ambiguous review on eBird: “Although not actually pale, this brownish songbird is one of the plainer thrushes in its range” The Latin species name of the Dusky Thrush is eunomos (I guess that is Greek, but whatever) – meaning well-ordered. One page is dedicated to the Long-tailed Shrike.

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Birds Blackbirds Indonesia Bhutan 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2021

Driving slowly along the track towards the levee separating this area from the Danube backwaters, a largish marten-like animal once ran across the track. Once I observed a man walking his two small dogs here, passing by a perched White-tailed Eagle but looking down at grass and not noticing the largest raptor in Europe at all.

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Otters Protest Protesting Protesters 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

The book is chiefly about how people have conceptualized and studied birds, but there is an underlying theme, the changing ways in which our Western culture has viewed animals, nature and God. It’s a huge scope for a 338-page book. Birkhead knows that these are sensitive topics.

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Dissection Birds Research Europe 264

Critter News

MAY 15, 2009

Around 12 million animals are used each year in the European Union (EU) for research purposes. This became clear from a report addressed at the European Parliament (EP) session on May 5–7, which seeks to vote on a directive concerning animal research. I really hope this passes.

Experience 100

Experience Experiments Medical Research Animal Research 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

Birds included common species such as Black Drongos , Jungle Babblers and a Hoopoe. One Nilgai – the largest of Asian antelopes and a few Sambar deer later, we hit a jackpot: there is one jackal-like animal sitting among the dry leaves! Well, one reason might be – this animal is not only endangered, but even rarer than the Tiger!

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Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 252

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2016

Here go those moments of curiosity, in no particular order: Europe: And so, I was driving from Greece to Serbia… in central FYRO Macedonia, two birds were circling not far from the motorway… black and white… perhaps White Storks on migration? Europe: The sun is scorching the area, and the birds are nowhere to be seen.

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Wildlife Tigers Asia Europe 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

I had just ended my ten-day birding adventure in Ecuador (which is a story for another time) when I decided, since I had an amazing time, to prolong my trip a bit longer before heading back to Europe. What’s more, they host quite a number of endemics, both animal and plant. The paramo was starting to reveal its curiosities.

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Colombia Birds Raised Ecuador 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2020

Chamois is an agile goat-antelope with short hooked horns, found in mountainous areas of Europe from Spain to the Caucasus. There are more than 1100 plant species, the most valuable being the 76 endemics. Other species include Roe Deer (also spotted), Wildcat , European Pine Marten and Otter.

Serbia 264

Serbia Bears Birds Mammals 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2013

Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. Between finishing one graduate program and begining another, he embarked on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Of course, birding was on the itinerary! Of course, birding was on the itinerary!

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Iceland Puffins Europe Birds 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

He blogs at The Nightjar – The tales of an Upstate New York Birder and otherwise stays busy being an eBird reviewer, taking care of his kids, and, recently, planning a trip to Europe where he hopes to see lots of new birds. Other species have certainly expanded their ranges, but never in such a rapid and global scale.

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Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 193

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version.

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Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 260

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2015

Turtle Doves have been declining in Europe since the 1970s, and in this century alone, the continent has lost 40% of its population of the species. Since this spring’s revision of the European Red List, the Turtle Dove is listed as a vulnerable species. The Turtle Dove is not a trophy animal.

Serbia 270

Serbia Slaughter Slaughtered Turtles 270

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

My transition from being a kid interested in all kinds of animals to being a full-on birder happened when I was around 11 years old, in the early 1980s (oh dear!). I was given my first real field guide to the birds of Europe by my parents, a guide beyond the species found at backyard feeders and city ponds. For better.

Europe 100

Europe Birds Kazakhstan Russia 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Europe, let alone Italy, doesn’t have bluebirds.). The only living creature given “national” status by Italy is the Italian Wolf , which is apparently their national animal. Sadly for Italy, the Italian Wolf is not considered a full species by any scientists.

Italy 242

Italy Birds Adoptable Europe 242

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

It’s a frustrating thing, knowing there are exciting animals out there to be seen and being stuck back at base. And it did so in spectacular fashion, in the form of a mixed-species feeding flock, or a bird wave. They are large groups of birds of all different kinds of species. Blue Waxbill.

South Africa 145

South Africa Tortoises Woodpeckers Birds 145

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2020

For starters, the official national animal is the unicorn, a fairy-tale beast chosen by Scottish royalty in the Middle Ages for its reputation as the natural enemy of the lion, the adopted mascot of English kings.

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Eagles Lions Hunting Lamb 232

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

In a big city such as Shanghai, it is not always easy to see animals. This sometimes makes it difficult for wild animals to survive. This is often the case in birds – for the young birds, it is more important to be invisible than to impress the other birds of the same species. Some Birds of Shanghai.

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Birds Fish Germany China 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2012

Specifically, rural northwestern Spain, at various points along the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route to the supposed burial place of Saint James the apostle and, before that, to the westernmost point in continental Europe, the supposed End of the Earth, the Finis Terra. My journey started off in the city of Leon.

Spain 231

Spain Europe Industry Rodents 231

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2014

Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. Between finishing one graduate program and beginning another, he embarked on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Trips Europe Finland' Of course, birding was on the itinerary! All photos © Joseph Chiera.

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Finland Estonia Birds Europe 225

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

Whether they’re carried there by woodcock or owl, or manage the North Sea crossing on their own, these autumn migrant Goldcrests augment a year-round resident population in the British Isles, though the species as a whole can be quite susceptible to the privations of the harshest winters.

Owls 264

Owls Ireland United States Birds 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2016

After the Common Starling , my second bird of the morning becomes the largest eagle of Europe, the White-tailed Eagle , this one with a fairly white tail, yet still dark beak, that I estimate to be in its 3rd calendar year. Looking miserable with its feathers soaked, one yellow and blue European Bee-eater sits on a dead branch.

Serbia 185

Serbia Sheep Birds Eagles 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2013

Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. Between finishing one graduate program and beginning another, he embarked on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Some of the many species collecting seeds at the feeders included t**s and Eurasian Nuthatch.

Russia 150

Russia Iceland Birds Europe 150

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2011

Hyacinth Macaw © Roger Leguen / WWF-Canon Hyacinth Macaws feed mainly on the kernels of the fruits of two species of palm tree: the Acuri or Urucuri Palm ( Attalea phalerata ) and the Bocaiuva or Macaw Palm ( Acrocomia aculeata ). Such cavities are hard to find and are sometimes disputed by more than one species.

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Protection Brazil Parrots Paraguay 247

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2012

Did some kind of animal eat the tulips and spread them in its droppings? It turns out that the steppe is one of the places tulips come from and is a center of tulip species diversity. Wikipedia cites three competing theories : It is unclear who first brought the Tulip to northwest Europe. How did tulips arrive in Holland?

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Sri Lanka Kazakhstan 2009 Portugal 248

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. And fly they surely can… …although they do look suspiciously happy when landing.

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Germany Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 124

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2012

They have been a crucial part of the culture of the islands and forests where they are found for the last 50,000 years, and were amongst the first animals of the East to make it back to Europe with the earliest Portugese and Spanish explorations. There are, however, two species that are more accesible than the rest of the family.

Indonesia 246

Indonesia Birds Australia Guinea 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

They are not necessarily the biggest African animals, but represented those that were considered a real hunter’s worthy prey or “game” – the African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Black Rhinoceros, Leopard and king of the jungle, the Lion (which of course doesn’t inhabit jungle but savanna!).

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Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

.” The Wels Catfish, Silurus glanis , is the second largest fish in its range, which covers much of Europe and parts of West Asia. In parts of Western Europe, it is considered to be “exotic” because it has been introduced, possibly by anglers, in lakes and rivers in France and the Iberian Peninsula.

Fish 262

Fish Birds Whales Whaling 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2016

Late April / early May is the best birding season in the south of Europe and wherever you go, you will have 50% to 100% more species than in any other season. Recently, I did a bit of embankment birding, nailing 65 species (several of them firsts for the season, European Bee-eaters among them – always exciting).

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Birds India Africa Serbia 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

There is another area of the Queens County CBC where a team will also likely see Monk Parakeets , Myipsitta monachus , but I am seriously determined to count that bird for my area, Coastal Flushing, a section of northeast Queens, New York, that includes Whitestone, home of one of the loudest invasive bird species in the U.S. And cell towers.

Chicago 257

Chicago New York City New York Illinois 257

Critter News

JUNE 4, 2009

The EU's executive Commission last year proposed a range of measures to improve the welfare of the 12 million vertebrate animals used in experiments each year, mostly mice and rats. Drug industry group EFPIA said the parliament had managed to balance the protection of animals, the reality of biomedical research, and the needs of patients.

Medical Research 100

Medical Research Medical Research Apes 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2013

In my native Serbia, these birds are so ill numbered that they were even deleted from the huntable species list with an explanation: “there is no surviving population of huntable size”. They belong to a different subspecies – out of 33 recognised races, only 9 are found in Europe. No partridges for me under these olives, either.

Greece 247

Greece Serbia Europe Goats 247

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

That was a wild cat, a wild Wildcat, the cat that lives in the wild because that is where it is from and where it belongs, at the southern end of its pan-African range that extended at one time well into Europe and Asia. He also had tigers, cougars, and some other animals. That part of the carnivore landscape is taken by other animals.

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Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Actually, I visited the Two Towers twice, had about 50 bird species each time and about 60 in total, so this is sort of a composite tour description. However awkward this seems, I am using both British and (American) names – I wouldn’t be surprised if they do become different species in years to come.

Serbia 264

Serbia Geese Eagles Louisiana 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2013

This park protects the largest remaining tract of dry deciduous forest in the west of India, offering visitors 37 species of reptiles, 38 species of mammals and, not to be forgotten – almost 300 bird species. It belongs to the same species as those in Europe, but a smaller subspecies ( Sus scrofa davidi ).

Lions 250

Lions India Mammals Boars 250

Critter News

AUGUST 19, 2008

Amy, a German shepherd, and Uno, a Labrador retriever, have joined the team at {Frankfurt,} one of Europe's busiest airports — the first two dogs in Germany trained to sniff out live animals, plants or derivatives or remains of them.

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Trafficking Germany illegal Reptiles 100