10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

You see, the Great (White) Heron/Egret is a polytypic species with four subspecies: alba in Europe, egretta in the Americas, melanorhynchos in Africa, and modesta in Asia and Oceania. Just so you know. But we’re far from done with the confusion. This may appear to make identification easy, but it is not.

Asia 185

Asia Europe Germany Breeding 185

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2013

At the time this post goes live I’ll be wandering around Hong Hong in a bemused state of mind trying to identify not only the native birds but the multitude of other species released by the inhabitants into the area. The Brown-headed Gull is a bird of Asia, breeding from Turkmenistan to Mongolia, and winters along the coasts of Asia.

Turkmenistan 156

Turkmenistan Mongolia Asia Europe 156

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2016

The Azure-winged Magpie is a pretty member of the crow family found in Eastern Asia, from Siberia and Japan down to Hong Kong. It was in Hong Kong that I caught up with the species, as it is easy to find in the splendid wetlands of Mai Po. Oh that birds like it were more widely distributed in Europe today! I’m back!

Spain 105

Spain Portugal Asia Japan 105

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2015

For a long time it was treated as a subspecies of the ubiquitous Black Kite, a species of scavenging bird of prey much hated by my grandfather (they used to steal food from troops during the war, if memory serves). A valuable lesson in looking twice at the ubiquitous species. And as you can see, they are pretty good looking too.

South Africa 160

South Africa Africa Botswana Wolves 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2015

This is perhaps almost entirely due to the Common Starling , a species that is, over much of its range, an introduced pest. Even where Common Starlings are not introduced, their homeland of Europe, they are hardly loved. Starlings and mynas are adaptable, attractive and clever species. And they have done well for themselves.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches South Africa Africa Reptiles 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. It seems that this is another species for which the standard phrase of scientists anywhere, “more research needed”, applies.

Birds 147

Birds Myanmar China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Its natural range in Europe was restricted the the surroundings of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and in Asia it ranged from Asia Minor to central China. Contradicting this relentless shooting were efforts to establish feral populations in many regions of Europe, both within and outside its natural range.

Feral 171

Feral Europe Asia North America 171

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. Like the Adjutants in Asia and Jabiru of the Americas, the Marabou is our bare-headed scavenging stork.

Africa 246

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2015

I’m a big fan of the antelopes, a group that is most commonly associated with Africa but which also occurs in Asia and, if you stretch the term to be cladistically meaningful, Europe and North America. By this I mean applying the term antelope to cover all of the family Bovidae, which would include the sheep, goats and ox.

Africa 173

Africa Hunters Goats Wolves 173

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2013

Purple Herons Ardea purpurea are an old world element of the Ardeidae and range widely throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and parts of Europe and central Asia. Within Europe, they are mostly found in the South (around the Mediterranean), and the East.

Germany 155

Germany Asia Europe Africa 155

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. I live in the southeast of Europe, for a while lived in the south of Africa and also have extensively birded western and central India. I am talking 600 or 700+ bird species.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

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.

Cattle 170

Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 170

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2012

Great Reed Warblers breed across huge chunks of Europe and Asia and winter across large swaths of southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. If that makes any sense at all.)

Hungary 161

Hungary Asia Europe Africa 161

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2012

Neither of us had ever seen any species of hedgehog and it is no wonder that we were both surprised and excited to see such a cool little creature. There are seventeen species of hedgehog found across Europe, Asia, and Africa, the only places where hedgehogs are native. “What the #*$% was that?!?!”

Hedgehogs 170

Hedgehogs Hungary Opossums North America 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2012

There are two species in the Old World woodpecker genus that sounds like birds that birders would never be able to see. Eurasian Wrynecks are found breeding across the temperate zones of Europe and Asia. They migrate to warmer climes in Africa and south Asia to winter.

Hungary 175

Hungary Asia Woodpeckers Africa 175

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

With binoculars around my neck, I am leaving home, wondering which will be the first species on my year list. By contrast, the wild Rock Pigeon, Columba livia livia , is an ill-numbered species that I have seen only a few times, in mountain gorges or Mediterranean islands, further away from villages. New Year’s Day 2014.

Feral 259

Feral Meat Species Serbia 259

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2015

“The Pygmy Cormorant is a strictly protected bird species in Serbia, as well as in the European Union. It belongs to a group of species of special conservation concern, which under the European Birds Directive requires Member States to designate Special Protection Areas (Annex I species).

Serbia 187

Serbia Protection Europe 2015 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2017

Perch are a fresh water species of fish that are native to Europe and N. Asia, but have been introduced elsewhere. First there was the Glaucous-winged Gull and the starfish , next, the Neotropic Cormorant with a plecostomus catfish. Now, the Great Crested Grebe and the perch.

Fish 100

Fish Asia America Suffering 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2011

Newts can be found in Asia, Europe, and North America. The Smooth Newt Lissotriton vulgaris is the most common newt across most of Europe, and is also, as a matter of fact, called the Common Newt , and is most likely the type of newt that a witch would turn a peasant into in England.

Salamander 162

Salamander Pythons North America Europe 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

It has recently been reclassified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List; this category is reserved for only the most threatened species in the world. If this bird did become extinct, it would be the first pheasant species to have been lost in the 400 years since proper records began.

Vietnam 156

Vietnam 2000 Germany Groups 156

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2020

Cuba (twice), South America (twice), Europe and Morocco (once) and Bali (once). It originally served as the port of entry for goods brought from Asia by Spanish galleons. The 29 species I added to my January list say so as well.) In other words, I travelled, sometimes every weekend. Is Acapulco a worthwhile birding destination?

Birds 166

Birds 2006 Mexico Morocco 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2011

Anas strepera is a common and widespread duck, breeding across northern Europe and Asia, as well as central North America. Gadwall are, according to BirdLife International, a Species of Least Concern because of its huge range and population, though its worldwide population trend is unknown.

United States 162

United States North America Jamaica Asia 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

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. … Birds chickadees chickadees and tits Europe tits My first ever Azure T**s. Yes, times had definitely changed. For better. Much better.

Europe 100

Europe Birds Kazakhstan Russia 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2011

If you are mildly interested, proceed and read the caption. Despite being taken in Europe, this image exemplifies why forest birding in North America might soon be rated NC-17. There are currently 10 species of Treecreepers that form the family Certhiidae, nine in the genus Certhia and an additional oddball in another genus, Salpornis.

North America 145

North America Europe America Asia 145

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2015

One – the Takahe is far too cool a species to lose. Two – there is so much distinctness amongst the different forms of the Purple Swamphen that lumping means we may as well lump all the world’s reed warblers into one huge species and be done with it. ” Birds Europe Purple Swamphen rails Spain'

Spain 157

Spain Hunters Africa Hunting 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2013

Or else I’d be tempted to mention that the cold rainy weather has given way to a massive heat wave and drought, or that the summer doldrums this year are more boring than ever, or that it is so unfair that Corey is more than 100 species ahead of me in his year list, or that I really would enjoy some nice birds for a change!

Germany 179

Germany Russia Iceland India 179

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2011

The Black Stork ( Ciconia nigra ) has a very wide distribution in the Old World, ranging from Spain (an isolated population) and northern France through central and eastern Europe all across northern and central Asia to the Pacific coast of Russia and China.

Germany 152

Germany Asia China Russia 152

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2017

An eclectic mix of endemics, specialties and oddly displaced species, it is one of the most memorable places I have ever birded… and I never visited it as a trip. As you climb you can stop to see facinating species like the Blue-winged Goose , a strange species whose closest relatives are in South America.

Ethiopia 100

Ethiopia Mammals South America Rats 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2011

The Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita is an abundant species with an impressive global range that stretches from the West of Europe across Siberia to Russia’s far East, just falling short of reaching the Bering Straits by a laughable 800 kilometres, a fact one individual apparently found too awkward to bear. canariensis ).

Kazakhstan 158

Kazakhstan Europe Russia Asia 158

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

If you are a migratory bird in Europe and western Asia, this is your sweet spot. Fearing that a natural disaster, introduced species, or disease could wipe this fragile population out, the U.S. The survival of songbirds depends in part upon eliminating illegal hunting. Photo of the Nihoa Millerbird by S.

Cambodia 145

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant. The little – the two species of black Buffalo Weavers obtain their appellation from their dark coloration that resembles their fearsome namesake.

Buffalo 214

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 214

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

The Rose-ringed Parakeet naturally occurs in two isolated areas: a thin strip across Africa just south of the Sahara, and south Asia where it is mostly found in India with smaller ranges in adjacent countries. Rather, it originates from the white-hot evil fire that is the soul of an invasive, alien species hell-bent on destruction and mayhem.

Germany 251

Germany Netherlands Zoos Geese 251

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

Nick finds a bird-shaped protrusion at the top of the rock – Black-eared Wheatear , not exactly a species I expect to observe from a boat deck. It lives from the Peloponnese and the Aegean Islands across the whole of Asia to the shores of the East China Sea and here I stand at the very edge of the range of this species.

Greece 243

Greece Malta Croatia Birds 243

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2016

Published by Princeton University Press in early 2016, Waterfowl of North America, Europe, and Asia (I’m going to use this shortened title for the rest of the review), covers 83 species of Anseriformes–ducks, geese, and swans–of, yes, Europe, Asia and North America.

North America 162

North America Asia Europe America 162

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.

Turkey 211

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 211

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 211

Fish Birds Whales Whaling 211

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Since the 2nd edition of the Collins Bird Guide (published as “Birds of Europe” in the US) from 2009, the field guide market for European guides is practically dead. 850 illustrations by Tomasz Cofta are both accurate and stunning, and 2,400 photos by Michal Jakuj and 189 other photographers from Europe and Asia are good documentary shots.

Europe 253

Europe Asia Cyprus 2009 253