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Cypriot Delights: Part I

10,000 Birds

Cyprus Wheatears are the easiest to find of the three endemic birds that occur on Cyprus Black Francolins once bred in Portugal, Spain and Italy, all countries from which this handsome little game bird has long been lost. They are very late breeders, as they feed their young on autumn migrants which they generally intercept out to sea.

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The true “Mediterranean” Gull

10,000 Birds

Not only is it common and coastal, its global range is also largely restricted to the Mediterranean, with a few colonies also found along the western Black Sea shores, the lower Danube river, and into the Atlantic along the coast of Spain to the French Bretagne. So there you have it: conservative taxonomy leads to unfortunate common names.

Europe 121
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Quintas das Arcas: Bicudo Vinho Verde (2017)

10,000 Birds

According to the winemakers there, hoopoes (a summertime breeder in Spain) are commonly encountered along the paths through the vineyard. We also have a hoopoe gracing the label of this week’s wine, the 2017 Vinho Verde “Bicudo” from the Quintas das Arcas vineyards in northern Portugal.

2017 117
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Andalucia’s City-Slicker Falcons

10,000 Birds

In Europe, Lesser Kestrels are birds of the Mediterranean zone, nesting mainly in Spain and Portugal, southern France, Sardinia, the Balkans and parts of Greece. However, in Southern Spain a small number of birds are resident. This isn’t a new development linked to global warming, but was first noted 80 years ago.

Falcons 194
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Our Best Birds of 2020

10,000 Birds

Chamois is an agile goat-antelope with short hooked horns, found in mountainous areas of Europe from Spain to the Caucasus. Common Cuckoo is a fascinating bird, an obligate parasitic breeder that employs numerous strategies, including fraud and murder, to survive. Yes, yes, I know, not countable – it’s not a bird. Preposterous!

2020 230