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What is killing birds at Karla Lake (Greece)?

10,000 Birds

In my homeland, some 800 km / 500 mi further north, these ducks are common on migration but very rare in the breeding season and I realized that these are my first young birds – ever. A few Lesser Kestrels by the dyke wall, then a Black-eared Wheatear at some cattle fencing. What is killing them? We do not know, says Dimitris.

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Castellare di Castellina: Chianti Classico (2019)

10,000 Birds

Bologna La Grassa may revel in the indulgence of its Parma ham, lasagne, and rich, fatty ragùs, and Venice may boast the bounty of the sea, but the rugged, hilly homeland of the ancient Etruscans is undoubtedly cattle country. Of course, a land of beefeaters needs butchers.

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Birding Shanghai in May 2023 – Part 1

10,000 Birds

During the breeding season, some Cattle Egrets look like teenage girls who have just discovered the existence of make-up, and consequently massively overdo it. But what do I know about the taste preferences of Cattle Egrets. A paper reports on how a female Common Cuckoo was mobbed and killed by Oriental Reed Warbler hosts.

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The Great Bustard Search is On (1)

10,000 Birds

Habitat destruction combined with hunting has pushed them away from their former breeding grounds. In breeding season grazing cattle may walk through the nest, breaking the eggs, while wild and domestic pigs may eat both eggs and chicks. Bustards are being counted in February because their breeding season starts in March.

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What to Do at High Island When the Winds are South

10,000 Birds

I should have known that birding High Island meant I would be 20 minutes away from a place where hundreds of thousands of shorebirds and waterbirds rest, feed, breed, and generally have a good time. I love American Avocets and I rarely see them in such marvelous breeding plumage, so I was in heaven. Clapper Rail. Back to the Flats.

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I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

The Cherokee nation called them “Peace Eagles” owing to the fact that they never killed a living thing – and also that they tended to show up in numbers after battled when peace treaties were being signed, though admittedly that may have been for a slightly more macabre reason. White-backed Vultures, photo by Adam Riley.

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Return of the Waders

10,000 Birds

Around this time of the year, the first few waders are back in Shanghai from their breeding grounds far further up north. Generally, being back here early is not a very good sign – it may indicate a failed breeding attempt, as suggested for Asian Dowitchers in a paper on their presence in Lianyungang somewhat further north of Shanghai.

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