10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Add more than 350 pairs of White Pelicans to that picture, numerous herons and up to 700 pairs of Pygmy Cormorants breeding in the same reedbeds (cover photo)… It must be bursting with activity in spring, but I was there in mid-September. Have you heard of it? Can you pinpoint it on a map? and dual digits.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2016

But this breeding and social arrangement has its risks. And for wild pheasants ( Common , in Europe; or Ring-necked , stateside), a bigger group may actually present an existential danger. Maybe monogamy, with just one partner to support and protect, isn’t so bad after all. Having a harem sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

Game 100

Game Europe Groups Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2015

One Common Raven is disappearing towards its nest among the branches of the poplar plantation, only to reappear a few minutes later to give a good chase – aerial acrobatics included – to its first neighbour, the White-tailed Eagle which breeds in the vicinity. The Reva is not protected. Birding Europe Mammals otters Serbia'

Otters 174

Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 174

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. Map by BirdLife International.

Sri Lanka 256

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 256

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

During the Pleistocene, Dholes were found across the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe and North America, sharing their space with sabre-toothed cats. Even in protected areas of north-east India, prey densities are very low. Only in protected areas in southern and central India (e.g.

Tigers 233

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 233

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Photo: This area holds 3 to 4 breeding pairs of White-tailed Eagles , which represents the biggest density per square mile anywhere in the country. Wigeons are only migrants and not a breeding species in Serbia and August is a bit too early for any longer distance duck movements. Photographed by Szekeres Levente. and one ad.).

Serbia 161

Serbia Protection Eagles Ducks 161

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. I think all were males, at last two huge ones certainly were. I barely started when some sulphur (a.k.a.

Serbia 243

Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

, and at the same time not grumpy enough to make them draw their guns (yep – it’s a true story, but do not trust the first impression: they were rough on the outside and soft on the inside, e.g. being fiercely protective of stray dogs and cats – that particular guy kept about five dogs and 15 cats, and they all lived together peacefully).

Serbia 237

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 237

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2014

Up to the mid-20th century, Pygmy Cormorants were a common breeding species of wetlands around Belgrade… until the wetlands were drained and the birds were lost, at one moment – from the whole of Serbia. Since the roosts of Pygmy Cormorants should receive official protection, how bright is the future?

Serbia 190

Serbia Protection Legislation Europe 190

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2018

Habitat destruction combined with hunting has pushed them away from their former breeding grounds. What remains of their range is currently protected as the Pastures of Great Bustard Special Nature Reserve, but in the last several years there are only a dozen birds left, and only one adult male among them. What treats do they face?

Serbia 103

Serbia Romania Hungary Hunting 103

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2022

Iron Gates, after the ancient Roman name for the gorge, Porta Ferrea) National Park lies in the north-eastern Serbia, where the Danube has incised the longest gorge of Europe, extending for over 100 kilometre (62 mi), stretching from the medieval Golubac Fortress to the Roman castrum Diana. Djerdap (a.k.a.

Serbia 236

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Romania 236

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2011

If you have been on the receiving end of any guided birding you know that a good guide can make or break the trip and João was up there with the best in terms of his knowledge of the local sites, breeding birds and visitors, coping easily with our constant questioning.

Portugal 247

Portugal Legislation 2000 Adoptable 247

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Sometimes they have to protect their catches from piratic African Fish Eagles who swoop down as soon as they that see a Saddle-bill has successfully caught a fish. During breeding season, their white plumage turns a delicate pink color, a lovely sight indeed. They also prey on frogs and crabs.

Africa 235

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 235

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. There are many big birds, many pretty birds.

Spain 169

Spain Europe Industry Rodents 169

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

Hopefully, seeing these birds and learning about them will also make you understand that it is important to protect them and nature in general. The Olive-backed Pipit is a small songbird that in Shanghai can only be seen in winter – in summer, it breeds further north. This sometimes makes it difficult for wild animals to survive.

Birds 162

Birds Fish Germany China 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

If you are a migratory bird in Europe and western Asia, this is your sweet spot. The population of Millerbirds on Laysan has doubled , and breeding seems to be going well. The survival of songbirds depends in part upon eliminating illegal hunting. Photo by David Guttenfelder, courtesy of National Geographic ).

Cambodia 143

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 143

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). Three centuries later, in order to protect the northern border of the Ottoman empire, sultan Bayezid II in 1483 revised and strengthened the existing fortress.

Serbia 118

Serbia Woodpeckers Birds Bears 118

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2015

No, I took a paddle and discovered the Danube backwaters (cover photo: 1995), the very same area I am fighting to protect now, but the Government, it seems, has an interested investor… Seeing the most valuable habitats disappearing in front of our eyes, environmentalists are quite prone to depression, but that is another story.

Serbia 189

Serbia Bosnia Research Lions 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

A range of hills protects the cove from the eastern wind, yet, the bushes are swaying in the rythm of it. This shearwater is a Mediterranean endemic, breeding from Sardinia and Corsica to the Adriatic and the Aegean. Trips Europe Greece seabirds' Even before we come close, we find our first threatened Yelkouan Shearwater.

Greece 228

Greece Malta Croatia Birds 228

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Even among the protected areas of Serbia, the Iron Gates National Park (in Serbian: Djerdap) stands out as better preserved. Keep in mind that the special nature reserves (dark green on the park map) enjoy the highest level of protection and are off limits to visitors (possible only with research permits issued by the park authorities).

Serbia 184

Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 184

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2024

If you see a flock of kestrels in southern Europe, then the chances are that they will be Lessers, for the Common Kestrel never flocks, though occasionally in summer you will see a family hunting together. On their breeding grounds in Spain, Lesser Kestrels are very much city birds, for 95% of the population nests in towns.

Falcons 188

Falcons Spain Europe 2012 188

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2018

Yet, in the late 1970s there still were six colonies with about 40 breeding pairs left, but in the early 1990s only two colonies and 22 pairs persisted (of which only 13 bred in 1991) – five of them in this gorge. Due to mass wolf poisonings in the 1960s and the 1970s, Griffon Vultures in Serbia suffered a dramatic population crash.

Serbia 105

Serbia Herzegovina Bosnia Sheep 105

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

There is not just one comparative layout of gulls flying; there are plates of small and medium-sized gulls in non-breeding plumage, dark-winged larger gulls, 1st-winter larger gulls, 2nd-year larger gulls, 3rd-year larger gulls, and white-winged gulls. as Birds of Europe, 2nd edition (PUP, 2011).

Ireland 141

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 141

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2011

By March though Scandinavian Rock Pipit begins to show some changes into breeding plumage and outs itself as a migrant rather than a resident. By the way: at the Baltic coast we had large flocks of spinoletta migrating through in late March/April, and due to them moulting from non-breeding to breeding plumage, many had seemingly pale lores.

2011 150

2011 Deer Fish New York 150

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

The male Bar-tailed Godwit are the first to show us breeding plumage and then the Red Knot and Curlew Sandpipers have two beautiful reds-red wine rather than cranberry juice! Breeding colour becomes rather obvious! She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe.

2011 150

2011 Australia Deer China 150

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2011

reduce traffic casualties amongst Badgers , get the White-tailed Eagle back as a breeding bird, increase the number of protected plant species etc.). We started the series with the idea that too many people travel away from Europe thinking that there is no real nature left there. so far you have focussed on European nature.

Badgers 145

Badgers Ethics Africa Spain 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

These are extremely large stick structures (some articles compare the largest ones to the size of a car) that are usually populated by multiple breeding pairs in separate chambers. Some articles speculate that the nests offer protection against the cold. There are a lot of pet psittacines out there that escape or are released.

Chicago 196

Chicago New York City New York Illinois 196

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

The Kerkini Lake National Park is my favourite birding area in the whole of the Balkans and while I’ve been here in April and again (migration), September (migration), October (coffee break), December and January (wintering), this was my first time in the breeding season, in May. But nowadays, they, too, breed here, about 20 pairs this year.

Greece 190

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 190

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

It is also familiar at inland sites in winter, especially reservoirs and refuse tips, and breeds in the relatively-Northerly regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Yellow-Legged Gull These gulls breed around the Mediterranean and have yellow, rather than flesh-coloured legs. Get yours today! I am clearly not.

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Deer Species 157

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 144

North America Asia Europe America 144

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

I got to see a beautiful female and owlet on a trip to a secret nest location near Howard Prairie Lake (human-made nest structures have enhanced local breeding for these huge owls whose nest success is boosted to 83% on artificial platforms vs. 66% at natural sites).

2014 184

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 184

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

I was especially interested in “To Hide From God,” the chapter on songbird slaughter and protection in Cyprus. 192) from the timing of seasons to the ferocity of weather to the shape of breeding, wintering, and stopover habitat to even the size of birds themselves. It is often hard to be positive.

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

Wikipedia also has an interesting paragraph hinting at observation bias in ornithologists: “At the continental scale, saddle-billed storks preferred protected areas that have a higher extent of open water compared to areas without the storks. The benefit for the wasps is that they get to keep a beautiful pet.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

For the last two decades, Europe and the greater Mediterranean have been covered by one of the best field guides anywhere: “Collins Bird Guide” by Lars Svensson et al., published in the US by Princeton as “Birds of Europe”. Still, in this case CBG wins in the JIZZ category as well.

Cyprus 245

Cyprus Saudi Arabia Europe Birds 245

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2016

Out of just under 200 bird species I observed this year in SE Europe, there are 6 threatened species. The decrease in numbers has been accompanied by fragmentation of the breeding range and is continuing to affect all populations. Disturbance on breeding grounds (e.g. The IUCN/BirdLife International Red List).

Serbia 199

Serbia Greece Montenegro Bulgaria 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

Image by Adam Riley Of the 115 African species now listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered, nearly half occur on the islands surrounding Africa or are non-breeding migrants to Africa. This strange but beautifully plumaged bird was widely known throughout Europe as the Waldrapp (meaning “Forest Crow”).

Endangered Species 185

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 185

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2014

It hasn’t achieved as much attention yet, presumably because people are rather preoccupied with wars brewing in Eastern Europe and missing airliners, but give it time. Efforts to protect some of the most vulnerable species would be redirected to better protecting the larger swathe of species held in important habitat.

Lions 150

Lions Giraffes Zoos Killing 150