10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2015

It resembled a Hooded Crow of east europe, only the grey parts were white – the Pied Crow , as it turned out to be. (Statistics would go in favour of the Cape Glossy Starling , as I later learned.). The next bird was some crow-like UFO observed from the shuttle bus. Crow-like has to be a crow, doesn’t it? Umm, yes, the bird?” “The

Africa 205

Africa Botswana Birds Europe 205

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2019

The noble Blue Tit once ranged from Iran through Turkey and Europe to the Canary Islands (the Spanish Islands off North Africa – the other bird was named for the islands incidentally) and North Africa. The Blue Tit, the common garden staple of Europe, was now the Eurasian Blue Tit. But a split has annoyed me.

Iran 126

Iran Barn Owls New Zealand Europe 126

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Apparently, in Europe Bramblings are the species appearing in the largest flocks and are thus “an interesting case study for discussing number estimates” ( source ). It was my impression that they are thriving here, and a very recent (2023) paper confirms that indeed Chinese Blackbirds do well in cities.

Birds 189

Birds Blackbirds Indonesia Bhutan 189

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2015

I am checking the grass for any flash of white and soon my suspicion is confirmed: Cattle Egrets (cover photo)! This species is still uncommon in the Balkans and despite the recent spread, Kalamas is the most reliable site for it in Greece (and this made my only second ever observation of them in Europe).

Greece 228

Greece Dogs Pelicans Fish 228

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2019

And of course, there are Cattle Egrets ( Bubulcus ibis ) and several species of cowbirds that rarely stray too far from livestock. For most of history, beer has thrived in agrarian settings, too. Historically, saison was a beer tied to time as much as it was to place.

Vermont 118

Vermont Belgium Farming Europe 118

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. Some time after the Spanish encounter with the Turkey, birds were brought back to Europe where they were raised and became an important source of food and fancy feathers. According to R.D.

Turkey 199

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 199

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

I have caught a bus across Europe, but I can’t really claim to have “been” to Germany or Belgium. Hippo and attending Cattle Egret. But I do have rules about whether I can have said to have visited a country, ie does the country “count” which I have inherited from my family, particularly my Dad.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

It didn’t take much imagination to name Cowbirds or Cattle Egrets or Cattle Tyrants , but there’s more fantasy, even more wit, involved in the naming of other bovine birds. They’re all named for livestock. The genus Bucephala includes three familiar ducks with big heads.

Cows 141

Cows Cattle 2011 Birds 141

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2017

Susliks are becoming rarer: they need cattle to graze and keep the grass short. But on modern farms, cattle are being kept indoors and if the pasture becomes overgrown, ground squirrels disappear. Others are chasing each other, some are quarrelling. A few are on sentry duty, standing on their hind legs and watching for eagles.

Eagles 103

Eagles Squirrels Cattle Serbia 103

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

Birding Europe Patch Birding Serbia' I think that the ponds were already out of use and filled with atmospheric water only. Since the European White Waterlily is strictly protected under Serbian law, a week ago I informed the Republic Inspection for the Environmental Protection at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection.

Serbia 237

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 237

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2013

A low branch is decorated by a Green Bee-eater (above) and a tree top above it holds several Cattle Egrets. It belongs to the same species as those in Europe, but a smaller subspecies ( Sus scrofa davidi ). Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis. Maybe his reputation is not without a foundation? Grey Heron Ardea cinerea.

Lions 220

Lions India Mammals Boars 220

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2011

In the case of the acuri, the birds usually eat those kernels that have already fallen to the ground or that have been ruminated by cattle or wild animals, but they eat bocaiuva nuts straight off the bunches hanging from the trees. These macaws nest in existing holes in trees.

Protection 184

Protection Brazil Parrots Paraguay 184

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

They belong to the same species like those found back in Europe, Sus scrofa – which inhabits a belt stretching from northern Africa and Europe all the way to Indonesia, but a different subspecies, S.s. Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis. Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea.

India 218

India Birds Eagles Boars 218

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2017

Before it was drained for agriculture in 1962, Lake Karla covered 180 km2 / 70 mi2 – a good portion of the eastern Thessaly Plain and was among the largest wetlands of Europe (visit the Management Body of the lake’s GIS platform ). A few Lesser Kestrels by the dyke wall, then a Black-eared Wheatear at some cattle fencing.

Greece 181

Greece Killing Pelicans Eagles 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2018

In breeding season grazing cattle may walk through the nest, breaking the eggs, while wild and domestic pigs may eat both eggs and chicks. Yet, in the first years of this century, we had 35 birds, last year we had 10 and how many we have now remains to be seen. What treats do they face?

Serbia 103

Serbia Romania Hungary Hunting 103

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2024

Until recently the cattle that grazed here were tethered, but they are now allowed to range freely, and by doing so they have opened up the marsh considerably, creating fine habitat. The marshes were looking as good as I have ever seen them. Some over winter, but a few always pass through on spring migration.

Cyprus 183

Cyprus Tethering Breeding 2016 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Originally from India and the vicinity, it is believed that they had already undergone two major expansions – through Asia Minor in the 1600s, and then across Europe in the 1900s – when they first appeared in North America. It’s just that the exceptions are so much more attention-grabbing.

Montana 133

Montana 2011 New York Bahamas 133

10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2015

Above the reedbeds, there were numerous Common Sand Martins (Bank Swallows), with a few Barn Swallows , while the large herd of grazing cattle (one of them particularly interested in licking the dust off my car) was followed by two dozen Western Yellow Wagtails. The Danube shallows are waterless.

Factory 221

Factory Stray Dog Turtles Serbia 221

Animal Ethics

MARCH 10, 2007

They are often crammed into trucks built for cattle and pigs and subjected to starvation, exposure and abuse. Every year, 100,000 horses are slaughtered at foreign-owned slaughterhouses in the United States to satisfy the palates of wealthy diners in Europe and Asia. The transport and subsequent slaughter of these animals is brutal.

New York Times 40

New York Times Horse Slaughter New York Slaughter 40

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2022

In Europe, most of them winter south of the Sahara but an increasing share winters north of it – which sounds like an interesting research topic for people who, ahem, find such topics interesting. Apparently, the choice is for the nests to be flooded (those near streams) or to be trampled by cattle (those near the agricultural ponds).

Cattle 147

Cattle Portugal Buffalo Humane 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

When I came here for the first time, the Kerkini Lake was the only place in Europe where Dalmatian Pelicans were increasing their numbers. Nikos managed to show us the incubating Cattle Egrets, of which only 2 or 3 pairs breed in this enormous heronry, counting up to 9000 pairs back in 2014. Dalmatian Pelican © Dusanka Stokovic-Simic.

Greece 190

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 190

Animal Ethics

JULY 5, 2007

No wonder rBGH has been banned in Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Europe and Canada outlawed using hormones on dairy cows because of such human and animal health concerns. June 29, 2007 The writers are cattle ranchers. In cows, the hormones have been shown to increase lameness, udder infections and bone cancer.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York 2007 Cows 40

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

Rueppell’s, White-backed and Hooded Vultures After Asia’s dramatic vulture crash (some of the species’ populations dropped by over 99% in just a few years due to Diclofenac, a veterinary drug mostly used for treating cattle that is fatal to vultures), Africa’s vultures are now facing the abyss.

Endangered Species 185

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 185

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

Image by Adam Riley A Cattle Egret hunts grasshoppers and other insects in a field of wildflowers in West Coast National Park. However South Africa doesn’t meet either of these criteria, but one special factor nevertheless carries it into this auspicious list of 17 nations – the Cape Florisitic Kingdom.

South Africa 226

South Africa Africa New Zealand Asia 226

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2018

Beset by poaching by cattle ranchers, habitat loss, DDT, and lead poisoning (from consuming shotgun pellets embedded in the condor’s carrion fare), populations of this enormous New World vulture fell into a serious decline in the twentieth century.

California Condor 103

California Condor Oregon California Zoos 103