Critter News

DECEMBER 28, 2009

My 2010 resolution is to try and track animal rights issues in the homelands of Spain and Portugal. Spain is much more advanced than Portugal in this area, but both need improvement (as do we all.). Tags: europe portugal farm animal welfare.

Portugal 100

Portugal Animal Welfare Farm Animal Farmed Animals 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

After three visits to southern Italy, followed by a lone excursion to Belgium, we’ll head back south to end our month-long “Grand Tour” of falconry-themed wine and ales in Portugal. Portugal has a long history of both falconry and winemaking. Portugal was a source of less poetic, practical information on falconry, as well.

2016 125

2016 Portugal Falcons Japan 125

Critter News

JUNE 3, 2011

I like this story because I can only imagine the conditions of circus animals in Portugal. When I was in the Azores, there was a circus called Atlas I think and there were horrible, gaudy posters. I just had a sick feeling about the possible treatment of those animals.

Portugal 100

Portugal Circus Animals Animal Welfare Welfare 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

I haven’t yet been birding in Europe but whenever I occasionally skim a field guide about the birds on the other side of the Atlantic, I’m always encouraged to find that I’m already familiar with many species found over there, even though most of my birding experience has been limited to eastern North America.

2017 116

2017 Portugal Rabbits Europe 116

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2024

The rings revealed that one of the birds had been ringed as an adult in Portugal, the other as a chick in Spain’s Ebro delta, where the biggest colony of these gulls is to be found. Through a few Lesser Black-backs nest in Spain, this bird was most likely to have been a winter visitor to the area from breeding grounds in Northern Europe.

Lithuania 130

Lithuania Morocco Iceland Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

Instead of wintering in Africa and breeding in Europe, growing numbers of the birds now appear to be staying put in Spain and Portugal. The paper, published in the journal Movement Ecology , describes a striking change in White Storks’ migratory behavior.

Portugal 102

Portugal Spain Research Europe 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2016

As well as the population found in East Asia, another smaller population also occurred in the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain and Portugal. Oh that birds like it were more widely distributed in Europe today! The Azure-winged Magpie was for the longest time something of a biogeographical mystery. Are they taunting me? There we go.

Spain 102

Spain Portugal Asia Japan 102

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2012

I am on a quick trip to the Lisbon area in Portugal and – I must admit – I was taken completely by surprise about how this conglomeration of people, water and nature are put togerther. In preparation for this trip I had spent some time with my friend the google machine and he (she?

Portugal 157

Portugal Spain Protection Birds 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2012

Wikipedia cites three competing theories : It is unclear who first brought the Tulip to northwest Europe. After introduction of the Tulip to Europe, it gained much popularity and was seen as a sign of abundance and indulgence in the Ottoman Empire. The Dutch didn’t get tulips until at least the mid to late 1500s. in Blunt, 7).

Sri Lanka 190

Sri Lanka Kazakhstan 2009 Portugal 190

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2014

The colorful Purple Swamphen ( Porphyrio porphyrio ) lives in wetlands from Portugal and Senegal all the way east to New Zealand and the Samoan Islands, and a feral population is now well established in Florida. “The oldest split among the currently recognized P. The western Mediterranean birds are bluish-purple all over.

Papua New Guinea 188

Papua New Guinea Philippines New Zealand Florida 188

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

I only scored 43 in March, but that was because I was away birding in Portugal and Estonia. I failed to score any lifers in 2023, which isn’t really surprising as there are very possibilities left for me in Europe, or even the Western Palearctic. My overseas trips did boost the overall year list considerably. These are Dunlins.

Estonia 216

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 216

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. And unlike the Common Kestrel, Lessers are highly gregarious.

Falcons 186

Falcons Spain Europe 2012 186

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2023

He has led more than 100 tours for the British bird tour company Avian Adventures, in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. He now lives in the Algarve, Portugal where he is Chairman of the Portuguese Rarities Committee.

United Kingdom 169

United Kingdom Portugal Birds Asia 169

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. In Southern Portugal, Little Ringed Plovers nest either along natural streams or near agricultural ponds.

Cattle 147

Cattle Portugal Buffalo Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2019

America) or westbound (from Europe). Reachable by direct flights from Portugal, the island country of Sao Tome and Principe lying in the Gulf of Guinea, in the armpit of Africa, has about 140 bird species and 28 endemics – more endemics per square mile than anywhere else on Earth. Yet, for most people, birders are all eccentric.

Costa Rica 186

Costa Rica Sri Lanka Rwanda Papua New Guinea 186

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2012

Sure, their field guide, The Collins Guide , claims six species but two, the Corsican Nuthatch and the Algerian Nuthatch , have extremely limited ranges and one of those two isn’t actually found in Europe. I am fortunate in that I have encountered Eurasian Nuthatches on eleven occasions in three countries on my various trips to Europe.

Hungary 126

Hungary Europe Portugal Georgia 126

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2019

Late June night at the Casino Estoril, then the largest casino in Europe, located in the neutral Portugal where spies of all colours met. Dr James Bond published his field guide to the Birds of the West Indies in 1936, and nowadays that first edition (above) is a highly sought after collector’s item. The year was 1941.

Saint Kitts and Nevis 151

Saint Kitts and Nevis Antigua and Barbuda Dominican Republic Cuba 151