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”. Following the IOC taxonomy (Gill and Donsker 2018), Birds of Cyprus deals with 405 species.

Cyprus 250

Cyprus Saudi Arabia Europe Birds 250

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

That was a wild cat, a wild Wildcat, the cat that lives in the wild because that is where it is from and where it belongs, at the southern end of its pan-African range that extended at one time well into Europe and Asia. Also, feral Cats on islands seem to be a serious problem, causing the extirpation of some indigenous species.

Feral Cats 255

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 255

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2011

Hyacinth Macaw © Roger Leguen / WWF-Canon Hyacinth Macaws feed mainly on the kernels of the fruits of two species of palm tree: the Acuri or Urucuri Palm ( Attalea phalerata ) and the Bocaiuva or Macaw Palm ( Acrocomia aculeata ). Such cavities are hard to find and are sometimes disputed by more than one species.

Protection 187

Protection Brazil Parrots Paraguay 187

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2024

Personally, I wish the species the best of luck in this endeavor. (Of However, the fact that there are 30 subspecies seems to indicate that the species has a slightly overblown estimation of its own importance. This species has a relatively large number of calls – 12, to be specific, compared to the average of 7.6

Birds 189

Birds Research Science Europe 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2020

It can still be an entirely opposite end of a continent, but – if you are residing in Europe – the flight can be as short as one (from Germany) to two hours (from UK). I am talking of the very heart of the Balkans and the final birding frontier of Europe: Serbia. Serbia – the big picture. Birding overview. Top-5 hotspots.

Serbia 317

Serbia Sanctuary Birds Bosnia 317

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2015

Turtle Doves have been declining in Europe since the 1970s, and in this century alone, the continent has lost 40% of its population of the species. Since this spring’s revision of the European Red List, the Turtle Dove is listed as a vulnerable species. Money and effort are being invested in that protection.

Serbia 270

Serbia Slaughter Slaughtered Turtles 270

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2015

Worried by the lack of appropriate action by the authorities (as described in the previous post ), this year I invited two more wildlife protection organisations to take part in the annual census of Pygmy Cormorants in Belgrade. “The Pygmy Cormorant is a strictly protected bird species in Serbia, as well as in the European Union.

Serbia 181

Serbia Protection Europe 2015 181

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2023

This park protects the largest remaining tract of dry deciduous forest in the west of India, offering visitors 37 species of reptiles, 38 species of mammals and, not to be forgotten – almost 300 bird species. It belongs to the same species as those in Europe, but a smaller subspecies ( Sus scrofa davidi ).

India 147

India Lions Boars Mammals 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2021

Of the thirty or so members of the family Icteridae that go by the name “oriole” on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean, several species are partial enough to fruit that they even visit feeders that offer it as jelly, as the sugar-preserved form usually reserved for human consumption is known.

2017 203

2017 Portugal Europe Africa 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. The African Spoonbill is one of the six global spoonbill species, and the main African one (there are also some Eurasian Spoonbills in Africa).

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

This is a bit of a dilemma for local authorities – on the one hand, they would presumably like to protect the birds, on the other hand, they also want to draw as many tourists to the place as possible. Black-bellied Plover: Known as Grey Plover in Europe and Asia. Cuckoo species (Common?): Far Eastern Curlew: Endangered.

China 273

China Birds Fish Asia 273

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. Annex II of the Bern Convention lists 45 of Beljarica’s bird species, with a further 91 species in Annex III.

Serbia 245

Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 245

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. I am talking 600 or 700+ bird species.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

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. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens.

Serbia 201

Serbia Greece Montenegro Bulgaria 201

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2019

someone capable of telling the CGI masterminds that the crows at the corpses couldn’t be the Carrion Crows of Western, but the Hooded Crows of Eastern Europe? I do count, write and eBird all crow species I encounter, but, I admit, without much excitement. And protect them, too. True, I do not pay much attention to crows.

Protection 151

Protection Elephants Owls Laws 151

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2021

Once I observed a man walking his two small dogs here, passing by a perched White-tailed Eagle but looking down at grass and not noticing the largest raptor in Europe at all. The eagle seemed well-used to people and paid no attention either.

Otters 261

Otters Protest Protesting Protesters 261

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2023

Not a cover species The Black Kite is not actually black, but of course, misleading bird names are not exactly rare. Maybe those should be protected too? No surprise then that the species is listed as Vulnerable. But then, sanity (or maybe respect for you, the reader) prevailed. Fortunately, they are quite common in Shanghai.

Birds 130

Birds Iraq China Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2015

In that first year, about 95 bird species were recorded here, not to mention the Otter, listed as the Near Threatened species in the IUCN Red List. The Reva is not protected. In May I plan to discuss the possibilities of the legal protection with the city officials and your comments and views may strengthen that case.

Otters 176

Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 176

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

Birds included common species such as Black Drongos , Jungle Babblers and a Hoopoe. During the Pleistocene, Dholes were found across the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe and North America, sharing their space with sabre-toothed cats. These days, the species shares habitats with Tigers, Snow Leopard, Bears, etc.

Tigers 237

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 237

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

With about 110 recorded species, the Kozara becomes truly magical place when the Danube swells and reclaims what is rightfully his. On the other side of the river, underneath the very buttresses of the Belgrade Fortress, with its 170 recorded bird species lies the Veliko Ratno Island (44°49’53.20″N, 20°26’4.98″E).

Serbia 240

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 240

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

The aim was to ring as many gulls as we could, to provide some reading material for birders all around Europe. When you count some 40,000 gulls of four species and find the fifth or the sixth species among them, represented by only one individual – that one becomes the most interesting. Birds city birds Europe gulls Serbia'

Serbia 166

Serbia Birds Ukraine Europe 166

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

My guess is, those nervous ones were some migrants, while the majority were locally breeding birds – the southernmost population of Europe! In all that swirling of swallows, I am not certain was there a third species, so I keep watching. The smaller part of the flock was nervous and soon took flight, while the majority remained.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

The majority are clearly Mallards , followed by Garganeys , with one and possibly more Green-winged Teals , also Ferruginous Ducks … Surprises among them are one Common Shelduck , a species that most likely breeds some 15 mi from here (and my first shelduck of the year) and an even greater surprise: two Eurasian Wigeons.

Serbia 166

Serbia Protection Eagles Ducks 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

This is “the deep cradle of Western ornithology: the birthplace of bird study,” he tells us as he writes about gazing at the 8,000-year old depictions of “flamingos, herons, raptors, avocets and many other species” (p. Common Guillemot research at Skomer Island, Wales. Birkhead knows that these are sensitive topics.

Dissection 219

Dissection Birds Research Europe 219

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. Other species include Grey Wagtail and Marsh Tit.

Serbia 242

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Romania 242

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. It seems that this is another species for which the standard phrase of scientists anywhere, “more research needed”, applies.

Birds 147

Birds Myanmar China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2020

Foreboding superstitions about the waxwing persisted into the twentieth century: an irruption of this species in Great Britain during the winter of 1913-1914 was viewed in hindsight as a harbinger of World War I, which broke out the following summer, as depicted in Pestvogel (2016) by American artist Walton Ford (born 1960).

Farming 166

Farming New York Humane Europe 166

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

By the cliffs we find several Eurasian Crag-Martins and a consolation species – a family of Golden Eagles in the air! The next morning is for the Kerkini Lake, one of the youngest national parks of Greece, protected only ten years ago, in 2006 and inhabited by 11 amphibian, 27 reptilian, 44 mammal and 312 bird species.

Greece 252

Greece Woodpeckers Boars Eagles 252

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

I observed this species in the Little Rann of Kutch in India and since then, have been burning with desire to see them back home. The world record holder is the town of Kikinda, further north, with 700 birds in their town square which has recently become an officially protected owl habitat – a small, urban nature reserve.

Serbia 239

Serbia Owls Rodents Eagles 239

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? Or wiser, perhaps?

Serbia 192

Serbia Protection Legislation Europe 192

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. If the whole thing passed you by then Mother Jones did a good piece on why zoos sometimes have to kill individuals for the good of the species.

Lions 150

Lions Giraffes Zoos Killing 150

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. And unlike the protection of cormorants, which was perceived as a problem, protection of pelicans was welcomed by the local communities. Dalmatian Pelican © Dusanka Stokovic-Simic.

Greece 194

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 194

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

I was given my first real field guide to the birds of Europe by my parents, a guide beyond the species found at backyard feeders and city ponds. … Birds chickadees chickadees and tits Europe tits For better. Much better.

Europe 100

Europe Birds Kazakhstan Russia 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2020

Like all other “Red Grouse”, Gilbert is a member of a subspecies of Willow Ptarmigan found in the heather moorland of Great Britain and Ireland, a population that’s treated by some authorities as a separate species. Red Grouse by English ornithologist and artist John Gould (1804-1881), from The Birds of Europe.

Sheep 196

Sheep Branding Ireland Fowl 196

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2020

A somewhat more credible selection to be sure, as lions actually do exist, but one that sadly snubs the native Scottish wildcat in favor of a felid that’s been extinct in Europe since antiquity. While it has no official status – at least not yet – many Scots regard the Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos ) as their national avian mascot.

Eagles 159

Eagles Lions Hunting Lamb 159

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2012

There seem to be so many that some days the negative stories just seem to pile up in my reader, species lost here, habitat destroyed there, poisoning, illegal persecution, the list can seem endless. Further research revealed two more companies in Britain and several others across Europe all engaged in the same shooting tourism.

Morocco 172

Morocco Turtles Protest Protesting 172

Critter News

MAY 9, 2010

The European Commission said on Wednesday it is pursuing legal action against Portugal for breaching nature protection legislation. The resort falls within a site protected by the Habitats Directive and in the vicinity of a Special Area of Conservation for wild birds (Costa Sudoeste sites). But I'm glad the EU is calling them on it.

Portugal 100

Portugal Endangered Species Legislation 2000 100