10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2015

Germany is currently experiencing something for which the English have no nice expression. The specificities of languages … Anyway, so Germany this year is essentially filled with mice, like the one shown here, which – so far as I know – is a vole where you come from. You’re not a vole or a gerbil.

Fox 173

Fox Rodents Gophers Germany 173

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2019

Barn Swallows are pretty much anywhere in the world (I just saw them back in Germany). But the way it is, familiarity breeds (relative) contempt. The Chinese Pond Heron is another attractive bird, particularly in its breeding plumage. During my last trip to Germany, several people pointed out locations of Common Kingfisher.

Germany 177

Germany Cattle Blackbirds Birds 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2024

On the one hand, they are very easy to see in Germany, swimming in public parks or teaching pensioners how to eat bread. Another location factor is highlands versus lowlands – Whooper Swans breeding in Icelandic lowlands had a much higher breeding success than the highland birds ( source ).

China 246

China Iceland Whales Whaling 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2011

Germany currently has a population of around 500 breeding pairs, which is a significant improvement over the 50 pairs left in the early 1970s. This bird, a migrant from further North or East in Germany, was the first Black Stork I saw around Heidelberg since moving here in the summer of 2008.

Germany 161

Germany Asia Russia China 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2013

Germany is not really within the species’ breeding range, and there is only one area where the herons have bred continuously and successfully since the 1970′s: Waghäusel, an area of former waste water ponds of a – now closed – nearby sugar plant. Birds Germany herons and egrets Waghäusel'

Germany 176

Germany Asia Europe Africa 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2012

The Wagbachniederung is reknown for its waterfowl, shorebirds, and good breeding populations of several species that are very localized in Germany. Below is a long, long list of the species I encountered (66, which is a very respectable species count for the middle of March in southern Germany) and the totals for each species.

Germany 236

Germany Birds Ducks Feral 236

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2024

While this bird is not uncommon in Germany, I have only seen this species once in the region around Bonn (which I should probably blame in part on the infrequency of my birding outings). Incredibly, this was the first time I saw a male of this species in breeding plumage (plus the first time I heard its song, just as for the Wryneck ).

Germany 245

Germany Birds Parrots Europe 245

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

Birders in Europe mostly see Great Egrets outside their breeding season, when their legs are mostly black with a hue of orange on the upper parts, their bill is yellow and their cere is, too. Until a friend sends you pictures of a very small Great Egret in Germany in winter – with bright pink legs, a black bill and a turquoise cere.

Asia 231

Asia Europe Germany Breeding 231

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2016

The key to solving the puzzle of Germany’s large white-headed gulls was banding juveniles of all forms in their breeding colonies and the fact that some humans find immense joy in driving around garbage dumps, looking at birds with pricey scopes and trying to decipher tiny codes on plastic or metal rings of various shapes and sizes.

Kazakhstan 163

Kazakhstan Germany Ukraine Asia 163

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Always interesting to see the same species both in Germany (in my parents’ garden) and in Shanghai. Not that easy to spot outside of the breeding season, though relatively quite common. Raptors are relatively rare at Nanhui, so to get a good shot of an Eastern Marsh Harrier in the nice early morning light is a joy.

2019 243

2019 Japan Owls China 243

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

Leading scientists, conservationists and aviculturalists from Europe and South-east Asia met at Walsrode in Germany recently to formulate a rescue plan. Concern for the future of this species is such that the WPA and BirdLife International-Vietnam Programme are working together to organize immediate action.

Vietnam 180

Vietnam 2000 Germany Asia 180

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). Only this time, you do not feel like inhaling the same air circling through the plane on a ten hour flight. Top-5 hotspots.

Serbia 317

Serbia Sanctuary Bosnia Birds 317

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

While the differences are restricted to just a few features, they give the birds such a distinct appearance that we (a group of three seasoned birders from Germany on a trip to Kyrgyzstan in the late 1990s) failed to identify our first indicus as a House Sparrow.

Sparrows 258

Sparrows Italy Asia Kyrgyzstan 258

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

It is very likely that the white morph was directly promoted in captive breeding and favoured in releases to establish feral populations. A happy family of Mute Swans at Waghäusel in south-western Germany, post-trading era. Furthermore, it is more frequent in females than in males. So much for the blessings of beauty.

Feral 195

Feral Europe Asia North America 195

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Introduced breeding species and species recorded only as escapees now have all species illustrated (they were not in the #2) and those illustrations larger than before. Forget occasional escapees, there is an established feral population successfully breeding in the north of Germany, which was 131 birds strong last year.

Europe 264

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Driving from France or Germany to Greece, you are likely to pass through my hometown of Belgrade and continue south following the E75 through the FYRO Macedonia. Other species of interest include the southernmost breeding population of Greylag Goose in Europe, Goosander (at bigger and deeper Megali Prespa), Hazel Grouse (at Mt.

Greece 199

Greece Albania Macedonia Europe 199

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2011

The Common Swifts have left Germany behind as their journey South has begun. Now, I can see how this may surprise some readers, but the underlying reasoning is quite comprehensible: Common Swifts breed in small crevices and cavities of cliff faces, and old buildings make for some terrific secondary habitat. That is early.

Elephants 193

Elephants Neglecting Europe Breeders 193

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

Here in central Europe, dippers – more precisely the White-throated or European Dipper – are rather common breeding birds in many areas. In Germany for example, they are breeding in practically every hilly or mountainous region south of the North German Plain and are not really rare if they occur in a certain region.

Germany 100

Germany Hamburgers Austria 2016 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

However, one of the little sweet candies Germany still enjoys today from its own disastrous colonial past is the Common Guillemot, or Common Murre. Germany has only one high seas island it calls its own, the mighty (from a birding perspective) island of Heligoland. km²) in the German Bight, approximately 70 km off the coast of Germany.

Germany 100

Germany Denmark Namibia Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

I am not entirely sure whether most birders outside Germany know or realize that Germany still has a decent population of one of Europe’s most attractive and desired bird species: the Great Bustard Otis tarda. Now that I might have wetted your appetite, here’s where and how to find them in Germany: 1.

Germany 110

Germany Mongolia Abandon Abandoning 110

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2012

It also used to be a rather common bird in the South of Germany, but the German population has crashed and collapsed (almost?) If it still breeds in Germany at all, which it might do, it is so rare by now that pairs do not get reported to anywhere except to the relevant nature conservation authorities. That was it.

Cattle 144

Cattle Germany Iran Breeders 144

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Visiting the continent after the end of most of the autumn migration meant that the number of bird species I could see in northern France, Switzerland, southern Germany, and Austria was much reduced. So I made sure to visit as many bodies of water as possible during my brief birding opportunities.

Austria 169

Austria Switzerland Europe Geese 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2024

Then sometimes when you see these birds actively regaining their energy and getting ready for defending territories and breeding, they give the impression that their migration had just been a short jog around the block rather than a marathon across desert, mountains, and oceans.

Soreing 242

Soreing Owls Eagles Woodpeckers 242

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2022

Please keep that in mind if you ever think that Germany’s only contributions to the world are highways and world wars. Finally, the Yellow Bittern is one of my favorite birds in Singapore, and it is much easier to see here than in its breeding grounds in Shanghai.

Singapore 264

Singapore Birds Zebras Feral 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Why else would I have chosen a nice breeding plumaged Magnolia Warbler as my feature image in December if not to lure you in?] This is a result of our natural history: We’re just not fooled and blinded by colours. American birders, on the other hand, obviously are. Now let’s see where that leaves us in our little Warbler Wars.

Hawaii 210

Hawaii Albatross Europe North America 210

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2023

Yibin is a typical smallish Chinese city (which in China means slightly above 850,000 people in the metro area, which would make it the fifth-biggest city in Germany but does not get it into the top 100 in China). But then, would a lady pheasant be pleased to be described as “large”? What a weird world.

Italy 258

Italy China France Eggs 258

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2013

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Germany was not a birding nation, at least not by international standards. In the good old tradition of Stresemann and Mayr we were an ornithological nation, gathering systematic data on bird numbers and distribution of our regular breeding and wintering birds.

France 203

France Vet Germany Breeding 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2011

One of Britain’s recent colonisers the Mediterranean Gull begins to arrive in bigger numbers every year as post-breeding dispersal takes hold. To date individuals have been recorded from nine different countries in Europe; our Med Gulls are coming from Germany, Holland, Poland and other countries as far east as Serbia.

Poland 157

Poland 2009 France Europe 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

A Carolina Parakeet mounted in a museum in Germany Fritz Geller-Grimm. Some uncountable species, like Mitred Parakeets , are in fact way more numerous than some of the countable species and they are clearly breeding in well-established populations.

Miami 188

Miami Parrots Research Alaska 188

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

Quite recently, it has started to expand inland, along the river Rhone and to the South of Germany, where it is now an uncommon but conspicious breeder. A different form ( atlantis ) which may or may not constitute a separate species, is found on the Azores, Fuerteventura, and the Canary Islands.

Europe 177

Europe Spain Italy Ireland 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

Its closest living relatives are the Chinese and the Japanese grosbeak of East Asia” The main difference is that I have seen the hawfinch – but only the hawfinch – in both my parents’ garden in Germany and in Shanghai. Great Cormorants are also very good at just loafing around.

Birds 264

Birds Japan Germany Ducks 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2013

May – Migration’s Peak and Breeding Begins. August – Germany and More Local Birding. We had a wonderful family vacation in Germany and the Czech Republic during which I managed to do a bit of birding. April was also the infamous Bird Love Week on 10,000 Birds. May is when the bulk of the birds come back.

2012 165

2012 Czech Republic Hedgehogs Hungary 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2024

Black-headed Gulls were also breeding in the wetlands in large numbers, becoming very agitated when a Western Marsh-Harrier quartered low over the reeds. Their breeding mounts in the wetland were removed, probably because things were getting out of control with photographers.

Sri Lanka 246

Sri Lanka South Africa Transported Africa 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2015

Germany is currently experiencing its hottest June and July ever, and temperatures in the last few weeks have rarely been below 33°C (91°F), sometimes reaching nearly 40°C (103°F). alba : yellow in non-breeding season (usually less bright than egretta ), entirely black in breeding season. It’s bad.

North America 203

North America Europe America Asia 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The chance that this was a real Turkey are not great, and the chance that Columbus actually brought breeding stock from Honduras to Spain is not great, so maybe, maybe not. Dates of first arrival listed by Schorger (1966) are: Italy 1520, Germany 1530, France 1538, England 1541, Denmark and Norway 1550, Sweden 1556.

Turkey 258

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 258

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2014

They need to go north to breed and we will anxiously await the return of the adults and the juveniles later in the year. You have to have a lot of respect for all migratory birds when you imagine the lives they live and the incredible journeys they make to enable them to breed and to continue to survive in a changing world.

Belarus 162

Belarus Cameroon Taiwan China 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2015

With its proven track record of adapting and spreading in areas with cold winters such as Germany and England, it might even be able to colonize large portions of the southern United States. Outside of Florida, there are also growing populations in Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Houston.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Miami San Francisco San Antonio 154