This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
When I reached the levee earlier that morning, I met an elderly hunter from whom I learned that there was an ongoing duck and pheasant hunt, but no one was shooting from, nor towards the embankment, hence I should be safe there. These handsome finches breed in the far north of Europe and come here for the winter only.
Serbia has a large number of pigeon fanciers and a long history of lack of law enforcement in the field of wildlife crime ( Newsweek on poaching in the Balkans ). APRIL 12: Second flight of a b h and then she hunts. ” Falcons do hunt pigeons, we all know that, but what is a Kamikaze pigeon? And a war to extinction??
In Belgrade, Serbia, winter months offer surprisingly good birding possibilities. Two more aspects contribute to bird diversity: these are the inner city waters, so hunting is forbidden, and the Danube rarely freezes, and even then it would be the last water to freeze. And so, there the birds are, in the middle of the city.
I have asked myself that same question many times over the last six months, until last week, when I was involved in an opening ceremony of five new bird hides at the Palic Lake, by the town of Subotica in the very north of Serbia, along the border with Hungary (all photos are from that area).
In short, the accepted view used to be that a small breeding population of Egyptian Vultures inhabited Southern Africa, but has vanished facing the spread of towns, roads and farms. During my lifetime, this species was rare in my native Serbia, too. Reasons for this situation are numerous.
While there are some two dozen birding spots in Belgrade, Serbia, that stand out, in this guideblog I will focus on the river Danube and its floodplain, inside the Important Bird Area “Confluence of the Sava and the Danube Rivers”. While regular in winter, Pygmy Cormorants do not breed in the vicinity and are absent in spring and summer.
Marshes are the habitats with the greatest species richness in moderate zones, also significant as breeding, wintering and migratory stopover sites for birds; it therefore comes as no surprise that this one is among the 10,000 Important Bird Areas of the World (one per each bird species?). Saxicola rubetra.
Some five years ago I was involved in a project of ecotourism evaluation of the river Danube in Serbia, which included the city of Belgrade, founded at the bank of this river. Cranes breed in very small numbers in UK but are always impressive en masse. Black Storks migrate along and breed in the Danube flood zone.
The other day I counted my favourite section of the Danube River, the wide and shallow Labudovo okno Ramsar site in Serbia. These globally threatened raptors breed from Ukraine eastward through Siberia and only a few come to overwinter here. The biggest count ever was less than 10 birds in the whole of Serbia.
I am preparing for the new census of one of the rarest birds of Serbia, the globally threatened Great Bustard , taking place two days from now. Habitat destruction combined with hunting has pushed them away from their former breeding grounds. Bustards are being counted in February because their breeding season starts in March.
As you know, I started to bird from a canoe, exploring the Danube backwaters in Belgrade, Serbia. And that was the time when all 400 km2 were still open to annual rhythms of flooding and represented a famous waterbird hunting ground. Nevertheless, Nagy was right. Among the common species, Nagy mentions the Corn Crake.
They do not breed, only winter here! Widespread across northern regions of northern hemisphere, they breed in Arctic-Alpine forest zone. Widespread across northern regions of northern hemisphere, they breed in Arctic-Alpine forest zone. What are they doing this far south at this time of year? And the birds moved to the island.
For example, I simply cannot comprehend how such seemingly common species such as the Common Pochard (yes, for the third time, the common), still allowed for shooting in Serbia and many other countries, found its way into the Red List of Threatened Species. Disturbance on breeding grounds (e.g. Lesser White-fronted Goose by Ingar Oien.
The White-tailed Eagle is one of the easiest birds to observe in Belgrade, Serbia (almost guaranteed). One pair even breeds on the island at the very confluence of the Sava and the Danube rivers, less than a mile from the central city square. There are about ten pairs around the city.
What the Owl Knows is organized into nine chapters: introduction, adaptation (including vision and flight), research and researchers, vocalization, courtship and breeding, roosting and migration, cognition, and two chapters on owls and humans–captive owls (not zoos, educational owls) and owls in our cultural history.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 30+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content