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
At the moment we are witnessing the peak southward migration of Booted (Hieraaetus pennatus) and Short-toed Snake (Circaetus gallicus) Eagles over the Strait of Gibraltar. These are the two main species, with over 30 thousand of the former and around 20 thousand of the latter crossing in a matter of a few weeks.
In April 2012 I wrote about A close encounter with a Wedge-tailed Eagle. This time the Wedge-tailed Eagle was closer and only involved ourselves and no other creatures. We soon realised a juvenile Wedge-tailed Eagle was coming in to land just in front of us. Juvenile Wedge-tailed Eagle. Wedge-tailed Eagle in flight.
Recently, a group of nature photographers were spotted using live fish to bait a family of Grey-headed Fish Eagles in Singapore, where the species is listed as Critically Endangered, with only about 12-18 breeding individuals left in the wild. A Grey-headed Fish Eagle photographed ethically.
The tropical habitats of Costa Rica are home to a surprising number of raptor species. Although the country is around the same size as West Virginia, 39 species of diurnal raptors are on the list. As is often the case for tropical ecosystems, there may be hundreds of species of birds at a site, but many of them are naturally rare.
The Bald Eagle is not just an American symbol, it is also a quintessentially American story. Inside a Bald Eagle’s Nest: A Photographic Journey through the American Bald Eagle Nesting Season , by Teena Ruark Gorrow and Craig A. Reviews Bald Eagle book review'
Instead of going on about zip lines and other modern, adventure tourism attractions, the birding crowd talks about taking photos of Resplendent Quetzals , seeing dozens of hummingbird species, and the seemingly odd absence of raptors in Costa Rica but nope, we don’t really talk about extinction. Resplendence.
Somehow, Steller’s Sea Eagle manages to look both fierce and slightly cartoonish. The species is listed as Vulnerable – the estimated number of individuals is 4600-5100 (HBW), of which about 2000 winter on Hokkaido. Back to the eagle. They also estimate between 2115 and 2645 individuals traveled to see the eagle.
A wonderful variety of bird species are waiting to be seen and among them are many a birder’s favorite avian group, the wood-warblers. Among the most desired bird species during May migration, brightly colored, beautiful and boldly patterned, how can a birder not get hooked on spring warblers? Great Green Macaw!
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.
What is your favorite bird species? Hamerkop, Martial Eagle, Southern Ground Hornbill, Saddle-billed Stork, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Secretarybird, African Fish Eagle, Lilac-breasted Roller and Lappet-faced Vulture Lilac-breasted Roller Can you outline at least one typical birdwatching trip in your area?
Already recorded this winter are Black-throated Diver , Goosander and several Greater Scaups , together with Ferruginous and Tufted Ducks and the regulars, Common Goldeneye , Caspian Gull , Pygmy Cormorant and White-tailed Eagle. Although many of them can be found in city parks, too, at the top of Avala your chances are higher.
Even so, we do have some sandpipers and plovers around; there have been recent reports of Surfbirds and various other wading species. Harpy Eagle! The biggest birding news for Costa Rica was a sighting of an adult Harpy Eagle in northern Costa Rica , near Boca Tapada.
But I was hoping for a bit more avian variety and had my heart set on another whisky featuring a different species, but those plans fell through due to local unavailability of my first choice. A pair of Golden Eagles depicted by Clarence Henry Roe (1850-1909), an English painter who lived in Scotland for a time.
Peregrine Falcon Peregrine Falcon Another highlight was when another birder informed us of a Eurasian Eagle-Owl that roosted in a vine on the cliff. The owl could be observed extremely well, and again I was very happy to get my best sighting of this species, which I’ve seen a few times before but usually at a distance or at dusk.
Before I was born, it used to be a rare breeding species in mountainous areas south of Belgrade, but became extinct after the 1960s due to intensive poisoning of wolves. There’s an eagle… a White-tailed Eagle , a relatively common and numerous breeding species of riparian forests along large water courses and fishponds.
That’s because this fascinating part-Caribbean, part-south American country holds well over 800 species of avifauna making it without doubt one of my top three countries in all of the continent to visit. Ok, maybe not the vampire bat…but some of the more “cuddly” species are actually quite easy to see.
One of the reasons that I usually start each year’s species list with a visit to the wetlands of Lake Cuitzeo is that the site offers so many species that I can find nowhere else. Not all the colorful species have feathers. There are several, almost identical, species of Flycatchers in the Myiarchus genus.
First birds came in the form of migrants and resident species that live in an oasis of precious green space near home. Those kept me below the 700 species threshhold but I won’t complain about 691 species. 48 Hummingbird Species. I also saw a high percentage of the raptor species possible in Costa Rica.
On a recent visit I threw my bags in the hotel room and went straight there, and got over 60 species of birds in a few hours and fantastic views of Nilgai , the largest antelope in India. Commoner species include Bar-headed Geese , parakeets, shrikes, mynas and minivets. You should also see Gharial and Mugger Crocodiles there.
I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird. I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird. The next option would be a very dark adult Greater Spotted Eagle … but I wasn’t ready!
My husband took me to task for not getting mad that it’s not a New Zealand bird, but I said, “Hey, it’s Middle Earth, anything goes species-wise there.” ” P.S. The Hobbit ruins the bird goodwill by having the Giant Eagles at the end scream like Red-tailed Hawks.
A single morning birding the thorny desert of Baringo in Kenya’s Rift Valley yielded several species at a rate I at times struggled to keep up with. Lake Baringo and the surrounding desert scrub at just over 3,000 feet elevation is one of the most profitable birding hotspots in the country, boasting approximately 470 species.
Quite a few bird species have crests. Their main use is to display – either to communicate with other members of the species or to scare other species, as a raised crest makes the bird appear larger. In fact, crests occur in at least 20 of the 30 orders of extant birds, and in all major groups of passerines.
Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, offers several great birding spots and here are some recommendations for areas to go birding in and around the city, how to get there by public transport, and some of the bird species you might expect to see. It is home to almost a hundred bird species, including woodpeckers and songbirds.
I could imagine that timing the earlier emergence of insect prey at the breeding grounds is particularly problematic for insectivorous species. I was rewarded with nice scope views of Eurasian Eagle-Owls – by no means a surprise sighting as these birds breed here.
Raptors to look for in this reserve are Golden Eagle and Short-toed Snake Eagle , European Honey-buzzard and Peregrine Falcon. The commonest owls are Eurasian Scops Owl and Tawny Owl , while rare ones include Ural Owl and Eurasian Eagle Owl. About 120 species have been recorded so far.
With more than 312 so far recorded bird species, Lake Kerkini National Park offers great birding year-round. In spring, a huge heronry of 10 species (including Spoonbill , Glossy Ibis , Squacco , Purple , and Night Heron , Pygmy Cormorant , etc.) Overwintering raptors include Greater Spotted , Golden , and Imperial Eagles.
Our trip to Botswana produced some great owl species besides the reclusive phantom, including some of the smallest and some of the largest owls in Africa. Whilst African Fish-eagles are the daytime predators of all things watery, Pel’s Fishing Owls fulfill this niche at night.
Of the 6 species of quetzal, the one that lives in the cloud forests of Central America usually gets the “most spectacular” badge. And yes, this species lives in Quetzal Valley, a place that actually does exist! On a recent visit, I was reminded of that when we saw the feathered remains of an Ornate Hawk-Eagle feast.
eBird list of the recorded species. Birds of prey include European Honey-buzzard , Long-legged Buzzard , Short-toed Eagle , Booted Eagle , Montagu’s Harrier , etc. eBird list of the recorded species. The Danube being 3 km wide here has another, sad consequence: all floating rubbish is being wind-blown to this bank.
August is possibly the best month there, because you gradually observe the rise and fall of numbers of various migrating species, which use it as a stopover site to fatten up ahead of the long hauls further south. Before I start, my readers are already asking themselves why are they familiar with the name of this locality? Photo: VICE.
There are 154 species of cuckoos in the world, and they’re all a fascinating bunch. It’s not a species you are likely to overlook, either, as it is extremely noisy, its cackling call carrying great distances. Give it a few more years and there’s a good chance that it will be split into a full species, just like the Cyprus Scops Owl.
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. Photo by Branislav Dencic.
First, 800 km of driving from Belgrade through Bulgaria to very NE corner of Greece and the Dadia Forest National Park with its 36 species of diurnal raptors, out of Europe’s 38. From there to the nearby Evros River Delta, at the very border with Turkey, with more easterly species such as the Spur-winged Plover.
There are three species of crow-like cotingas with odd hairdos known as umbrellabirds, the Bare-necked Umbrellabird is the one that lives in Costa Rica. Three days, three hawk-eagles. During a memorable guiding trip in June, we hit the jackpot with all three species of hawk-eagles in just a few days.
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 ).
Birdwise, it turned out to be a good one and my year list was almost 400 species long, which made me happy… almost. Lesser White-fronted Goose and Greater Spotted Eagle came to mind, but what else? I am scoping Great Cormorants roosting in their colony in the (now dry) flooded forest, there is one… eagle to the right of them.
Barn Swallows and Sand and House Martins left us in September, together with most heron species. Over coffee or tea, wine or whatever, we observed 31 species, including the first Pygmy Cormorants coming to overwinter at their Belgrade roost – the largest known in the World, gathering up to 6750 birds, or 9.6%
When discussing this topic for local media, I often say that because of their White-tailed Eagles , the Scottish island of Mull makes 2 million pounds per year from birders alone. Defining Belgrade bird specialties is the hard part – there is no defined criterion, beside attractiveness which often comes from how uncommon some species is.
It was an unexpected bird tour, without too much planning and aimed at a few target species, of which we saw most, but the main one eluded us… Early morning, leaving the last houses behind… and a Little Owl awaits us on a traffic sign. That tall poplar, they often stand there… there’s an eagle!” “In who dipped it). In that poplar?” “No,
Some 320 species have been recorded here, and in springtime it is possible to observe more than 150 bird species in a week. Booted Eagle by Kostas Papadopoulos The next morning was a lazy one, a late breakfast and even later excursion. Later in the day, roadside birds included a Booted Eagle and a Levant Sparrowhawk.
Other species I can recognize are colloquially called crocodile bark tree, due to the bark pattern, and paper bark. For you and me, there are about 200 bird species, but for proper tourists, there seem to be only five species in the reserve: Bengal Tiger , Leopard , Sloth Bear , Indian Wild Dog (Dhole) and the Gaur.
This is how it looks like: Or at sunset: A species I did not come for from Shanghai is the Black-crowned Night Heron. Its species name graydoni is in honor of Philip Newenham Graydon (1864-1940), a British planter in Sabah. Why that makes Mr. Graydon worthy of having a bird species named after him is a mystery to me.
Gazetted as the “nature monument” in 2013, one of the few remaining – Bojcinska Forest by the village of Progar covers 670 ha / 1650 ac, with around 108 bird species and some 60 species of mammals. A Lesser Spotted Eagle high in the thermal, getting ever smaller. And a White-tailed Eagle making an appearance in the same thermal!
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