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Obviously, I am talking of Feral Pigeons (also called city, town or street pigeons). The scientific name of the Feral Pigeon is Columba livia domestica and that last world tells the story. The scientific name of the Feral Pigeon is Columba livia domestica and that last world tells the story.
Two Feral Pigeons. Three Feral Pigeons. One more Feral Pigeon. One Feral Pigeon. 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 ). Conservation Peregrine Falcon poisoning Serbia Switzerland'
These days I am busy with something called the “avitourism product“ of Belgrade, Serbia. Okay, that choice is something to be expected, but how about this: some seven years ago I was guiding another British couple to a nearby fish farm where I was happy to show them the Great White Pelican – the only one I have ever seen in Serbia!
But the strangest bird was a duck, one that I have never seen before, that does not even inhabit Europe (apart from feral birds), and yet, somehow strangely familiar (probably not that much of a surprise after a lifetime of snooping through field guides).
The other day I counted my favourite section of the Danube River, the wide and shallow Labudovo okno Ramsar site in Serbia. The biggest count ever was less than 10 birds in the whole of Serbia. Here in Serbia, in the south of the continent, this species is a proper rarity. And this one chose to fly right in front of us.
This section of the river is known as the Labudovo okno reserve, a Ramsar site and the most important waterbird wintering area in the whole of Serbia. The only mammals of the day were feral Nutrias (Coypus), aquatic rodents originally from southern South America released from the bankrupt fur-farms and well established here.
More productive areas of the Balkans have January eBird lists from 105 to 115 species (but I combined several areas in two countries, Greece and Serbia), so I have every reason to be satisfied. Feral Pigeon – Columba livia. Am I satisfied? Common Gull – Larus canus. Herring Gull – Larus argentatus.
They are declining in Serbia and in these lowlands, they are nowadays commonly spotted only on migration, but have mostly retreated from the plains (except some steppe pastures) and in the breeding season are common in the mountains above the upper forest line. Feral Pigeon – Columba livia. Common Tern – Sterna hirundo.
He has seen them before in Cape Town, but those were introduced and feral birds, while in the Balkans they are indigenous and – countable! And this winter I saw a flock of 500 swans in Belgrade – nothing exciting about them? Well, for me – no, but for Nicolaas, Mute Swans were a lifer species. All photos (6) by Vladimir Milovanovic.
7 beats contributed their sightings from 7 countries (Hong Kong, UK, China, USA, Serbia, Australia and, of course, Costa Rica). You may notice a few non-commital “sp” entries and/or a few domestic/feral/hybrid forms. 149 checklists were submitted, accounting for 465 species.
December’s numbers looked like this; 10 beats visited 11 countries (Bahrain, New Zealand, USA, UK, Costa Rica, China, Mexico, Australia Nigeria, Uganda and Serbia) during December. They contributed 150 lists accounting for 1032 species and more than 36,000 individual birds. The life list was pumped a further 27 sp up to 3953.
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