The Siberian accentor (Prunella montanella) is a small passerine bird that breeds in northern Russia from the Ural Mountains eastwards across Siberia. It is migratory, wintering in Korea and eastern China, with rare occurrences in western Europe and northwestern North America. The Siberian accentor has brown upperparts and wings, with bright...

The dusky warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) is a leaf warbler which breeds in the east Palearctic. The genus name Phylloscopus is from Ancient Greek phullon, “leaf”, and skopos, “seeker” (from skopeo, “to watch”). The specific fuscatus is from Latin fuscus “dark”. The nest is built low in a bush,...

The green warbler (Phylloscopus nitidus), also known as green willow warbler or green leaf warbler, is a leaf warbler found in the Caucasus Mountains in southcentral Europe. Like all leaf warblers, it was formerly placed in the “Old World warbler” assemblage, but now belongs to the new leaf-warbler family Phylloscopidae.The genus...

The Western Bonelli’s warbler is a “warbler” in the leaf warbler genus Phylloscopus. It was formerly regarded as the western subspecies of a wider “Bonelli’s warbler” species, but as a result of modern taxonomic developments, this species is now usually considered to be two species: Western Bonelli’s...

The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (Vanellus spinosus) is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are medium-large waders with black crown, chest, foreneck stripe and tail. The face, the rest of the neck and belly are white and the wings […]

The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh’s chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus Neophron. There are three widely recognised subspecies of the Egyptian vulture, although there is considerable gradation due to movement and intermixing of the...

The black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. The English name is derived from its call, a shrill ‘kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake’. The genus name Rissa is from the Icelandic name rita for this bird, and the specific tridactyla is from Ancient Greek tridaktulos,...

The blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius) is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. .The rock thrush genus Monticola was formerly placed in the family Turdidae but molecular...

Siberian chiffchaff (Phylloscopus (collybita) tristis) is a leaf-warbler which is usually considered a subspecies of the common chiffchaff. It is also regularly recorded in western Europe in winter It is a dull bird, grey or brownish above and whitish below, with little yellow in the plumage, and the buff-white supercilium is often longer than...

Pallas’s leaf warbler or Pallas’s warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) is a bird that breeds in mountain forests from southern Siberia east to northern Mongolia and northeast China. Pallas’s leaf warbler is one of the smallest Palearctic warblers, with a relatively large head and short tail. It has greenish upperparts and white...

The western black-eared wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica) is a wheatear, a small migratory passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (family Muscicapidae). The breeding male of the Iberian peninsula and North Africa has the forehead and...

The snow goose (Anser caerulescens), consisting of both a white morph and dark morph (blue goose), is a North American species of goose.he scientific name is from the Latin anser, “goose”, and caerulescens, “bluish”, derived from caeruleus , “dark blue”. The snow goose has two color plumage morphs, white...

The wood duck or Carolina duck (Aix sponsa) is a species of perching duck found in North America. It is one of the most colorful North American waterfowl. The wood duck is a medium-sized perching duck. The adult male has distinctive multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes,with a distinctive white flare down the neck. The […]

The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Eurasia. It is also called the European eagle-owl and in Europe, it is occasionally abbreviated to just eagle-owl. It is one of the largest species of owl, and females can grow to a total length of 75 cm (30 in), with a […]

The barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species.It has a white face and black head, neck, and upper breast. Its belly is white. The wings and its back are silver-gray with black-and-white bars that look like...

The white-tailed lapwing or white-tailed plover (Vanellus leucurus) is a wader in the lapwing genus. This medium-sized lapwing is long-legged and fairly long-billed. It is the only lapwing likely to be seen in other than very shallow water, where it picks insects and other small prey mainly from the surface. Adults are slim erect birds […]

The European serin, or just serin (Serinus serinus), is the smallest European species of the family of finches (Fringillidae) and is closely related to the canary. Its diet consists mainly of a combination of buds and seeds. Taxonomy The European serin was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of his Systema […]

The black-winged pratincole (Glareola nordmanni) is a wader in the pratincole bird family, Glareolidae. The genus name is a diminutive of Latin glarea, “gravel”, referring to a typical nesting habitat for pratincoles. The black-winged pratincole is a bird of open country and is often seen near water in the evening, hawking for...

The griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the Eurasian griffon.africanus). The buff body and wing coverts contrast with the dark flight feathers. Like other vultures, it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals which it finds […]

The cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) is a large raptorial bird that is distributed through much of Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture, or Eurasian black vulture. It is a member of the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. Description Males can...

The steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. It was once considered to be closely related to the non-migratory tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) and the two forms have previously been treated as conspecific. This is a large eagle with brown upperparts and blackish flight […]

The red knot (Calidris canutus) (just knot in English-speaking Europe) is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the great knot. Six subspecies are recognised. There are six subspecies,in order...

The grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola), known as the black-bellied plover in North America, is a medium-sized plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.The genus name is Latin and means relating to rain, from pluvia, “rain”. In spring and summer...

The thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), also known as the sprosser, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small European species, are often called chats. The thrush nightingale is similar...