Traffic is pretty aggravating even on the best of days. A new study finds that it’s so frustrating, it even angers robins. Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University in the UK and Koç University in Turkey recently studied how urban and rural European robins react to traffic noises. The animals, which are quite territorial, show another […]
Tag: European Robin
Rare and unusual birds seen in Saudi Arabia in second half of 2016
A pair of Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus with two recently hatch young, 12 August, were the first record of breeding for the species in the Kingdom. An unprecedented influx of Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris were seen with fifteen 30 kilometers east of Zulfi 8 November, six together 40 kilometers north of Zulfi 11 November and […]
Disappearing Nightingales
Taking photos of Common Nightingales can be tricky but flight shots are pretty rare and I was really pleased to capture a sequence of photos set on 1/2500th of a second of such a bird in ‘hovermode’, something that to me at least is a pretty rare sight. During the breeding season and with young […]
Rare and unusual birds seen in Saudi Arabia in second half of 2015
Two new species for Saudi Arabia Fulvous Whistling Duck Dendrocygna bicolor & Lesser Whistling Duck Dendrocygna javanica were found together on Malaki Dam Lake 3 September. Eight Harlequin Quail Coturnix delegorguei were in a large field near Jizan 30 June including at least two males, a species that has not been recorded in Saudi Arabia […]
Restless Muse on Migrating Birds
Aristotle was a brilliant philosopher and observer of nature. He pioneered the study of zoology, but he was utterly clueless about bird migration. The seasonal appearance and disappearance of the birds in his native Greece perplexed him. Similar appearing species must be “transmuted” into each other across seasons, he reasoned, to explain the disappearance of […]
European robin
Erithacus rubecula Petirrojo Europeo I have been few times in the garden hide this winter, the migratory species being quite absent but this time I decided to play with this mischievous robin well decided not to have his picture taken… His eyes were locked on the lens and he moved extremely fast, perching on the […]
Massive Bird Slaughter Around the Mediterranean – Shocking Photos
Each year, millions of songbirds are killed for food, for profit or just for the joy of shooting something, as they move from their winter grounds in Africa to their summer breeding territories in Europe. In Egypt, hundreds of miles of nets cover the entire coastline, catching almost every bird that makes its way to […]