Whether they are the hunter or the hunted, a bird’s camouflage is vital to survival. For raptors and other predators, blending in is key to surprising their prey. Meanwhile, for birds that don’t want to become someone else’s meal, the less conspicious you are, the better. Camouflage is also important for many nesting birds, who […]
Tag: falcon
Over 700 protected birds confiscated in ‘largest haul in years’
More than 700 dead protected birds were confiscated by authorities on Thursday in what they say is the largest such haul in six years. In a joint operation, members of the police’s Administrative Law Enforcement unit together with officials from the Environment and Resources Authority, seized birds including eagles, falcons and vultures as well as […]
Spoonbills at Cley
We headed to Cley this morning quickly ticking the five Temminck’s Stints before moving on to the Eastbank where we found another year tick with nine Little Terns sitting on Arnold’s Marsh. A Little Stint was reported but we failed to find it. Back in the car and we noticed four Spoonbill flying over Walsey […]
Small guests at the Giant’s Castle table
The vulture’s hide at Giant’s Castle is a raptor hide first and foremost. The setting on the edge of a middleberg ridge is spectacular. Placing the bones for the raptors, mainly for the Bearded Vultures, supplements their natural food sources which is diminishing due to loss of habitat and is the main purpose of the […]
Pakistan urged to ban Arab sheikhs from hunting endangered birds
Pakistan is witnessing a mounting backlash against Arab sheikhs who spend part of their winters hunting a rare bird that conservationists warn is at risk of extinction. Activists in the country say they are determined to end the annual killing of houbara bustards, an elusive bird that migrates each winter from central Asia to Pakistan’s […]
Why Are Birds of the Arctic in Decline?
With some species of Arctic birds experiencing steep drops in population and their prey also undergoing marked shifts, scientists are working to understand what role climate change is playing in these unfolding ecological transformations. On Coats Island, in northern Hudson Bay, thick-billed murres — members of the auk family — have been under assault on […]
Review: Bird Sense: What it’s Like to be a Bird, by Tim Birkhead
Who’d be a bird anyway? Chickens have bi-focal vision: one eye for the close-up work of pecking seed; one for the fox on the horizon or the hawk in the sky. Peregrine falcons don’t swoop directly on prey – as the crow flies, to coin a phrase – but in a wide arc, using the […]
Windhover Woes
“I caught this morning morning’s minion, kingdom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding high there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing. “ The year of 1877 saw the placing of pen to paper and the creation of “the Windhover” […]