19-3-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - GREAT TIT (Parus major)

The Great tit (Parus major) is a widespread and common songbird throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Africa. It has adapted well to human changes in the environment and is a common and familiar bird in urban parks and gardens. It is also an important study species in ornithology.

Population size

433-703 Mlnlnn

Life Span

3 years

Length

12.5-14

cminch

cm inch 

The Great tit has a distinctive appearance that makes it easy to recognize. The nominate race has a bluish-black crown, black neck, throat, bib, and head, and white cheeks and ear coverts. The breast is bright lemon-yellow and there is a broad black mid-line stripe running from the bib to the vent. There is a dull white spot on the neck turning to greenish yellow on the upper nape. The rest of the nape and back are green-tinged with olive. The wing-coverts are green, and the rest of the wing is bluish-grey with a white wing bar. The tail is bluish-grey with white outer tips. The plumage of the female is similar to that of the male except that the colors are overall duller.

19-3-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (MALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

Slender warbler with long tail, short wings and pointed bill. Restless and alert with frequently raised crown feathers and dark eye framed in red. Male with black head, white throat, greyish upperparts and off-white underparts. Female less striking, with grey head grey-brown upperparts, distinct buff flanks and paler belly. Both sexes with white sides and corners to tail. Rarely sits exposed, and usually betrays itself by it's frequently used scolding call. Often just glimpsed when it dives into a bush, spreading it's tail and showing the white markings.

Scolding call a machinegun-like, short and harsh rattle. Usually consisting of 2-5 notes with some variation in timbre and delivery. Song a stream of varied, short notes, constantly interspersed with variations of the scolding call. Phrases 2-5 sec. long. Easily confused with several other sylvias, especially in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Rattling sound (in both song and call) differs from most other congeners by being considerably harder and more "smacking". Dartford Warbler most similar, but usually betrays itself by it's characteristic and frequently used contact call (also interspersed when singing).

The Sardinian warbler (Curruca melanocephala ) is a common and widespread typical warbler from the Mediterranean region. Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has a grey back, whitish underparts, black head, white throat and red eyes. Plumages are somewhat variable even in the same locality, with the intensity of a reddish hue on upper- and/or underside that varies from absent to (in some subspecies) pronounced. The female is mainly brown above and buff below, with a grey head. The Sardinian warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is very characteristic of the Mediterranean areas where this bird breeds.

It breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe and just into Asia in Turkey and the eastern end of the Mediterranean. This small passerine bird, unlike most "warblers", is not particularly migratory, but some birds winter in north Africa, and it occurs as a vagrant well away from the breeding range, as far as Great Britain.

This is a bird of open country and cultivation, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3-6 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit.

Compact, robust, and big-headed warbler. Males are striking with a black hood contrasting with whitish throat, gray back, and red eyering. Females duller with a gray hood, white throat, and buff body. Common in many typical Mediterranean habitats including tall bushes, open woodlands, gardens, coastal scrub, and plantations; also in oases, acacia woodlands, and scrubby desert in non-breeding range. Usually first detected by its song, a fast, angry-sounding rattling "ctret-tret-tret-tret-tret" or "tetwtweer-tik-tik-tik" with whispering in between. The call is a dry "tseck."

19-3-2016 MONTE CORONA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (FEMALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

The Sardinian warbler (Curruca melanocephala ) is a common and widespread typical warbler from the Mediterranean region. Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has a grey back, whitish underparts, black head, white throat and red eyes. Plumages are somewhat variable even in the same locality, with the intensity of a reddish hue on upper- and/or underside that varies from absent to (in some subspecies) pronounced. The female is mainly brown above and buff below, with a grey head. The Sardinian warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is very characteristic of the Mediterranean areas where this bird breeds.

It breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe and just into Asia in Turkey and the eastern end of the Mediterranean. This small passerine bird, unlike most "warblers", is not particularly migratory, but some birds winter in north Africa, and it occurs as a vagrant well away from the breeding range, as far as Great Britain.

This is a bird of open country and cultivation, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3-6 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit.

Male Sardinian warblers have a strongly contrasting plumage: a black head and upper face, white throat, light grey back and wings, and a paler greyish-white belly. Its tail is dark, edged with white, and it has brownish legs. The eye is reddish-brown, surrounded by a pinkish-orange eye ring.

19-3-2016 GANDIA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN HOOPOE (Upupa epops)

Like the cuckoo, the hoopoe's name is onomatopoeic, as it is named after its soft, far-carrying song poo-poo-poo.

Hoopoes are largely silent outside the breeding season, but the male will utter his monotonous but attractive song for long periods in the spring and summer, often taking part in song duels with neighbours.

Though migrants hoopoes are reported in Britain every year, it is rare for pairs to nest here.

Hoopoes like warm temperatures, so are most numerous around the Mediterranean, but climate change may well see their breeding range move north.

Spain has by far the biggest European population, but it is also common in Portugal, southern France, Italy, the Balkans and Greece.

Hoopoes thrive best in areas of low-intensity farming with minimum use of pesticides.

The diet is almost exclusively animals, with large insects, their larvae and pupae, most important.

Hoopoes are particularly enthusiastic foragers of animal droppings and dung heaps, searching for beetles. They use their long, decurved beak to probe the ground.

They like to forage on bare ground or where grass is closely cropped. In England, migrants have a reputation for favouring vicarage lawns.

When feeding, hoopoes can often be closely approached as they take little notice of humans. When disturbed, they will take flight, invariably erecting their crest when they land.

Holes in trees, banks or stonewalls provide the favoured nest sites, but they will use suitable nest boxes.

Like those of most hole-nesting birds, the hoopoe's eggs are pale and unmarked, while incubation is undertaken exclusively the by the female.

Nest sanitation is not a hoopoe strength: the adults fail to remove any of their ofsprings' droppings, so the nest soon becomes fouled and smelly.

Experienced human nest finders can locate an occupied hoopoe’s nest by following their noses.

Hoopoes are partially migratory. Most birds in the north of their range go south for the winter, as do many southern breeding birds, but a few remain on the breeding grounds all year round.

No other European bird can be confused with the hoopoe, but it does have a very similar cousin in Africa.

Hoopoes are widespread in India, and have been recorded on Mt Everest at 26,000ft.

The male and female have almost identical plumage, but the female tends to be slightly duller than her mate.

Juvenile hoopoes, fresh from the nest, look much like the female.

Many superstitions surround the hoopoe, which is thought to be the favourite and confidant of King Solomon.

Hearing a singing hoopoe before wine pressing is meant to foretell a good vintage.

19-3-2016 GANDIA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH (Carduelis carduelis)

The European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a small passerine bird that is native to Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay. The goldfinch is often depicted in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child.

Males and females of this species are very similar, with a red face, black and white head, warm brown upper parts, white underparts with buff flanks and breast patches, and black and yellow wings. Males can often be distinguished by a larger, darker red mask that extends just behind the eye. The shoulder feathers are black, whereas they are brown on the females. In females, the red face does not extend past the eye. The ivory-colored bill is long and pointed, and the tail is forked. Goldfinches in breeding condition have a white bill, with a greyish or blackish mark at the tip for the rest of the year. Juveniles have a plain head and a greyer back but are unmistakable due to the yellow wing stripe. Adults molt after the breeding season and at this time appear less colorful until the tips of the newly grown feathers wear away.

19-3-2016 GANDIA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKBIRD (MALE) (Turdus merula)

The Common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird where this does not lead to confusion with a similar-looking local species. This common and conspicuous species has given rise to a number of literary and cultural references, frequently related to its song.

The adult male has glossy black plumage, blackish-brown legs, a yellow eye ring, and an orange-yellow bill. The bill darkens somewhat in winter. The adult female is sooty-brown with a dull yellowish-brownish bill, a brownish-white throat, and some weak mottling on the breast. The juvenile is similar to the female but has pale spots on the upperparts, and the very young juvenile also has a speckled breast. Young birds vary in the shade of brown, with darker birds presumably males. The first-year male resembles the adult male but has a dark bill and weaker eye ring, and its folded wing is brown, rather than black like the body plumage.

17-3-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKCAP (FEMALE) (Sylvia atricapilla)

The Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is a common and widespread warbler that breeds in much of Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. Its rich and varied song has led to the blackcap being described as the "mock nightingale" and it has been featured in literature, films, and music.

The Eurasian blackcap is mainly grey in color with distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has olive-grey upperparts, other than a paler grey nape and a neat black cap on the head. The underparts are light grey, becoming silvery white on the chin, throat, and upper breast. The tail is dark grey, with an olive tint to the outer edge of each feather. The bill and long legs are grey, and the iris is reddish brown. The female resembles the male but has a reddish-brown cap and a slightly browner tone to the grey of the upperparts. Juveniles are similar to the female, but their upperparts have a slight rufous tinge, and the breast and flanks have a more olive tone; young males have darker brown cap than their female counterparts.

Population size

101-161 Mlnlnn

Life Span

2-13 years

Top speed

75

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

16-25

goz

g oz 

Length

13-14

cminch

cm inch 

Eurasian blackcaps breed in much of Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. They are partial migrants; birds from the colder areas of their range winter in northwestern Europe, around the Mediterranean, and in tropical Africa. Some German birds have adapted to spending the winter in gardens in Great Britain and Ireland. Eurasian blackcaps breed in mature deciduous woodlands, with good scrub cover below the trees, and may also be found in parks, large gardens, and overgrown hedges. The preferred winter habitat around the Mediterranean is scrub and olive orchards, while in Africa they occur in cultivated land, acacia scrub, mangroves, and forest.

Eurasian blackcaps are very active birds. They are usually found singly but may form loose groups during migration. They feed by the day mainly picking prey off foliage and twigs, but may occasionally hover, flycatch or feed on the ground. Blackcaps eat a wide range of small fruit and squeeze out any seeds on a branch before consuming the pulp. They defend good winter food sources, and at garden feeding stations they don't hesitate to repel competitors as large as starlings and blackbirds. Eurasian blackcaps are known for their beautiful loud song. The males' song is a rich musical warbling, often ending in a loud high-pitched crescendo, which is given in bursts of up to 30 seconds. In some geographically isolated areas, such as islands, peninsulas, and valleys in the Alps, males sing a simpler fluting song. The main call of Eurasian blackcaps is a hard 'tac-tac', like stones knocking together, and other vocalizations include a squeaking sweet alarm, and a low-pitched trill. Blackcaps may sometimes mimic the song of other birds, especially preferring to copy the garden warbler and the common nightingale.

Eurasian blackcaps are monogamous and form pairs. They breed between mid-April and August. When males return to their breeding areas, they establish a territory by singing loudly while displaying with the crown raised, tail fanned, and slow wingbeats. This display is followed, if necessary, by a chase, often leading to a fight. A male then attracts a female to his territory through song and a display involving raising the black crown feathers, fluffing the tail, slow wingbeats, and a short flapping flight. He also builds one or more simple nests (cock nests), usually near his songpost. The final nest, which may be one of the cock nests or built from scratch, is a neat cup of roots, stems, and grasses lined with fine material such as hair. The nest is typically built in the cover of bramble, scrubs, or trees. It is constructed mainly by the female and may be between 1-4.5 m (3.3-15 ft) above the ground. The clutch is typically 4-6 eggs, which are usually buff with grey and brown blotches and a few dark brown spots. The eggs are incubated for 10-16 days by both parents. Males will sometimes sing even when incubating and this may also be intended to maintain the bond with the female. The chicks are altricial, hatching naked and with closed eyes, and are fed by both parents. They fledge about 11-12 days after hatching, leaving the nest shortly before they are able to fly. They are assisted with feeding for a further 2 or 3 weeks. If the nest is threatened, the non-incubating bird gives an alarm call so that the sitting parent and chicks stay still and quiet. A male blackcap may mob a potential predator, or try to lure it away with disjointed runs and flaps on the ground. Young Eurasian blackcaps usually start to breed when they are one year old.

17-3-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - CRESTED TIT (Lophophanes cristatus)

The European crested tit, or simply crested tit (Lophophanes cristatus ) (formerly Parus cristatus ), is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and northern Europe and in deciduous woodland in France and the Iberian peninsula. In Great Britain, it is chiefly restricted to the ancient pinewoods of Inverness and Strathspey in Scotland, and seldom strays far from its haunts. A few vagrant crested tits have been seen in England. It is resident, and most individuals do not migrate.

It is an easy tit to recognise, for besides its erectile crest, the tip of which is often recurved, its gorget and collar are distinctive. It is, like other tits, talkative, and birds keep up a constant zee, zee, zee birdsong (help·info), similar to that of the coal tit.

It makes a nest in a hole in rotting stumps. This bird often feeds low down in trees, but although not shy, it is not always easily approached. It will join winter tit flocks with other species.

Like other tits it is found in pairs and it feeds on insects (including caterpillars) and seeds.

17-12-2015 LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA - BLUE SPOTTED MUDSKIPPER (Boleophthalmus boddarti)

Boleophthalmus is a genus of mudskippers native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.

Boleophthalmus pectinirostris, commonly known as the great blue spotted mudskipper, is a species of mudskipper native to the north-western Pacific Ocean. It can be found on the coastlines of Japan, eastern China, Sumatra, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula.

Individuals of B. pectinirostris are predominantly greenish-grey in colour, with prominent sky blue speckles across their body, including their fins and on the skin below their eyes.

11-3-2016 CATARROJA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta) (PHOTO COURTESY OF VALERIE FISHER)

The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of three to five bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents for about three weeks. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.

Its breeding distribution is in wetlands in warm temperate to tropical parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A successful colonist, its range has gradually expanded north, with stable and self-sustaining populations now present in the United Kingdom.

In warmer locations, most birds are permanent residents; northern populations, including many European birds, migrate to Africa and southern Asia to over-winter there. The birds may also wander north in late summer after the breeding season, and their tendency to disperse may have assisted in the recent expansion of the bird's range. At one time common in Western Europe, it was hunted extensively in the 19th century to provide plumes for the decoration of hats and became locally extinct in northwestern Europe and scarce in the south. Around 1950, conservation laws were introduced in southern Europe to protect the species and their numbers began to increase. By the beginning of the 21st century the bird was breeding again in France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain. Its range is continuing to expand westward, and the species has begun to colonise the New World; it was first seen in Barbados in 1954 and first bred there in 1994. 

11-3-2016 CATARROJA - GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis falcinellus) (PHOTO COURTESY OF VALERIE FISHER)

The Glossy ibis is a medium-sized wading bird. They have long, slender, down-curved bill and magnificent plumage with shiny feathers. Breeding adults have reddish-brown bodies and shiny bottle-green wings. Non-breeders and juveniles have duller bodies. These birds have dark facial skin bordered above and below in blue-gray (non-breeding) to cobalt blue (breeding) and red-brown legs.

The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus ) is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis, both meaning "sickle" and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill.

The Glossy ibis is the most widespread ibis species; it breeds in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. This species is migratory; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America birds from north of the Carolinas winter farther south. Though generally suspected to be a migratory species in India, the Glossy ibis is a resident in western India.

Birds from other populations may disperse widely outside the breeding season. Glossy ibises inhabit wetlands with tall dense stands of emergent vegetation such as reeds, papyrus or rushes, and low trees or bushes. They show a preference for marshes at the margins of lakes and rivers but can also be found at lagoons, flood-plains, wet meadows, swamps, reservoirs, sewage ponds, paddies, and irrigated farmland. These birds are less commonly found in coastal locations such as estuaries, deltas, salt marshes, and coastal lagoons.

Population size

230,000-2.2Mln

Life Span

26 years

Weight

485-970

goz

g oz 

Length

48-66

cminch

cm inch 

Wingspan

80-105

cminch

cm inch 

16-3-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (MALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

The Sardinian warbler (Curruca melanocephala ) is a common and widespread typical warbler from the Mediterranean region. Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has a grey back, whitish underparts, black head, white throat and red eyes. Plumages are somewhat variable even in the same locality, with the intensity of a reddish hue on upper- and/or underside that varies from absent to (in some subspecies) pronounced. The female is mainly brown above and buff below, with a grey head. The Sardinian warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is very characteristic of the Mediterranean areas where this bird breeds.

It breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe and just into Asia in Turkey and the eastern end of the Mediterranean. This small passerine bird, unlike most "warblers", is not particularly migratory, but some birds winter in north Africa, and it occurs as a vagrant well away from the breeding range, as far as Great Britain.

This is a bird of open country and cultivation, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3-6 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit.

16-3-2016 MONTE CORONA - MEDITERRANEAN SPOTTED CHAFER (Oxythyrea funesta)

Oxythyrea funesta is a phytophagous beetle species belonging to the family Cetoniidae, subfamily Cetoniinae.

Common name “white spotted rose beetle”.

This beetle is present in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, and in the Near East.

Larvae are up to 30 mm long, they feed on plant roots and can remain until next spring in the soil.

The adults appear early in the spring, they grow up to 8–12 millimetres (0.31–0.47 in) and can mostly be encountered from May through July. They are considered an insect pest that do not just feed on pollen, but rode the floral organs, especially damaging light in color buds and flowers.

7-4-2015 DUBAI, UAE - LAUGHING DOVE (Spilopelia senegalensis)

The laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis) is a small pigeon that is a resident breeder in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Western Australia where it has established itself in the wild after being released from Perth Zoo in 1898. This small long-tailed dove is found in dry scrub and semi-desert habitats where pairs can often be seen feeding on the ground. It is closely related to the spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) which is distinguished by a white and black chequered necklace. Other names include laughing turtle dove, palm dove and Senegal dove while in Asia the name little brown dove is often used.