The Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a large cosmopolitan raptor in the family Falconidae. It is renowned for its speed during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest bird in the world, as well as the fastest...
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. The osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all...
The Barn owl (Tyto alba) is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds. It is found almost everywhere in the world except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the...
The Common buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is an opportunistic predator that can take a wide variety of prey, but it feeds mostly on small mammals. The Common buzzard appears to be the most common...
The Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it has the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometers globally. In Anglophone Europe...
The Great egret (Ardea alba) is a large, widely distributed wading bird. Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae, and its close relatieves are pelicans. The Great egret is sometimes confused with the Great white heron of the...
The Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a large long-legged wading bird of the heron native to Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It lives in wetland areas and feeds on various aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or...
The Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species that belongs to the falcon family Falconidae. This species occurs over a large range and in Britain, where no other kestrel species commonly occurs, it is generally just called...
Common swifts (Apus apus) are medium-sized aerial birds known for their superb flying ability. These birds never settle voluntarily on the ground, where they would be vulnerable to accidents and predation, and non-breeding individuals may spend up...
The Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. The Greater flamingo was previously thought to be the same species as the American...
The Black kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the world's most abundant species of Accipitridae. Unlike others in the group, Black kites...
The Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a tern in the family Laridae. These amazing birds perform the longest migrations known in the animal world. They have a circumpolar breeding distribution and see two summers each year. Arctic terns nest once...
The Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron named for its association with cattle. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the Western cattle...
The Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa and named for its place of origin. Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians and appeared in much of...
The Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a large wading bird that breeds in Africa often near human habitation, especially landfill sites. It is sometimes called the "undertaker bird" due to its shape from behind: cloak-like wings and back,...
The Helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida. It is native to Africa and has been widely introduced, as a domesticated species, into the West Indies,...
The Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world. These birds have a stocky appearance as if hunched over, the head tucked down into the shoulders, and they are usually seen...
The Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Many fishermen see in the Great cormorant a competitor for fish. Because of this, it was hunted nearly to extinction in the past but luckily due to...
The Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops ) is the most widespread species of the genus Upupa. It is a distinctive cinnamon coloured bird with black and white wings, a tall erectile crest, a broad white band across a black tail, and a long narrow downcurved...
The Great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) that lives in the shallow swamps in Africa is one of the largest flying birds in the world. It has the abilities of multiple birds, such as long flights and swimming. Its unique characteristic is the...
The willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus ) is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strongly...
The Little egret (Egretta garzetta) is small elegant heron in the family Ardeidae. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. At one time common in Western Europe, the Little heron was hunted...
The European honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus ), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
The African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply. It may resemble the Bald eagle in appearance; though related, each species...
Pied crows (Corvus albus) are widely distributed African birds. Extremely intelligent and opportunistic, they share the jackdaw’s love of shiny things. They also have a special flying ability, with broad wings that enable great powers of flight....
The African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus ) is a wading bird native to Africa and the Middle East. It is especially known for its role in the religion of the Ancient Egyptians, where it was linked to the god Thoth; despite this, the species...
The Eurasian golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus) is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. The name "oriole" was first used in the 18th century and is an adaptation of the...
The Ring-necked dove (Streptopelia capicola ) is a widespread and often abundant dove species from Africa. Its name is derived from the semi-collar of black feathers on the lower nape, a feature shared with a number of Streptopelia species. Like all...
The Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae) found across many parts of the Old World. These birds live around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals, and other wetlands. The word 'moor' as a part of their...
The Hadada ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) is a long-legged wading bird native to Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named for its loud three to four-note calls uttered in flight especially in the mornings and evenings when they fly out or return to their roost...
The shikra (Accipiter badius) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae widely distributed across its native range. These birds have a sharp two-note call and have the typical flap and glide flight. Their scientific name comes from Latin...
The Lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) is a beautifully colored African bird known for its acrobatic aerial displays during the breeding season. The sexes look similar, and juveniles lack the long tail streamers of adults. This species is...
The Goliath heron (Ardea goliath is a very large wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae. This is the world's largest living heron (the extinct Bennu heron was larger). The closest extant relatives of the Goliath are considered to be the...
The Bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large wader. The migration of its subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey...
The European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. As their name suggests, these brightly-colored birds predominantly eat flying insects, especially bees and wasps, which they catch on the wing from...
The Common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird that has a circumpolar distribution. it has four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Its large population and huge breeding range mean that this...
The Corn crake (Crex crex) is a medium-sized ground-dwelling bird that is found breeds in Europe and Asia and migrates to Africa to spend winter. Despite its elusive nature, the loud call has ensured the Corn crake has been noted in the literature...
The Common whitethroat (Curruca communis) is a widespread strongly migratory warbler that breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. In Europe, western and eastern populations of these small birds have contrasting molting...
The hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) is a medium-sized wading bird which closest relatives are thought to be the pelicans and the shoebill. The shape of its head with a long bill and crest at the back is reminiscent of a hammer, which has given this...
The Garden warbler (Sylvia borin) is a common and widespread small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to western Siberia. Its rich melodic song is similar to that of the blackcap, its closest relative, which competes with it...
The Black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus) is a long-winged raptor best known for its habit of hovering over open grasslands in the manner of the much smaller kestrels. Black-winged kites are well adapted to utilize periodic upsurges in rodent...
Common snipes (Gallinago gallinago) are small, stocky waders native to the Old World. These birds are known for their courtship display in which males produce a sound that reminds the bleating of a sheep or goat; hence in many languages the Common...
