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 Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of prey in the...
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 House sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a small passerine bird found in most parts of the world. The extent of its range makes it the most widely distributed wild bird on the planet. Because of its numbers, ubiquity, and association with human...
The Common raven (Corvus corax) is a large all-black passerine bird. Found across the Northern Hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the Thick-billed raven, and is possibly the...
The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and prefer to congregate in flocks of...
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...
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...
The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) is a small insectivorous passerine bird. The term robin is also applied to some birds in other families with red or orange breasts. These include the American robin (Turdus migratorius ), a thrush, and the...
The Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is a noisy bird, especially in communal roosts and other gregarious situations, with an unmusical but varied song. Its gift for mimicry has...
The Ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana) is a small seed-eating songbird found in Europe and Western Asia. The bird is widely used in French cuisine and due to this, its French populations dropped dangerously low, leading to laws restricting its use...
The nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos ) is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. The song of this secretive bird has been described as one of the most beautiful sounds in nature, inspiring songs, fairy tales, opera,...
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 Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis, and the coucals. It is a brood parasite, which means it lays eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly...
The Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a very large bird of prey and the only member of the genus Gypaetus. This bird is also identified as Huma bird or Homa bird in Iran and north west Asia. The Bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate...
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 Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies. In Europe, "magpie" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the Eurasian...
The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. These birds are found in many habitats where they hunt a majority of their prey. Eurasian eagle-owls are one of the most...
The Rock dove (Columba livia) is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). It is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". The domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica, which includes about 1,000 different breeds) descended from...
The Common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The English name of this species comes from the Old English ‘ceaffinc’, where ceaf is ‘chaff’ and finc ‘finch’. Chaffinches were likely...
The Common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is a colorful bird renowned for the striking plumage of the male. It is native to Asia but has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its...
The White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla ) is one of the largest living birds of prey. It is sometimes considered the fourth largest eagle in the world and is on average the fourth heaviest eagle in the world. White-tailed eagles are considered...
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 Western jackdaw (Coloeus monedula) is a passerine bird in the crow family found across Europe, western Asia and North Africa. The common name of the bird derives from the word jack, denoting "small", and daw, a less common synonym for "jackdaw",...
The Common quail (Coturnix coturnix) is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. With its characteristic call, this species of quail is more often heard than seen. It is widespread in Europe and North Africa, and should...
The Common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is a member of the dove and pigeon family (Columbidae), native to the western Palearctic. It has historically been known as the Ring dove, and is locally known in southeast England as the "culver"; the...
The Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Though it is a predator which specializes in catching woodland birds, the Eurasian sparrowhawk can be found in any habitat and often hunts garden birds in...
The White stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It eats a wide range of animal prey and takes most of its food from the ground. It does not pair for life but both members of the pair build a large stick nest, which...
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...
The Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto) is a dove species native to Europe and Asia. During the 20th century, the Eurasian collared dove spectacularly expanded its range from the Middle East to right across Europe. Accidentally introduced...
The merlin (Falco columbarius) is a small but fierce falcon from the Northern Hemisphere. It is a swift flier and skilled hunter and has for centuries been well regarded as a falconry bird.
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 carrion crow (Corvus corone) is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae and the genus Corvus which is native to western Europe and the eastern Palearctic.
The Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is a very small insectivorous bird found in Eurasia and Africa (Maghreb). In Anglophone Europe, it is commonly known simply as the wren. The scientific name is taken from the Greek word "troglodytes",...
The Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is native to Asia and has been introduced into many other places and feral populations have established themselves in parts of North America and New Zealand.
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 Common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is a small kingfisher widely distributed across Eurasia and North Africa. It is amongst the most colorful birds but despite its extraordinary colors, sometimes the Common kingfisher is difficult to see when it...
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 Tawny owl (Strix aluco) is commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has 11 recognized subspecies. The Tawny owl is non-migratory and highly territorial: as a result, when young birds grow up and leave the parental...
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 goldcrest (Regulus regulus) is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. Its colorful golden crest feathers, as well as being called the "king of the birds" in European folklore, gives rise to its English and scientific names. The...
