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 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 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 Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a large member of the cuckoo family and like many of its related cuckoo kin is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of crows and other hosts, who raise its young. The name koel is echoic in...
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 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 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 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 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 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 White-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) is a large diurnal bird of prey. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related to Sanford's sea eagle of the Solomon Islands, and the two are considered...
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 White wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a small insectivorous bird of the open country, often near habitation and water. It prefers bare areas for feeding, where it can see and pursue its prey. In urban areas, it has adapted to foraging on paved areas...
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 Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) is a small and one of the most abundant gulls in much of Europe and Asia, and also in eastern Canada. It displays a variety of compelling behaviors and adaptations. Some of these include removing...
The Brahminy kite (Haliastur indus) is a medium-sized bird of prey found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands, where they feed on dead fish and other prey.
The Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis ) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. These birds are particularly well known for their songs and...
The Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is one of the world's most widely distributed owls. Eared owls have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or may not be visible. The Short-eared owl will display its tufts when in a...
The Spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) is a small pigeon that is a common across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. These birds are also called the Mountain dove, Pearl-necked dove, Lace-necked dove, and Spotted...
The Common hill myna (Gracula religiosa ), sometimes spelled "mynah" is a member of the starling family (Sturnidae), resident in hill regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. This species is most commonly seen in aviculture, where it is often...
The Northern pintail (Anas acuta) is a duck species that has a wide geographic distribution. Unusually for a bird with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies if the possibly conspecific duck Eaton's pintail is considered to be a...
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 Brown booby (Sula leucogaster) is a large seabird. It is perhaps the most common and widespread species of the booby family Sulidae. They are gregarious birds that only nest on the ground and roost on solid objects rather than the water surface.
The Northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata) is a widespread species of duck unmistakable in the northern hemisphere due to its large spatulate bill. In Britain, it is known simply as the shoveler. One part of its scientific name Spatula is the Latin...
The Crested honey buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) is a medium-sized bird of prey that belongs to the family of other diurnal raptors such as kites, eagles, and harriers. The name of this species is derived from its unusual diet which consists mainly...
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...
The Scaly-breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata) is a sparrow-sized estrildid finch native to tropical Asia. Its name is based on the distinct scale-like feather markings on the breast and belly. The Scaly-breasted munia has been introduced into many...
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 Black eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) is a large majestic bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus Ictinaetus. Black eagles are easily identified by their characteristic silhouette. Due...
The Rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) is a large species of forest hornbill found in tropical forests of Southeast Asia. The Iban people of Borneo regard the Rhinoceros hornbill (known as Kenyalang) as the king of the worldly birds, who acts...
The White-throated needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus) is a large swift. Needle-tailed swifts get their name from the spined end of their tail, which is not forked as it is in the typical swifts of the genus Apus. The White-throated needletail was...
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 Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) is a small diving duck found in northern Eurasia. Its scientific name comes from Ancient Greek word aithuia, an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin words fuligo...
Eurasian wigeons (Mareca penelope) are widespread dabbling ducks within their Palearctic range. They are very strong flyers and migrate long distances to spend winter in warm countries of southern Asia and Africa.
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...
Grey wagtails (Motacilla cinerea) are slender ground-feeding insectivorous birds of open country. They are always associated with running water when breeding, although they may use man-made structures near streams for the nest. Outside the breeding...
Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) are very long-legged wading birds. They are found in both warm and hot climates, feed on small aquatic creatures, and nest on the ground surface in small colonies.
The red knot (Calidris canutus ) (just knot in English-speaking Europe) is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers,...
The little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis ), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek takhus "fast" and bapto "to sink under". The specific ruficollis is from Latin rufus "red" and...
