Dinosaur of the week: Common Swift

These Apus apus were seen and heard in Slovakia, a couple of years ago. We have them here in Algeria too, but the flocks are always mixed in with Pallid Swift. As long as there are any swifts in the sky, it’s a proper one. However, according to the IUCN the ‘species is negatively impacted by building renovation, re-roofing or demolition which leads to a loss of nest sites.’ On top of that, swifts feed on insects so plummeting insect populations are bound to have an impact on the birds.

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Dinosaur of the week: Mallard

These two Anas platyrhynchos had made their home in the little park around lake Kuchajda in the middle of Bratislava. I find mallards beautiful and totally underrated. The species is considered least concern and in some regions invasive.

Dinosaur of the week: Marsh Tit

I’m not quite sure that this is indeed Poecile palustris and not a Willow tit – let me know in the comments if I got it wrong. The species is facing many dangers: habitat loss and fragmentation, agricultural intensification and increased pressure from predators to name but a few.

Dinosaur of the week: Common Blackbird

I think Turdus merula is quite often under-appreciated. They sing so marvellously it’s just always a joy and I’m happy that we’ve got a resident pair around. Overall, the species is doing fine apart from Britain, where agricultural intensification is playing a part in its decline.

Dinosaur of the week: Long-tailed Tit

Aegithalos caudatus is one of my favourite species. They’re quite social birds and also, as you can see in this photo which I took in Slovakia, pretty acrobatic.

The species is not threatened at the moment. Having said that, habitat fragmentation and replacing old forests with monocultures have a negative impact (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103871923/874710819).

Dinosaur of the week: White Wagtail

Motacilla alba can be found in many places on this planet and it appears to do OK as a species, but it is thought that climate change is going to affect its migration. This individual was foraging on the bank of the river Danube in Slovakia.

Dinosaur of the week: Eurasian Nuthatch

Sitta europaea is lovely to look at. The species is doing alright, but since they live in old forests local populations are under threat from logging, e.g. in Poland.

This one was on a bird feeder in Slovakia. Remember to feed birds seeds and nuts. Feeding bread is a really bad idea as it damages the birds’ digestive system.