In the Falkland Islands, there are about 10000 breeding pairs of Lophonetta specularioides specularioides. I rather like ducks, and this species has really striking eyes.
Many thanks to the birders on http://www.birdforum.net for helping me with the identification of this Centropus burchellii. I saw this one perched on some shrubbery while on a tour through Kruger Park. Fun fact: this bird predates on other birds up to the size of a dove.
Emberiza schoeniclus is a bird I really like – the males are easy to identify and their song is simple but recognizable even for someone who has difficulties telling songs apart (like me). They need reedbeds to breed, so where there is a bit of proper wetland, there are the buntings. This one sang in the RSPB reserve in Otmoor earlier this year.
A few years ago, during a visit to Kruger Park I saw this Poicephalus cryptoxanthus. Although the species is listed under a conservation status of Least Concern, it ‘is increasingly vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation with illegal capture for the bird trade of concern in Mozambique‘ (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22685317/0).
Phalcoboenus australis is classified as nearly threatened. I met this individual on Carcass Island which is part of the Falkland Islands.
In the background, you can see that even on the fairly remote Falklands there’s plenty of (plastic) rubbish on the beach.
This Corvus corone was indulging in a meal of fish at Farmoor reservoir near Oxford. Carrion crows are highly intelligent and social birds. If you’d like to learn more about them and other corvids, you should read Esther Woolfson’s excellent book Corvus.
This Streptopelia turtur was making the typical gentle purring noises to find a mating partner when we saw him at the RSPB reserve, Otmoor, last week.
Turtle doves are classified as a vulnerable species. Main dangers are farming practices and hunting, in particular spring hunting in Malta.
