The black-throated loon, also known as the Arctic loon and the black-throated diver, is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere, primarily breeding in freshwater lakes in northern Europe and Asia. It winters along sheltered, ice-free coasts of the north-east Atlantic Ocean and the eastern and western Pacific Ocean. This loon was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It has two subspecies. It was previously considered to be the same species as the Pacific loon, of which it is traditionally considered to be a sister species, although this is debated. In a study that used mitochondrial and nuclear intron DNA, the black-throated loon was found to be sister to a clade consisting of the Pacific loon and two sister species, the common loon and the yellow-billed loon.
The pied wheatear is a wheatear, a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher. This migratory central Asiatic wheatear occurs from the extreme southeast of Europe to China, and has been found wintering in India and northeastern Africa. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The greater white-fronted goose is a species of goose related to the smaller lesser white-fronted goose. It is named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill, in fact albifrons comes from the Latin albus "white" and frons "forehead". In Europe it has been known as the white-fronted goose; in North America it is known as the greater white-fronted goose, and this name is also increasingly adopted internationally. Even more distinctive are the salt-and-pepper markings on the breast of adult birds, which is why the goose is colloquially called the "specklebelly" in North America.
Turnstones are two bird species that comprise the genus Arenaria in the family Scolopacidae. They are closely related to calidrid sandpipers and might be considered members of the tribe Calidriini.
The ruddy turnstone is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria.
The white-rumped sandpiper is a small shorebird that breeds in the northern tundra of Canada and Alaska. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints".
The white-winged tern, or white-winged black tern, is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is a small species generally found in or near bodies of fresh water across much of the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow".
The long-billed dowitcher is a medium-sized shorebird with a relatively long bill belonging to the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. In breeding plumage, adults are characterized by a beautiful rufous head and underparts with a darker mottled back and a large white upper rump only seen in flight. They feed in various freshwater habitats with their bill underwater in a "sewing machine" motion and are known to have an exciting mating display where males chase females in flight. The genus, Limnodromus is Ancient Greek from limne, "marsh" and dromos, "racer". The specific scolopaceus is New Latin for "snipe-like", from Latin scolopax, scolopacis, a snipe or woodcock. The English name is from Iroquois and was first recorded in 1841.
The pine siskin is a North American bird in the finch family. It is a migratory bird with an extremely sporadic winter range.
The golden-crowned kinglet is a very small songbird in the family Regulidae that lives throughout much of North America.
The pine warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.
The surfbird is a small stocky wader in the family Scolopacidae. It was once considered to be allied to the turnstones, and placed in the monotypic genus Aphriza, but is now placed in the genus Calidris.
The Indian river tern or just river tern is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east into the Indian Subcontinent and further to Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon. Unlike most Sterna terns, it is almost exclusively found on freshwater, rarely venturing even to tidal creeks.
The black-cheeked warbler is a New World warbler, resident breeding bird endemic to the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama.
The chestnut-bellied sandgrouse or common sandgrouse is a species of sandgrouse. It is a sedentary and nomadic species that ranges from northern and central Africa and further east towards western and southern Asia. There are six recognised subspecies.
The red-capped plover, also known as the red-capped dotterel, is a small species of plover.
The three-banded plover, or three-banded sandplover, is a small wader. This plover is resident and generally sedentary in much of East Africa, southern Africa and Madagascar. It occurs mainly on inland rivers, pools, lakes and pans, frequenting their exposed shores. This species is often seen as single individuals, but it will form small flocks. It hunts by sight for insects, worms and other invertebrates. Three-banded plovers have a sharp whistled weeet-weet call. Its larger and darker-plumaged sister species, Forbes's plover, replaces it in West Africa and in the moist tropics. The two species have largely allopatric breeding ranges. Both species present a distinctively elongated profile, due to their proportionally long tail and wings.
The dark-sided flycatcher is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Muscicapa in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It has a wide breeding distribution in the East Palearctic with northern birds migrating south for the winter. It is also known as the Siberian flycatcher or sooty flycatcher, the latter name is also used for the sooty flycatcher of Africa.
The Galápagos dove is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Galápagos, off Ecuador. It is fairly common and is found in a wide range of open and semi-open habitats, especially in the arid lowlands of the archipelago.
The Australian pratincole is a species of bird in the family Glareolidae. It breeds in Australia's interior; it winters to northern and eastern parts of the continent, Indonesia and New Guinea. It is a medium-sized nomadic shorebird which is commonly found in arid inland Australia. It breeds predominantly from south-western Queensland to northern Victoria and through central Australia to the Kimberley region in Western Australia. The Australian population is estimated at 60,000 individuals. They are a migratory species that generally move to the southern parts of their distribution range to breed during spring and summer. During winter they migrate to northern Australia, New Guinea, Java, Sulawesi and southern Borneo to over-winter. Although they are common, their occurrence is unpredictable and varies in location.
