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Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, or by watching public webcams.
The black-tailed godwit is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the godwit genus, Limosa. There are four subspecies, all with orange head, neck and chest in breeding plumage and dull grey-brown winter coloration, and distinctive black and white wingbar at all times.
The European rock pipit, or simply rock pipit, is a species of small passerine bird that breeds in western Europe on rocky coasts. It has streaked greyish-brown upperparts and buff underparts, and is similar in appearance to other European pipits. There are three subspecies, of which only the Fennoscandian one is migratory, wintering in shoreline habitats further south in Europe. The European rock pipit is territorial at least in the breeding season, and year-round where it is resident. Males will sometimes enter an adjacent territory to assist the resident in repelling an intruder, behaviour only otherwise known from the African fiddler crab.
Blyth's reed warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in the Palearctic and easternmost Europe. It is migratory, wintering in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. It is one of the most common winter warblers in those countries. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe.
The ruddy shelduck, known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a member of the family Anatidae. It is a distinctive waterfowl, 58 to 70 cm in length with a wingspan of 110 to 135 cm. It has orange-brown body plumage with a paler head, while the tail and the flight feathers in the wings are black, contrasting with the white wing-coverts. It is a migratory bird, wintering in the Indian subcontinent and breeding in southeastern Europe and central Asia, though there are small resident populations in North Africa. It has a loud honking call.
The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker Tristram and other scientists. Its quarterly journal, Ibis, has been published continuously since 1859.
Robert 'Rob' Hume is an English ornithologist, author and journalist specialising in avian and natural history subjects. From Spring 1989, until Summer 2009, he was editor of the RSPB's award-winning Birds magazine, having previously edited the young people's award-winning version, Bird Life, at the RSPB's headquarters, The Lodge.
The British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), established in 1959, is the national bird rarities committee for Britain. It assesses claimed sightings of bird species that are rarely seen in Britain, based on descriptions, photographs and video recordings submitted by observers. Its findings are published in an annual report in the journal British Birds.
Vagrancy is a phenomenon in biology whereby an individual animal appears well outside its normal range; they are known as vagrants. The term accidental is sometimes also used. There are a number of poorly understood factors which might cause an animal to become a vagrant, including internal causes such as navigatory errors and external causes such as severe weather. Vagrancy events may lead to colonisation and eventually to speciation.
The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head. Also known as an "eyebrow", it is distinct from the eyestripe, which is a line that runs across the lores, and continues behind the eye. Where a stripe is present only above the lores, and does not continue behind the eye, it is called a supraloral stripe or simply supraloral. On most species which display a supercilium, it is paler than the adjacent feather tracts.
Donald Ian Mackenzie Wallace, known as Ian Wallace, D.I.M. Wallace, or by his initials DIMW, was a British birder, author and artist.
The Druridge Bay curlew was a curlew that was present in Druridge Bay, Northumberland in May 1998, whose species identification proved to be controversial. The bird was identified by its finder, and most others who saw it, as a first-summer slender-billed curlew, one of the rarest birds in the world; however, this identification provoked scepticism from experts. The bird was initially accepted as this species by the British Birds Rarities Committee and the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee - however, this identification was eventually rejected in 2013
The Macmillan Field Guides to Bird Identification are two small bird field guides. Volume 1, The Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification, illustrated by Alan Harris and Laurel Tucker, with text by Keith Vinicombe, was originally published in 1989, covered British birds. Volume 2, The Macmillan Birder's Guide to European and Middle Eastern Birds, illustrated by Alan Harris, with text by Hadoram Shirihai and David Christie, covered birds of continental Europe and the Middle East, and was published in 1996.
Hadoram Shirihai is an Israeli ornithologist and writer.
Stejneger's scoter, also known as the Siberian scoter, is a large sea duck. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek melas "black" and netta "duck".
Alan R. Dean is a British ornithologist with a special interest in gulls and warblers. He lives in Solihull, West Midlands.
The birds of Cornwall are in general a selection of those found in the whole of the British Isles, though Cornwall's position at the extreme south-west of Great Britain results in many occasional migrants. The nightingale is one English bird which is virtually absent from Cornwall.
Colin Bradshaw is an English physician, ornithologist, and musician who was chairman of the British Birds Rarities Committee from 1997 to 2008. He was active in the BBRC for almost 20 years, both as a committee member and as chairman. He is a medical doctor by profession and travels extensively for birding, and among his other hobbies are guitar, cricket, and photography.
Alan John Harris is a British bird illustrator.
The eye-ring of a bird is a ring of tiny feathers that surrounds the orbital ring, a ring of bare skin immediately surrounding a bird's eye. The eye-ring is often decorative, and its colour may contrast with adjoining plumage. The ring of feathers is sometimes incomplete, forming an eye arc. In the absence of a conspicuous eye-ring, the orbital ring of a bird is often referred to as the eye-ring. The bare orbital ring may be hardened or fleshy, or may form an eye-wattle. These are useful field marks in many bird species, and the eye-ringed flatbill, eye-ringed tody-tyrant and eye-ringed thistletail are examples of species named for either of these.
References
- 1 2 Dean, Alan R (2007). "The British Birds Rarities Committee: a review of its history, publications and procedures". British Birds . 100 (3): 149–176.
- ↑ Vinicombe, Keith; David Cottridge (1996). Rare birds in Britain and Ireland a photographic record. London: Collins. pp. 192p., 96p. of col. plates : ill., maps, 24 cm. ISBN 0-00-219976-9.
- 1 2 Vinicombe, Keith; Harrop, Andrew (1999). "Ruddy Shelducks in Britain and Ireland 1986-1994". British Birds . 92: 225–255.
- ↑ Vinicombe, Keith; Alan Harris; Laurel Tucker (1989). The Macmillan field guide to bird identification. London: Macmillan. p. 224p. ISBN 0-333-42773-4.
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