Ruddy shelduck Vörös ásólúd Tadorna ferruginea Le tadorne casarca Die Rostgans

 Birds, Ruddy shelduck  Comments Off on Ruddy shelduck Vörös ásólúd Tadorna ferruginea Le tadorne casarca Die Rostgans
Apr 202013
 

Ruddy shelduck Vörös ásólúd Tadorna ferruginea Le tadorne casarca Die Rostgans

The Ruddy shelduck is a very interesting bird. This bird only can be observed in Hungary in migration period. I only see this birds two times in Hungary. The migration birds mingle with Mallards in the water, and looks like they belong to there like any other birds like gulls, ducks or others. Only the interesting colors of the bird helps to realize it is an interesting specie. The size of the bird is approximately like the bigger ducks, but smaller than the usual Geese like Greylag goose. The Ruddy shelduck if not disturbed is quite a tame bird, like Mallards. I can make photos of the bird from 3-4m without disturbing the bird at all. In Hungary the ruddy shelduck is a rare migrant bird, hard to observe. I saw a pair of ruddy shelduck and a young bird. The funny thing is that the birds were in Budapest in a small lake that belongs to a frequent inner city place. The birds stayed there for several days or a week at migration. The bird has beautiful colours: the body is orangish, the head is pale the wings are whiter inside but outside has a nice greenish metal color.

9864 Ruddy shelduck Vörös ásólúd

Size:

61-66cm

Weight:

950-1600g

Wingspan:

120-145cm

Diet:

The bird mostly eats vegetation and smaller snails or other creatures living in the water.

Voice:

The Ruddy shelduck has a deep, strong, distinctive voice. It is interesting to hear doesn’t resembles anythink I can think of.

Male/female:

The male has a black ring around the bottom of the neck at mating period. See on the picture above.

Habitat:

The bird is mostly can be found in North Africa and Southern Eastern Europe and Asia. Unfortunately expanding agricultural areas are not good for the bird. The bird also can be find in highlands up to several thousand meters.

Eggs:8-12

The Ruddy shelduck usually laid 8-12 eggs.

Incubation period:27-29 days

What is interesting in the bird that lay her eggs in holes under the ground, not in a nest at the water. Uses holes made by foxes, badgers or other hole making animals, but the birds can dig it for themselves as well. The nest can be several meters deep in the ground. Can nest in holes of the trees, or on cliffs as well. The male bird protect the female with huge voices and nosedive with his wings kept tightly to the body.

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Collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

 Birds  Comments Off on Collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis
Apr 172013
 
Collared flycatcher

Ficedula albicollis örvös légykapó

Collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis

Collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis

The collared flycatcher is a smaller passerine bird. It can be found in Southwest Asia and Central and Southeast Europe. The size of the bird is 12-13cm with a wingspan of 22-25cm. The weight of the bird is app. 12-16 gramms. The semicollared flycatcher is similar in many ways to the collared flycatcher in look, but the white stripe not goes around the bird’s neck. The brownish females look very similarly but little more white can be found on the wing of the collared flycatcher.

During migration sometimes can be seen in Budapest as well. The bird stays in Hungary between April and October. They send the winter in Africa.

The female is more brownish (the male is on the above picture). This is a migrating bird, in Hungary mostly breed in forests of the middle height (600-1000m) mountains.

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 Posted by at 10:25 pm

Bearded tit Panurus biarmicus Barkóscinege

 Birds  No Responses »
Apr 122013
 
Bearded tit Panurus biarmicus tit Barkóscinege
Bearded tit Panurus biarmicus

Panurus biarmicus

Names

Also called
Britain: Bearded reedling, Finland: Viiksitimali France: Panure a moustaches Germany: Bartmeise, Hungary:Barkóscinege, Italy: Basettino, Poland: wąsatka, Russia: Усатая синица, Spain: Bigotudo, Sweden: Skäggmes

Cute little bird, not shy at all, it is easy to photograph. The female looks little different, no moustaches as it is normal:). In Hungary I mostly see in fall or in winter. I only see this bird on reeds. They eat there, moving up and down, after some time changing position and fly little further to the next reed.

The pairs live in constant relationships with each other.

Look

Very beautiful bird, the male has two black moustaches, not really beard. The tail of the bird is long, the wings are relatively smaller compare to the length of the bird. The bird has a brown-yellow color, with black and white parts as well. The beak has orange colour. The legs are dark. The birds a bit similar in look like parrots. According to classification this bird is in a class in his own. Earlier they classify this to tits, but recently they think it is a unique bird in its class.
Panurus biarmicus female
No moustache for the female bird, same colors but little less saturated, long tail, and short wings but no mustache

Habitat

Mostly in reedbed.
It is quite wide-spread in Europe, and in Asia as well from Middle East to Northeast China. In Hungary can be found in naturally better places, around National parks and nice lakes usually (Lake Ferto at Austrian border Lake Velence, Hortobágy plain lakes). Not common in densely populated places.

Migration

In Hungary doesn’t migrate as far as I know. In winter changing places but not go far.

Sound

It has a definite sound, much stronger than normal tits. It is quite easy to find a bird when you hear the sound.

Diet

It eats larvae and insects, spiders and seeds as well.

More pictures

One of the bird ringing station in Hungary they caught a male bird, and we make some closeups of the bird with greater detail. After some scientific measurements and photos the bird was released to the wild.

Bearded reedling Panurus biarmicus
Bearded reedling Panurus biarmicus 2

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 Posted by at 4:00 pm

Long eared owl Asio otus Erdei fülesbagoly

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Apr 092013
 
Long eared owl Asio otus Erdei fülesbagoly
Long eared owl

Long eared owl Canon 200mm 2.8L+Canon 2x Mk II

This Owl sat on the tree in a suburb area garden in 1.5-2m height. Sometimes this can happen, not very often that we can have a chance to take a nice picture without doing anything special or extraordinary for it. The Owl was a little sleepy, don’t really care about the dogs running under it in a very close distance.

I manage to wake him up to a level to open his eyes (with closed eyes the photo would be uninteresting, after he closed back again), but he remained on the tree afterwards as well. A new pet, a Long eared Owl. I called him Dezso. Cool !

I only see Dezso after once, where was a huge noise made by singing birds around the tree at the back part of the same garden, I went there to check what is this noise about, and Dezso was sitting on the walnut tree, but singing birds found him and finally made him fly away to the next tree, after the next tree, after I don’t see him. I don’t know how far the chase went.

Long eared owl asio otusClick to see in 1100 pixel Sleepy Owl

The Singing birds looked very determined and brave in the chase. There were several types of birds like Thrushes, Starlings and smaller birds as well, I think around five or more species, but the whole thing happened very fast and I cannot recognize the other species.

Long Eared Owls are the most common Owls in Hungary. In certain cities mainly in the Great Plain lots of Owls gather in winter in some cities.

Long eared owl Asio otus facts

Size: 35-40 cm (1.2-1.4′)
Wingspan 90-100 cm (3-3.34′)
Weight: 2200-4350 g (5.7-10 lbs)
Habitat: likes Open areas, widely spread Europe, Asia, Northern America
Diet: Rodents mostly Common vole (Microtus arvalis)
Family: Strigiformes

In Hungary this Owl is the most Common. In winter these Owls gathers in cities in the Great Plain sometimes in huge numbers.

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