Grey heron

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is the largest of the European herons. It is found throughout the year in most of western Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland) but only during the breeding season in eastern Europe and western Asia. Wintering areas include Spain and central Africa.

The grey heron measures 920 mm (36 inches) in total length. It has grey upper parts and a white head and neck. Adults have yellow bills and brown legs, but the bill of juvenile herons is dark brown. The head is distinguished by a broad black streak that runs from above the eye to the long crest on top of the head.

The flight of the grey heron is slow with strong beats of its broad rounded wings. The legs trail out behind and the head is drawn back between the shoulders.

The call is a harsh “fraaank” but various croaking sounds are added during the breeding season. When at the nest, adult and young birds sometimes communicate by clattering their bills together.

The grey heron feeds on fish, which it catches by thrusting its bill into the water having stood motionless at the water’s edge, often for quite a long time, while waiting for a fish to swim into range.

Grey herons usually nest in heronries that are used for many generations, often in tall trees near lakes or rivers. The nest is a large pile of sticks that comprises a flat-topped platform, sometimes as much as 40 metres off the ground. The nest is built by the female heron from material brought by the male.

Both partners incubate three or four eggs for up to 27 days before they hatch. The young will stay on the nest for up to 30 days, after which they start to clamber around the branches. They fledge at around 50 days and disperse from the heronry not long afterwards.

© John Welford

Partridge

The partridge (Perdix perdix, sometimes referred to as the grey as opposed to the red-legged partridge) is found across most of Europe apart from Spain and northern Scandinavia. It is found on agricultural land, heaths and sand dunes, in places where there is adequate cover. It is known in the UK as a “game” bird but is protected from shooting during the close season that runs from February to September.

At 29-31 centimetres (11-12 inches) in length the partridge is smaller than the pheasant. It is a plump bird with a small head and short legs. The plumage is mainly brown with light and dark streaks. The face is reddish-brown and the neck and breast are grey. A black horseshoe-shaped patch on the belly is more obvious in males than in females. The bill is greenish-grey and the legs are grey. The tail is short and the wings are short and rounded.

Partridges walk with a crouched posture but will run with the head held upright if alarmed. Partridges are rapid flyers with intermittent periods of gliding.

The call is a repeated rasping “krrr-it, krrr-it”.

Partridges feed mainly on seeds and leaves but also take insects, larvae and caterpillars. Outside the breeding season flocks of up to 15 partridges (known as “coveys”) can be seen feeding together, especially at dawn and dusk.

A partridge nest comprises a scrape in the ground, in thick cover, that is lined with leaves and grass. It is not unknown for two females to share the same nest. A large clutch of eggs – sometimes more than 20 – are laid in April or May. Incubation is by the female alone and takes up to 24 days. After hatching, the young soon leave the nest and are able to feed themselves. Although they take around 100 days to reach maturity, they are able to fly – if necessary to escape danger – after about 15 days. Young partridges stay with their parents until after their first winter.

© John Welford

Secretary bird

The secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) gets its name from its crest of long plumes which resemble a clutch of quill pens stuck behind the ear of an old-fashioned clerk. It is a bird of prey within the order of Accipitriformes but it has been given its own family (Sagittariidae) and genus (Sagittarius) because of the differences between it and all other members of the order.

The secretary bird is a hawk that ranges throughout sub-Saharan Africa except for the tropical forests. It inhabits the plains and veldt, wandering large distances in search of food. It is thought to be partly migratory. 

Appearance

It is a large, long-legged bird, some 45 inches in length but standing up to four feet tall. Its wingspan is six and a half feet. It is the world’s largest diurnal bird of prey. The head is eagle-like, with a hooked bill. The plumage is mainly white, although the wings are grey and black, the face is red and the thighs are covered in dark grey feathers. The plumage of males and females is similar, although female secretary birds are slightly smaller (which is unusual for raptors) and have shorter plumes and tail feathers.

Behaviour

The secretary bird is renowned for killing and eating snakes, which is why it has the designation “serpentarius”. It hunts on foot, approaching its prey in a zigzag fashion and flapping its wings so as to confuse its victim. 

When a snake is encountered the secretary bird will thrust its wing towards the snake, so that this is where the snake will strike. As the wings contain no blood vessels, the secretary bird cannot be harmed, but this action by the snake makes it easy for the bird to hold the snake down with one foot and grab the back of its neck in the beak. If this does not kill the snake, the secretary bird will fly aloft and drop the snake on to the hard ground in the manner of a seabird dropping a crab or clam to break its shell.

Apart from snakes, secretary birds will take other reptiles, small mammals, large insects such as locusts, and the eggs and young of other birds. Some African farmers encourage secretary birds to patrol their land so as to keep it clear of snakes, but they must also take care to protect their own domestic fowl.

Secretary birds usually hunt alone, but a pair may hunt as much as half a mile apart, calling to each other with loud reedy calls that can easily carry for such a distance. Groups of secretary birds are sometimes seen when a grass fire has driven small animals in one direction, thus providing easy prey.

Breeding

Secretary birds are believed to mate for life. The pair will build a rough nest of sticks in a bush or tree and will reuse it year after year, adding new material so that nests can grow to quite large sizes over time, perhaps as much as six feet across. The usual clutch is two eggs, which take around seven weeks to hatch. Both partners share the duties of incubation and of feeding the young, which is done by regurgitating half-digested food. The young birds take about two months before being fully fledged.

© John Welford

Shoebill stork

The shoebill stork, otherwise known as the whalehead (Balaeniceps rex), is the only living member of the Balaenicipitidae family. 

There has been much debate over whether the family belongs to the order of Ciconiiformes (which includes storks) or Pelecaniformes (which includes pelicans). The consensus appears to be that the shoebill stork represents one of the missing links between storks and pelicans, so its status in terms of order remains in doubt.

The shoebill stork is found in eastern Africa, from the upper Nile Valley of Sudan as far south as Zambia, with most of the population being towards the north of its range. It inhabits swampy reedbeds and can be seen singly or in pairs as it wades in the shallows. It will also soar high above the land.

Appearance

Whatever its place in bird taxonomy, the shoebill stork is a remarkable and unmistakable bird. It stands about three and a half to four feet tall and its plumage is uniformly grey apart from some lighter colouring underneath. Some specimens have a wingspan of more than ten feet. The feet resemble those of herons in having a slight comb on the central claw, and the hind toe is level with the three unwebbed front toes.

However, the feature that sets the shoebill apart from any other stork or pelican is its massive bill that resembles a shoe or wooden clog in shape. This measures about eight inches in length and it is nearly the same across. The upper bill has a strong claw-like hook at the end.

Behaviour and feeding

The shoebill stork uses its bill to probe the muddy water for lungfish, its favourite food, and other fish and amphibians. It will also take small turtles, young crocodiles, small mammals and carrion. 

In 2009 a shoebill was observed in San Diego Wild Animal Park to pick up an adult duck and move it carefully to one side without harming it, which suggests that the shoebill’s reputation for eating just about anything it can swallow might be misplaced. However, not too much reliance should be placed on an incident in a captive environment as to whether the same would have happened in the wild. Should a tasty morsel of any kind comes its way, a hungry shoebill stork would be unlikely to refuse it.

Breeding

Shoebill storks nest either on the ground or on substantial floating islands of vegetation. The nest comprises a mass of grass stems woven together. Two eggs are normally laid, sometimes three, but only one chick is likely to survive beyond fledging. Incubation takes about 30 days and is performed by both parents, who will turn the eggs from time to time and keep their temperature constant by cooling them with wet vegetation if necessary. The surviving chick or chicks will fledge only after about 100 days.

© John Welford

Pintail

The pintail (Anas acuta) is a surface-feeding duck that is a partial migrant. It breeds mainly in northern and eastern Europe and a few sites in the British Isles, but winters on coastal marshes, estuaries and inland wetlands. Some European populations winter in central Africa.

The pintail measures about 560 mm (22 inches) in length. It is easily identified by its long neck and long pointed tail. The male has a brown head with a white streak running up each side of the head from the breast, which is also white. The upper parts and flanks are mainly grey and the undertail coverts are black. 

Female and juvenile pintails (and males after moulting) are brown with darker streaks.

The bill is blue-grey and the legs greyish.

Pintails do not make a lot of noise – females have a quiet quack and the males a low-pitched whistle.

In flight, pintails can be distinguished from other ducks by their long necks, pointed wings and tapering tails. They sometimes fly high in small groups in a V formation.

Food for pintails consists of both plant and animal matter that is taken from the water, often by up-ending. Plant food includes pond weeds, sedges and grasses. They will also eat water beetles, insect larvae and snails.

When breeding, a nest is made on the ground at a sheltered site within 200 metres of water. A hollow is lined with grass, leaves and down feathers supplied by the female. The female incubates up to nine eggs for three to four weeks, with the male often abandoning the female at this stage.

The young can feed themselves and swim soon after hatching and can fly at 40 days.

© John Welford

Shelduck

A partial migrant over much of Europe, including Great Britain, the shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) is found mainly on muddy coasts and estuaries, but when breeding can also be seen on heathland and farmland close to the sea. After breeding, most shelducks migrate to traditional moulting areas, of which the most popular is the Heligoland Bight off the north German coast.

Gooselike in general appearance, the shelduck measures up to 610 mm (24 inches) in length. The body is white apart from a broad chestnut band across the breast and a dark streak down the centre of the belly. The head and neck are dark green. The wing feathers are black and white, and there are noticeable green specula (secondary feathers). The legs are flesh coloured and the bill red.

Male shelducks are larger and more brightly coloured than the females, and have a pronounced knob at the base of the bill.

Shelducks are normally silent, but during the breeding season produce “ak-ak-ak” and “ark-ark” calls.

They feed on shellfish, crabs, shrimps, sandhoppers, worms and insect larvae. Their feeding method is either to up-end from the water surface or to wade through mud and sweep the bill from side to side.

Shelducks nest in dense vegetation, often in abandoned rabbit holes. The nest comprises straw and grass lined with down from the female bird. Eight to ten eggs are laid in April or May, with incubation (by the female) taking about 30 days. The young birds are able to feed themselves almost as soon as they hatch and can fly after 45 days.

© John Welford

Spoon-billed sandpiper

The spoon-billed sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus), or spoonbill sandpiper, is one of the world’s rarest birds and it is in critical danger of extinction. Fortunately, efforts are being made to save it and there is a good chance that they will succeed.

  

Habitat

Spoon-billed sandpipers are coastal birds that never breed more than six kilometres from the sea. Their breeding sites, in north-east Russia, are carefully selected in sandy locations with sparse vegetation that is also close to mudflats for feeding purposes. The birds return to the same breeding site year after year.

They winter in south-east Asia and the Bay of Bengal, where they are found on coastal mudflats and saltpans. Their particular requirement is for very shallow water, such as on the outermost edges of river deltas.

However, only a few sites are regularly visited by the steadily dwindling population of birds, and some sites that were formerly home to spoon-billed sandpipers have not had any sightings in recent years.

Appearance

The spoon-billed sandpiper is 14-16 centimetres in length (5.5-6 inches) which is similar to that of a house sparrow. However, apart from its distinctive plumage, it could hardly be mistaken for a sparrow given its much longer legs and very unusual spatulate bill which it uses to search for food in shallow watery mud.

During the breeding season, adult birds (both males and females) have a reddish-brown head and upper body, streaked with brown, and are largely white below but with some brown speckling. The upperparts and wings are dark with brown and red edging to the wings.

At other times of the year the red colouring turns to brown and the upperparts to pale brown-grey with white trimming to the feathers.

Feeding

Spoon-billed sandpipers feed on small invertebrates which they find either by probing amongst low vegetation or by shovelling through the shallow mud with their specially adapted bills. Chicks feed mainly on insects and seeds.

Breeding

Spoon-billed sandpipers fly 5,000 miles between their winter and summer quarters, arriving in north-east Russia when the snows are still melting in late Spring. The males perform display flights to attract a mate above the intended nest site. The nest is only a scrape in the ground, where the female will lay three or four eggs which hatch between 19 and 23 days later.

After the chicks have hatched the family moves away from the nest site to a place where they can be fed in safety by both parents for around two weeks, by which time the chicks will have fledged. All the birds fly south in late August.

Although the parent birds will return north when the next breeding season arrives, the young birds will stay on the wintering grounds for a further year until they are ready to breed.

Conservation

Spoon-billed sandpipers face many threats, including loss of habitat and predation. They are dependent on having access to very specific locations for feeding and breeding, and it is these sites, particularly in the wintering areas, that are coming under most pressure from human activity. Many tidal mudflats have been reclaimed in recent years for industrial and aquaculture purposes, and there has been extensive pollution.

With rapidly growing human populations in south-east Asia, the hunting of birds for food has grown in intensity. It is not particularly spoon-billed sandpipers that are targeted, but they are caught in the nets that are used to gather wading birds of all species. Given the fact that the young birds spend a whole year on the wintering grounds, unlike the older birds that leave for the north every spring, a disproportionate number of younger birds are being caught which are thus not around to breed the following year.

The result of these pressures has been a dramatic fall in numbers of spoon-billed sandpipers since the 1980s with an 88% decline in numbers since 2002. Whereas some 2,500 birds were estimated as the worldwide population before 1980, a maximum of 200 pairs is believed to remain today, and the number may be as low as 100. Drastic action is therefore necessary to prevent the species becoming extinct.

One approach has been to protect the birds in their wintering grounds by seeking the help of local people. For example, at one of the wintering grounds in Burma alternatives to bird catching have been provided in the form of fishing nets donated by the British Trust for Ornithology.

A programme of captive breeding of spoon-billed sandpipers is also under way, the aim being to create a “safety net” population from which the wild population can be boosted, or the captively-bred birds can act as replacements should extinction occur. 

This consists of taking eggs from Russian nests, hatching them in incubators, then, after a 30-day quarantine period at Moscow Zoo, flying the chicks to Britain where they are raised at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust’s headquarters at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. The programme has already shown signs of success and there is a good chance that the spoon-billed sandpiper will not join the long list of bird species that have disappeared for good.

© John Welford

Red-throated diver

The red-throated diver (Gavia stellata) is found all the year round in the far northwest of Ireland and the highlands and islands of Scotland. It is also found in northern Europe, Russia and North America. It is a coastal bird except during the breeding season when it moves inland to small lakes on upland moors, returning to the coast in winter in small flocks of up to 100 birds.

Adult birds are around 21-23 inches (53-58 cms) in length, which is similar to that of the mallard. Summer plumage is a grey body, velvety grey head and dull red throat patch. Winter plumage is grey-brown and white with white spots on the back. Males and females are similar in appearance.

The bird is well-adapted to feeding at sea or on inland lakes. It swims low in the water with the bill pointing slightly upwards and will submerge if alarmed. It will chase fish underwater or scoop shellfish from as deep as 30 feet (9 metres).

Favourite marine fish are herring, cod, sprats and sand-eels. Freshwater fish include small salmon, trout and roach.

In flight, red-throated divers have rapid wingbeats with the wings lifted high as the head and neck move and down. Although red-throated divers can take off easily from the surface, landing on water can be awkward and noisy due to the legs being set far back on the body.

Red-throated divers are generally silent, although during the breeding season this is not the case. High-pitched wails are often heard as the birds assemble at the breeding grounds and compete for the best sites. The wails were once thought by local people to signify the approach of bad weather, hence the name of “rain goose” that was sometimes used for this species.

Nests are heaps of water plants or moss, either on the shoreline of lochans (small freshwater lochs) or floating on the surface. One or two eggs are laid, these being incubated mainly by the female for 26-29 days. The young leave the nest after only a day or so, but continue to be fed by their parents for about 50 days. They will themselves be ready to breed after two or three years.

Numbers of red-throated divers have increased since they ceased to be persecuted in the 19^th century, but are still not large. There may be a total winter population of about 5,000 birds, but it is noticeable that the numbers on the Shetland Islands have declined since the early 1980s by about a third.

© John Welford

Southern giant petrel

The southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus) is found in the Southern Hemisphere on islands and the coasts of southern Australia, New Zealand, southern South America and Antarctica.

Appearance

As the name suggests this is a large bird, weighing up to 11 pounds (5kg), up to 39 inches (99 cm) in length and with a wingspan of 78 inches (2 metres) – males are larger than females. The plumage is brownish overall, darker on the lower underparts and much paler on the head and neck. The heavy bill is yellow.

Behaviour and feeding

Southern giant petrels feed on the carcasses of marine mammals, such as seals, that are washed up on shorelines. They can also be seen following trawlers and scooping fish from the surface that have been thrown overboard.

Breeding

Southern giant petrels nest on grassy islands in colonies of up to 300 pairs. A single egg is laid on a grassy mound or pile of stones. The chick is slow to develop and may not fledge until it is around 20 weeks old. It may not be ready to breed until its eighth year.

© John Welford

Little grebe

The little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), otherwise known as the dabchick, is found throughout the British Isles as well as most of Europe, parts of the Middle East, Asia and central and southern Africa. It is at home on any still or slow-flowing fresh water that has lush vegetation.

At 10-12 inches (25-30 cm) it is the smallest of the grebes, and also slightly smaller than the moorhen. It is a dumpy bird, with a rounded head and a shorter neck than other grebes.

Breeding plumage is dark brown with chestnut neck and cheeks. Winter plumage is brown with a darker crown and paler neck and cheeks. It is noticeable for the “powder puff” below the tail that is puffed up in some display postures. Females are duller in appearance than males.

The little grebe is a secretive bird that is more likely to dive than fly when alarmed. Until it is safe to emerge it may well stay underwater, with only the head poking above the surface. 

Little grebes tend to fly more than other grebes, often flying low over the water. However, the flight feathers are lost as part of the post-breeding moult, so little grebes are flightless for around 3-4 weeks every year.

The most common call is a loud whinny or trill that is most frequently heard during territorial disputes or courtship. In the latter case, a pair may engage in a duet.

Food consists of small fish, such as minnows, insects and their larvae, and water snails. The food is hunted underwater from frequent dives. When a deeper dive is called for, the little grebe will jump up and enter the water with a splash.

Although little grebes tend to keep to themselves, during the breeding season they often congregate in colonies on favoured stretches of water. The nest comprises a heap of water plants that is either floating or loosely attached to a fallen branch in shallow water. Four to six eggs are laid, these being incubated by both parent birds and hatching in around 20 days. The young leave the nest soon after hatching but are looked after and fed by the parents for around 30-40 days, sometimes riding on the parents’ backs. They are able to fly at around 45 days.

The breeding season is often lengthy, with as many as three broods being raised in a good year.

© John Welford

Kokako

The kokako (Callaeas cinerea) is one of three species of wattle-bird that are (or were) endemic to New Zealand (the other two are the saddleback and the huia, the latter of which is believed to be extinct). The wattle is a small piece of coloured flesh at the base of the bill.

The kokako is found mainly on North Island, with the much smaller population on South Island being confined to a few isolated areas. North Island kokakos have blue wattles whereas those on South Island have orange wattles.

Appearance

The kokako is about 15 inches long with blue-grey foliage. As well as having wattles, wattle-birds are distinguished by the dense dark feathering they have between eye and bill. There is a light-coloured line that, in effect, joins the wattles and is seen around the back of the eyes and across the head. The bill is short, powerful and finch-like in shape. Males and females are similar in appearance.

Behaviour

Many people regard the kokako as New Zealand’s finest song-bird, the song being varied between two organ-like notes and three whistling “pips”. The song is highly resonant and can be heard several miles away.

The kokako feeds on the fruit, flowers and leaves of the dense woodland where it lives. It gathers these in a similar way to how the treecreeper hunts for insects, namely by climbing a tree from base to top then gliding down to the base of the next tree. Apart from that, it is an infrequent flyer.

Breeding

Breeding takes place between November and March, although pairs stay together throughout the year. The nest is made from sticks and twigs among the thick foliage of the canopy or in the fork of a large tree.

Two or three eggs are laid and these are incubated for up to 18 days by the female bird. The chicks are fed in the nest by both parents until they fledge at around 35 days. However, they remain close to the parents’ territory for several months, during which parental feeding continues.

Depending on food supply, a second or even a third brood can be raised during a season.

© John Welford

Red-necked grebe

The red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena) is a winter visitor to eastern England and southeast Scotland, but it is only seen at its best during the summer, which it spends on the lakes of Denmark, Finland and Germany. In its winter plumage it is easily confused with the great crested grebe. 

The preferred habitat of the red-necked grebe is small, shallow lakes with plenty of vegetation growing above the surface. Although it breeds on fresh water, it heads for estuaries or coastal marshes when visiting Great Britain.

The red-necked grebe is about 17 inches (43 cm) in length, being smaller and stockier than the great crested grebe. It has a thick neck and bill, which has a yellow base. The winter plumage is grey-brown, darker above than below. In summer it has a reddish-brown neck and breast.

Food for red-necked grebes consists of insects and their larvae, taken from the water or plants, and fish. The latter are caught by shallow diving or swimming with only the head submerged. Small fish are swallowed whole and larger fish killed by shaking or crushing against solid objects.

Red-necked grebes are strong fliers but they are rarely seen in flight because they tend to do so only at night, especially when making important journeys. 

They are usually silent in Britain but very vocal during the breeding season.

The nest site is usually among water-plants such as reeds. Both partners build a floating nest from vegetation. Four or five eggs are laid and incubated for 20-23 days. The brood is looked after by both parents who divide the family between them. Fledging takes place at around 72 days.

© John Welford