Birds of Europe

A seabird ringed on the Shiant Isles in the Western Isles set a new European birding longevity record before it died, ornithologists have said. The shag, which was 31, was fitted with a ring on 30 June 1985. Ornithologists lost track of the bird until it was found dead on the Shiants on 26 April this year. After checking records, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) said it was oldest ringed shag in Britain, Ireland and Europe. The bird, known by its ring number 1227282, has raised the record by almost a year, the trust said ... Read more

As you walk in the warm spring sun, your phone tucked into your pocket (who can see the screen in this glorious daylight, anyway?), you notice an unexpected chirp coming from the hot pavement. You look down, and see a baby bird. He seems parched there on the pavement. Raw-skinned and featherless. Vulnerable and alone. s humans, we're inclined to save this tiny life After all, we're talking about a baby here. But wait. Didn't your fourth-grade teacher tell you n ... Read more

One of the world's rarest birds has been given a lifeline after wildlife experts managed to breed a pair in captivity for the first time after trying "everything short of playing Barry White." Only around 200 breeding pairs of critically endangered spoon-billed sandpipers remain in the wild, where they make an annual 10,000 mile round-trip between their Russian Arctic breeding grounds and wintering grounds in south east Asia. Efforts began to establish a flock at the ... Read more