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Your 50 favourite birds… (1 Viewer)

wolfbirder

wolfbirder

Well-known member
Ok I know this is a bit sad, I bet no one replies :smoke:

Reason I said fifty is because I can't narrow it down....

1. Hen Harrier
2. Pallid Harrier
3. Gyrfalcon
4. Great Grey Owl
5. Golden Eagle
6. Snowy Owl
7. Hobby
8. Goshawk
9. Montagu's Harrier
10.Merlin
11.Short-eared Owl
12.Pomarine Skua
13.Barn Owl
14.Red Kite
15.Hawfinch
16.Redstart
17.Bearded Tit
18.Wryneck
19.Nightjar
20.Peregrine Falcon
21.Black-throated Blue Warbler
22.Blackburnian Warbler
23.European Bee-eater
24.Roller
25.Kingfisher
26.Tree Sparrow
27.Cerulean Warbler
28.Smew
29.Great Northern Diver
30.Spotted Redshank
31.Black-throated Diver
32.Sanderling
33.Wallcreeper
34.Slavonian Grebe
35.Stonechat
36.Pied Flycatcher
37.Sooty Tern
38.Goldeneye
39.Pintail
40.Isabelline Shrike
41.Puffin
42.Gannet
43.Firecrest
44.Pallas Leaf Warbler
45.Red-backed Shrike
46.Northern Long-tailed Tit
47.Lammergeier
48.Black-tailed Godwit
49.White-spotted Bluethroat
50.Black-shouldered Kite

I know there are endless others, but from ones I have seen these are my favourate 50. You need to be bored to contribute.......
 
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I once said that if I saw Hoopoe, Roller and Bee Eater in the UK I would give up birdwatching (I have but I didn't - I wrote a book instead!). This is actually quoted in Mark Cocker's Birds Britannica book (although it says Golden Oriole instead of one of them) - I think Golden Oriole is my favourite. I could not list 50 in any particular order but certainly these are some of my favs:

Great Grey Shrike
Red Backed Shrike
Wheatear in spring
Hen Harrier
Corncrake
Manx Shearwater
Any of the UK Skuas
Crossbill
Hawfinch
Smew
Avocet
Kingfisher
Wryneck
Snow Bunting

Of those I have seen in the UK there are very few that I don't like, in fact there are none I don't like but some are duller than the rest!
 
Top 50 favourite birds? Hmmm. Is that on my life, national, county, patch or garden list? I'm afraid I can't do it. There are the Pittas and Trogons for the most colourful ( forgot to add Tanagers as well ), Hummers 'cos - they're Hummers ( 'Nuff sed), stuff like Kakapo etc because they are megas, Sea birds - have you ever seen a Pteredroma petrel powering through a gale in the southern ocean, Waders - just because, even Pipit and OW warblers - though they can almost reduce me to tears. The list is endless. Start with Ostrich then keep on going until you run out of species ( by which time a few hundred splits will have appeared over the horizon ). That should just about do it.

Chris

Forgot to stick Birds of Paradise in the coloured jobbies - Wallace's Standard-wing. Mmmm.

c
 
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To be honest there were no intended parameters, but as my life world list is only about 750 it is probably easier for me. My favourate 50 are taken from those seen. Birds of Paradise would be right up there if I had been fortunate enough ever to see them.
 
Albatrosses, quail-doves, fruit-doves, Andean hummingbirds, macaws, Australasian parrots, trogons, mountain-toucans, many of the owls, fancy nightjars, Agami Heron, kingfishers, etc.

Carlos
 
considering my knowledge of birds is limited to southwest United States this list will suck. Every time i get on here I see so many birds I have never seen before..Give me 50 years and I'll get back to you.
 
Why would it suck hotspot? A list from your area has no less validity than one from a birder jetting all over - don't get caught up in the idea that you need to travel far to see good stuff.

I have to say choosing 50 really is difficult! I want to change it each time I look at the list, but here it is and in no order of preference, with no apologies for the common species...

  1. Kestrel
  2. Sparrowhawk
  3. Marsh Harrier
  4. Barn Owl
  5. Tawny owl
  6. Common Tern
  7. Little Tern
  8. Kingfisher
  9. Blackbird
  10. European Robin
  11. Nightingale
  12. Dunnock
  13. House Sparrow (I spend some time most days watching my locals and they are fascinating)
  14. Stonechat
  15. Reed Bunting
  16. Bearded Tit
  17. Long-tailed Tit
  18. Skylark
  19. Sedge warbler
  20. Grey Wagtail
  21. Yellow Wagtail
  22. Pied wagtail
  23. Nightjar
  24. Jackdaw
  25. Linnet
  26. Goldcrest
  27. Redwing
  28. Song thrush
  29. Wren
  30. Dipper
  31. Meadow pipit
  32. House martin
  33. Sand Martin
  34. Swift
  35. Green woodpecker
  36. Cuckoo
  37. Collared dove
  38. Turtle dove
  39. Fulmar
  40. Little auk(though I've yet to see one)
  41. Black-headed gull
  42. Redshank
  43. meadow pipit (for the winter flocks that gather on my patch)
  44. Stone curlew (purely for their haunting call in the Suffolk night)
  45. Turnstone
  46. Sanderling
  47. Snipe
  48. Lapwing
  49. Ringed plover
  50. Avocet

I thought of adding hen harrier, long eared owl and others but these are the species that move me - hence collared dove, since the tame ones in my garden are always a pleasure (and not boring, despite their reputation - I see a lot of interaction and territoriality in my local birds).
 
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hotspot birding said:
considering my knowledge of birds is limited to southwest United States this list will suck. Every time i get on here I see so many birds I have never seen before..Give me 50 years and I'll get back to you.
Click to expand...

Your list will probably have 40 birds I have never seen but would love to. Enjoy and revere your local birds - they are somebody else's ambitions!

John
 
Within the UK, my triumvirate would be...Red-billed Tropicbird, Wallcreeper and White-throated Needletail.....I'd be hard pressed to select a favourite, albeit...I've only seen one of these!
 
Farnboro John said:
Your list will probably have 40 birds I have never seen but would love to. Enjoy and revere your local birds - they are somebody else's ambitions!

John
Click to expand...

Hear, hear!

You don't need a passport and a wallet full of cash to see interesting birds, just patience and an open mind. Don't dismiss birds just because they are 'everyday', as those can sometimes be far more interesting than a flashy rarity.

Edit: though looking again at wolfbirder's list there are plenty I could have added - great grey owl is rather impressive but not one I've seen, and I didn't put any ducks or geese on my list. Very difficult to list 50 as you leave top favourites and enter an area where you like birds to a similar degree.
 
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I'll limit mine to what I've actually seen. Hence no Smew, Snowy Owl, Turtle Dove etc. etc. etc.

1. Raven
2. Chough
3. Jay
4. Black Throated Diver
5. Red Throated Diver
6. Great Northern Diver
7. Eider
8. Brent Geese
9. Great Crested Grebe
10. Harlequin Duck
11. Wren
12. Dunnock
13. Pied Wagtail
14. Pied Flycatcher
15. Common Redstart
16. Wood Warbler
17. Red Kite
18. Common Buzzard
19. Long Tailed Tit
20. Long Tailed Duck
21. Surf Scoter
22. Golden Eagle
22. Barn Owl
22. Short Eared Owl
23. Emu
24. Kookaburra
25. Kingfisher
26. Belted Kingfisher
27. Curlew
28. Turnstone
29. Red Breasted Merganser
30. Goosander
31. Swift
32. Swallow
33. Dabchick
34. Osprey
35. Common Sandpiper
36. Blackcap
37. Brown Pelican
38. Great White Pelican (is that the one in Aus?)
39. Steller's Jay
40. Grey Jay
41. Bald Eagle
42. Common Tern
43. Ring Ouzel
44. Song Thrush
45. Mistle Thrush
46. Blackbird
47. Avocet
48. Grasshopper Warbler
49. Peregrine Falcon
50. Clarke's Nutcracker

Phew. I thought 50 would be enough but it's not. Now top 10 mammals. That would be a toughie.

Rich
 
1. Burrowing owl. They are comical
2. House wren
3.Chaffinch..always welcomes me to Finland
4. Great tit...nostalgia, sound of my childhood
5. Atlantic puffin

Raven is good too.
 
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