Stockholm Birds (1 Viewer)

Hi, I'm from the US and visiting Stockholm soon.

Can anyone tell me a few common birds species I might see around town?

I can l look them up on an image search. Also, if any Swedes could perhaps answer a question or questions I might have about food, or local customs via private message or email that would help too! I'm sure something will come up that isn't in travel books or websites. Cheers!

ncaltruist said:

Hi, I'm from the US and visiting Stockholm soon.

Can anyone tell me a few common birds species I might see around town?

I can l look them up on an image search. Also, if any Swedes could perhaps answer a question or questions I might have about food, or local customs via private message or email that would help too! I'm sure something will come up that isn't in travel books or websites. Cheers!

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<Is there something called a rook here? Sort of like a crow?

Can't tell you about Stockholm but I can say, yes, there is a common corvid called Rook in northern Europe. Unlike the 'ordinary' (Carrion or Hooded) Crow, Rooks are highly gregarious (they even nest in colonies), have a whitish area at the base of the bill and ragged-looking feathery 'trousers' high on their legs. They nest in trees but otherwise are birds of open farming country. Hope someone from Sweden answers you soon !

I am no expert on Stockholm but I do visit the city 2 or 3 times a year on business, and try to squeeze in some birding when I can. Will you have transport available to get a little out of town, or will you only be in the city centre?

It's hard to list all the birds you might see, because of the number of species in the area, but some city centre birds you should be able to see without too much trouble are:
Ducks: mallard, teal, tufted duck, goldeneye
Gulls: black-headed, common, herring, and great black-backed
Great spotted woodpecker
House martin, swallow (summer)
White wagtail
Thrushes: fieldfare, blackbird, redwing
Blue tit, Great tit
Crows: Jay, Magpie, Hooded crow, Jackdaw (Rook is a possibility, but I can't say I have seen one in Stockholm as far as I recall...)
House sparrow, tree sparrow
Finches: chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch, bullfinch, siskin

Hopefully that's a good starting point... it's a bit of a brain-dump of the birds I can recall seeing in Stockholm and nearby towns and cities, but I may have got some of these wrong in terms of timing, as I think some are migrant species in Sweden.

If you can get further afield with your own transport, it's worth visiting some of the lakes and inlets, where you have a good chance of slightly more unusual species, and it's always worth checking http://svalan.artdata.slu.se/birds/todays.asp which lists (mostly) rarities and less common species (and you can narrow down the results to the two Stockholm Provinces, Uppland and Södermanland)

One thing concerning food / culture. If anyone even mentions, never mind offers, Surstromming to you - run away, fast. :eek!: There's also a possibility of Common Eider, Common and Velvet Scoter ( split from Black and White-winged), Red-throated / Black-throated Loon, Horned, Black-necked and Great Crested Grebe, Black Guillemot, Common Murre and Razorbill off the coast, shorebirds should be moving through, the commoner Warblers, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, at least, will be around. And, if it's your first time to Europe - welcome to Pipits :eek!:

Chris

Have you been to Stockholm yet?

I can tell you that it is very rare to see a rook in Stockholm. Their main locals are in the south of Sweden (and they're everywhere over there!), but there are also some in Uppsala, one hour north of Stockholm.

There's a good place in Djurgården (practically in the middle of town!) called Isbladskärret. You should see some birds over there like greylag goose, northern lapwing, a large colony of grey herons, lots of coots, mallards and goldeneyes, a pair of horned grebes, and also possibly gadwall, little grebe and of course the barnacle goose!

Oh yeah... And redstarts, pied flycatcher, eurasian nuthatch, spotted flycatcher, common swifts, swallows, chaffinches and tawny owls are also common on Djurgården.

Off coast birds you've already got some examples of, blacknecked grebe is pretty rare, and scoter very rare in Sweden though, so I wouldn't count on it. After all, Östersjön (the sea outside Stockholm) is pretty much dead.... =/