Cottbus Bird Census

I took the monthly ebird challenge (50 photos/recordings) as an opportunity to try to get records of 50 different species in December. Here’s my census of our local area!

Passerines

Starting with the 29 passerines, the greatest of these are the corvids:

Hooded crow: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/509612471

Raven: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/512520621

Magpie: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/513331561

Our two species of sparrow:

Many tits:

Willow tit: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/516667821

And finches:

Just a couple of thrushes:

Blackbird: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/509614511

And the last group I could find within the passerines — some members of the Certhioidea superfamily, “containing wrens and their allies”:

And the weirdos among the passerines:

Bearded reedling is the only species in the family Panuridae: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/512519971

Non-passerines

Non-passerines include the pigeons:

Ducks:

Geese:

Greylag goose: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/516667801

Swans:

Woodpeckers!

Herons:

Gulls:

Herring gull: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/512519921

A new order to me was the Gruiformes:

And our only resident member of the Phalacrocoracidae family:

Finally the raptors:

That’s 31 non-passerines, taking me to a satisfying total of 60 for the month. Observed but too frisky to record were the coal tit and dratted kingfisher.