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Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live.


enkidu  6 | 611
19 Dec 2009   #151
SeanBM
I don't understand what kind of information you expected? This is common "dzięcioł". Nothing special about this bird.

Here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picidae
wildrover  98 | 4430
19 Dec 2009   #152
"dzięcioł".

Polish for headbanger...?
Seanus  15 | 19666
19 Dec 2009   #153
Polish for woodpecker I think
enkidu  6 | 611
19 Dec 2009   #154
Polish for headbanger...?

Not really - in the word "dzięcioł" there is nothing about head or banging. :-)
Dzięcioł is dzięcioł. You can spot it in the middle of the city. Nothing special about it. Photos of birds like "głuszec" or "dudek" - that would be something!

By the way - photos of "deer" you can see in this thread are more like "sarna". Sarna is quite common. Big rabbit on the long legs. ;-) I remember that bunch of sarna on the main square of my hometown were common issue in the summer time. From time to time we've got a families (around 10 pct) standing in the middle of the road blocking the traffic. (that's was funny. They pretended to "not give a damn" to the city environment, and ignored any attempt to remove them from the road. Wild boar were worse - they can be pretty aggressive.) Anyway - "deer" is a "jeleń" in Polish. Much bigger and more decent species.
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
19 Dec 2009   #155
I don't understand what kind of information you expected?

Either do I :)

I am a city boy from another country and I know little to nothing about about Polish wildlife, so any information is appreciated, thanks.

This is common "dzięcioł". Nothing special about this bird.

Perhaps some information on what particular species it is, there is always something interesting if you look deeply enough :)

I think this particular species is a male White-backed Woodpecker (Wiki)

It is the largest of the spotted woodpeckers at 24–26 cm long

And perhaps not so common either

It is a scarce bird, requiring large, mature woods with plenty of dead wood. Numbers have decreased in Nordic countries. In Sweden, its population decline has caused the Swedish government to enact protection for the species in the national Biodiversity Action Plan[1].

209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:JYB37h-7k48J:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ White-backed_Woodpecker+leucotos&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pl&client= firefox-a

I also just found this piece of information on our friend, also on this thread, the green woodpecker:

Woodpeckers have the longest tongues among birds. They use them to penetrate deep tree-hollows and long corridors of ant-hills.
When a green woodpecker sticks its tongue out, the tongue is 1,5 times as long as the bird's head and beak.

209.85.135.132/search?q=cache:vSvYjNyVzOEJ:birds.poland.pl/didyou /article,Woodpeckers_tongue,id,91302.htm+woodpecker+poland&cd=2&h l=en&ct=clnk&gl=pl&client=firefox-a

The first one is a sarna.

photos of "deer" you can see in this thread are more like "sarna".

Two for Sarna (pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarna), we'll go with that.
Wroclaw  44 | 5359
20 Dec 2009   #156
it's a Great Spotted Woodpecker
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
20 Dec 2009   #157
I had looked at that because it is similar but I thought it wasn't for two reasons.
Firstly, it is not spotted but striped.
The White-backed Woodpecker

has plumage similar to the Great Spotted Woodpecker, but with white bars across the wings rather than spots, and a white lower back.

And secondly

It is distributed throughout Europe and northern Asia, and usually resident year-roundexcept in the colder parts of its range.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Spotted_Woodpecker

And it was minus 20 last night and minus 12 today and he was still knocking his head against the frozen tree.

I could be wrong as it does have a large white shoulder patch common to the Great Spotted Woodpecker but again it doesn't have a black line zigzagging from the shoulder halfway across the breast nor back to the nape, which is the distinguishing feature of the Great Spotted Woodpecker but it is very difficult to see on the photos.

Here are the last of the photos I have of him, they are terrible but hopefully they will give more information as to the identity of this headbanger.


  • IMG_6550_1.JPG

  • IMG_6555_3.JPG

  • IMG_6556_4.JPG
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
20 Dec 2009   #158
:
it's a Great Spotted Woodpecker

I am starting to think you are correct, as it is too difficult to see a black line zigzagging from the shoulder halfway across the breast and back to the nape.

It has a white patch on its shoulder and does not have a white lower back but a black one.

Edit*
Yes, I am convinced, it must be a Great Spotted Woodpecker as opposed to a White-backed one as it's back is clearly not white :)
1jola  14 | 1875
20 Dec 2009   #159
Dzięcioł is dzięcioł. You can spot it in the middle of the city. Nothing special about it. Photos of birds like "głuszec" or "dudek" - that would be something!

Dzięcioł, meaning woodpecker, is very special to birdwatchers, and a woodpecker is not just a woodpecker. It would be equivalent to saying: a falcon is just a falcon. It depends which one you spot, some are rare. Imagine someone seeing an Ivory-billed woodpecker in Northern America and saying that they just saw a...woodpecker. Perhaps, in Poland the distinction is less clear, but in NA a sap-sucker or a flicker, although they look like woodpeckers and fly like them, they are not.

What would be something though, is a picture of an aquatic warbler, or even a glimpse - black belt stuff.

SeanBM

If you have access to that tree, and smear some suet on the bark, your chances of watching and photographing this bird will greatly increase.
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
20 Dec 2009   #160
a falcon is just a falcon.

I will also put photos of crows on here, although found in abundance all over Europe, I like the way they look, walk and act.

There are very many birds here, surely they do not become interesting only if they are rare?

I will continue to post about the animals here, be they common or not.

And thank you for the suet tip, I will try it :)
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
2 Feb 2010   #161
I have been seeing lots of pheasant recently.

Pheasant in Polish is 'Bażant'.

There is a very good player that I have not seen before on Wiki, it plays a recording of the sound the bird makes, Common Pheasant.


  • IMG_6754_1.JPG
convex  20 | 3928
2 Feb 2010   #162
I will also put photos of crows on here, although found in abundance all over Europe, I like the way they look, walk and act.

These guys have recently taken to hanging out in front of the apartment. Opening the window gives me a quick godlike moment.

I have been seeing lots of pheasant recently.

pheasant is my favorite game bird :)
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
2 Mar 2010   #163
The first two photos are of a pheasant and the third one is of a cat.
There has been some debate about what kind of cat it is, I think it is a domestic (if a cat can ever be called domestic) tom cat but my friend was convinced it was a lynx but I will let you decide for yourselves.


  • IMG_6757_2.JPG

  • IMG_6767_3.JPG
aphrodisiac  11 | 2427
2 Mar 2010   #164
my friend was convinced it was a lynx but I will let you decide for yourselves.

lynx has a short tail and this one does not. Isn't lynx bigger then the domestic cat?
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
2 Mar 2010   #165
Isn't lynx bigger then the domestic cat?

Yes but my friend was convinced that this was a lynx.
I thought it looked like a normal cat because of the ears.
Lynx have those distinguished triangular ears and yes, the small tail is an indicator and then there is the well fed domestic cat.

Lynx have short tails and characteristic tufts of black hair on the tip of their ears.

sdvzsd
aphrodisiac  11 | 2427
2 Mar 2010   #166
I thought it looked like a normal cat because of the ears.

well, that could have been a wildcat- ŻBIK in Polish. My cat had a marking similar to zbik.
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
31 Mar 2010   #167
Can anyone tell me what species of bird this is, please?

There is a huge population of birds where I live. Morning times resemble the sounds of a huge city, except the population are all birds.


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aphrodisiac  11 | 2427
31 Mar 2010   #168
redchested macaroon;) aka Blasonicus redicus Polonicus
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
31 Mar 2010   #169
As robin red breast and blue tit are the only two small birds I know, due to being a city boy with a dirty mind, It looks to me like a mix of the two.
dtaylor5632  18 | 1998
31 Mar 2010   #170
Can anyone tell me what species of bird this is, please?

chaffinch. I love birds:) Used to go bird watching in the borders.
OP SeanBM  34 | 5781
31 Mar 2010   #171
chaffinch.

I thought you were joking at first, like a chav Finch or somfink :)
Thanks.

This bird is not migratory in the milder parts of its range, but vacates the colder regions in winter. The coelebs part of its name means "bachelor". This species was named by Linnaeus; in his home country of Sweden, where the females depart in winter, but the males often remain.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaffinch#Behaviour

I love this function on Wiki when you can hear the bird
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Fringilla_coelebs_short.ogg

It is very common in Europe, which to me means it is well evolved for it's surroundings, a survivor.
aphrodisiac  11 | 2427
31 Mar 2010   #172
chaffinch

zięba in Polish:). I am not joking this time.
dtaylor5632  18 | 1998
31 Mar 2010   #173
I thought you were joking at first, like a chav Finch or somfink :)

Hehe, its one of my old secrets that I dont tell people, I like nature and bird watching:)
ShawnH  8 | 1488
31 Mar 2010   #174
I like nature and bird watching:)

Best done on a sunny day with a beer on the rynek.
dtaylor5632  18 | 1998
31 Mar 2010   #175
St.George's square in Glasgow...well there are many drunks drinking beer. Though I gave that up a long time ago (It seems long, about 4 months) :D
ShawnH  8 | 1488
31 Mar 2010   #176
Though I gave that up a long time ago

The looking or the imbibing?

My condolonces, whichever the case might be...
dtaylor5632  18 | 1998
31 Mar 2010   #177
The looking or the imbibing?

Both, need to think of decent excuse to start again, going to the Scottish Highlands on Friday and on Saturday going to a barn dance. Maybe......just maybe....
Bzibzioh
1 Apr 2010   #178
I think it definitely looks like a deer, although I have no knowledge of which particular dear, which sex or how old it is.

If it's a deer you can figure sex but not age.

I will give an indication of size and of walking pattern, so as we may be better informed next time, as to which animal they may be.

Walking pattern and an indication of size is crucial.
Tymoteusz  2 | 346
1 Apr 2010   #179
If it's a deer you can figure sex but not age.

Depending on species, age traits are very subtle. I do a passable job with Whitetail deer just by having 35 years of experience doing so. (Keep in mind that 6 or 7 years is max you are ever likely to find) The definative way to age a deer is through the wear on the teeth.
Bzibzioh
1 Apr 2010   #180
Depending on species, age traits are very subtle. I do a passable job with Whitetail deer just by having 35 years of experience doing so.

Wow, I'm impressed! I have never meet anyone who can do that with competence. Total respect!
I have some experience but not to that point.


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