Eco Hvar

ECO HVAR: AIMS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CHARITY

Environment

Eco Hvar's aims for environmental protection, and related articles.

Read more...

maria lidija

Health

Eco Hvar's ideas for encouraging positive health, plus related articles

Read more...

Animals

Eco Hvar's aims for protecting animals and improving animal welfare, plus related articles

Read more...

Bird sightings 2016

Steve Jones has kindly provided a listing of the birds sighted during 2016, with English, Latin and Croatian names..

Chaffinch, 22nd November 2016 Chaffinch, 22nd November 2016 Photo: Steve Jones

25th November 2016, Note from Steve: I think there are about 67 confirmed sightings on the island (99% between ferry port and Jelsa) and oddly coming back from the supermarket at lunchtime another to be added but as I was driving. I couldn’t be 100% sure on the species although I would suggest it was a Snipe.

The list includes the Black-winged Stilt, - not seen by me but your friends from Stari Grad, who saw them in Vrboska twice.

I have listed Raven (didn’t see the bird, but both myself and a friend heard them in September on the old road to Hvar past Brusje).

I have sorted them in alphabetical and not in the order seen and hopefully Croatian names as best I can – feel free to come back on any glaring errors.

There have been other species seen but I am not 100% sure on ID, and I know of at least three species seen in previous years and not in this one.

I think it would be wrong to associate one year's observations with a more general picture about wildlife losses. It may be that there were no greater species numbers 10 or 20 years ago than there are now. It may be my lack of knowledge on what to expect to see here. I am really surprised as to why there have been no Woodpeckers, or at least none that I have seen. I am also surprised not to see any Winter Thrushes (Song Thrush, Redwing, Fieldfare), perhaps this is a location/milder climate thing, and they have never been resident. Seabirds are another mystery, coming out on the ferry numerous times from Split and nothing that stands out. Other than Herring Gulls and the odd Cormorant that is it. I may have been spoilt by being so close to Dawlish Warren in Devon which has a huge variety all year round. Had I had data for a much longer period I might have been able to draw some conclusions.

Alpine swift - čiopa bijela - apus melba, tachymarptis melba. Sightings: September 2016;

Bee-eater  - pčelarica -  merops apiaster. Sightings: August 2016; April 2016;

Black redstart - mrka crvenrepka - phoenicurus ochruros. Sightings: March 2016; February 2016;

Blackbird - crni kos - turdus merula. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović; Sightings: February 2016; January 2016; early January 2016;

Blackcap - crnokapa grmuša - sylvia atricapilla. Sightings: September 2016; March 2016; February 2016; January 2016; Autumn/winter 2015;

Black-eared wheateater - primorska bjeloguza - oenanthe hispanica

Black-headed bunting - crnoglava strnadica -  emberiza melanocephala

Black-headed gull - riječni galeb - chroicocephalus ridibundus. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović. Sightings: February 2016;

Black-winged stilt - vlastelica - himantopus himantopus. Sightings: April 2016;

Blue tit - plavetna sjenica - parus ceruleus. Video of song and alarm call by chainsawbeks. Sightings: February 2016; January 2016;

Buzzard - škanjac - buteo buteo. Sightings: August-September 2016; February 2016; January 2016; early January 2016;

Chaffinch - zeba - fringilla coelebs gengleri. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović; Sightings: April 2016; March 2016; February 2016; January 2016; early January 2016;

Chiffchaff - zviždak - phylloscopus collybita collybita. Sightings: March 2016; February 2016;

Cirl bunting - crnogrla strnadica - emberiza cirlus. Sightings: September 2016; March 2016; February 2016;

Collared dove - gugutka - streptopelia decaocto

Cormorant - veliki vranac, kormoran - phalacrocorax carbo. Video, by Branimir Devilnightmare;

Corn bunting - velika strnadica - emberiza calandra. Sightings: April 2016;

Crane - ždral - grus grus. Sightings: November 2016;

Cuckoo - kukavica  - cuculus canorus. Sightings: April 2016;

Dunnock - sivi popić - prunella modularis. Sightings: March 2016;

Eagle owl (European) - buljina, sova ušara  - bubo bubo. Sightings: January 2016

Garden warbler - siva grmuša - sylvia borin. Sightings: August 2016;

Golden oriole - zlatna vuga - oriolus oriolus. Sightings: August 2016; April 2016

Golden plover - troprsti zlatar - pluvialis apricaria.

Goldfinch - češljugar, gardelin, kamjolac, ciganče, štiglić - carduelis carduelis. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović; Sightings: February 2016;

Goshawk - jastreb kokošar - family accipitridae. Sightings: August-September 2016;

Great tit - velika sjenica - parus major newtoni. Video of call by Steve Hawkeye. Sightings: March 2016; February 2016; January 2016;

Greenfich - zelendur - carduelis chlorisž. Sightings: September 2016; March 2016;

Grey heron - siva čaplja - ardea cinerea. Video by Luka Hercigonja: Sightings: January 2016;

Grey wagtail - gorska pastirica - motacilla cinerea. Sightings: January 2016;

Hen harrier - strnarica - circus cyaneus. Sightings: January 2017;

Herring gull - srebrnasti galeb - larus argentatus

Honey buzzard - škanjac osaš - pemis apivorus. Sightings: August-September 2016;

Hooded crow - siva vrana - corvus cornix. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović. Sightings: February 2016; January 2016; early January 2016;

Hoopoe - pupavac - upupa epops. Sightings: September 2016; April 2016; March 2016;

House martin - piljak - delichon urbica. Sightings: September 2016;

House sparrow - vrabac - passer domesticus

Icterine warbler - žuti voljić -  hippolais icterina. Sightings: September 2016;

Kestrel - vjetruša - falco tinnunculus. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović. Sightings: April 2016;

Kingfisher - vodomar, vodomar ribar - alcedo atthis. Sightings: December 2016; April 2016;

Linnet - juričica - carduelis cannabina. Video by BHVSa. Sightings: April 2016;

Marsh harrier - eja močvarica - circus aeruginosus. Sightings: August-September 2016;

Melodious warbler - kratkokrili voljić - hippolais polyglotta

Mistle thrush - drozd imelaš - turdus viscivorus. Video by slpanjkovic. Sightings: December 2016;

Nightingale - slavuj - luscinia megarhynchos. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović. Sightings: June 2016; April 2016;

Nightjar - leganj, noćna lasta - caprimulgus europaeus. Sightings: April 2016; Autumn/winter 2015;

Pheasant - fazan - phasianus coichicus

Pied wagtail - bijela pastirica - motacilla alba. Sightings: January 2016;

Pigeon - golub - family: columbidae

Raven - gavran - corvus corax

Red-backed shrike - rusi svračak - lanius collurio

Redstart - šumska crvenrepka - phoenicurus phoenicurus

Robin - crvendač, čučka crvendać - erithacus rubecula. Video by Zlatko Torbašinović Sightings:. January 2016;

Rock dove / feral pigeon - divlji golub - columba livia

Sand martin - bregunica - riparia riparia

Sardinian warbler - crnoglava grmuša - sylvia melanocephala

Scarce swallowtail - Sightings: April 2016;

Scops owl - ćuk - otus scops. Sightings: March 2016;

Serin - žutarica - serinus serinus. Sightings: September 2016; March 2016; February 2016; January 2016;

Short-toed eagle - Sightings: August-September 2016;

(Snipe - šljuka kokošica - gallinago gallinago. Sightings:  November 2016; - with hindsight, Steve felt this sighting was probably a woodcock. The first confirmed sighting of a snipe came in February 2018)

Spanish sparrow - španjolski vrabac - passer hispaniolensis

Sparrowhawk - kobac -  accipiter nisus. Sightings: December 2016; August-September 2016; March 2016; February 2016; January 2016;

Spotted flycatcher - siva muharica - muscicapa striata

Subalpine warbler - bjelobrka grmuša - sylvia cantillans. Sightings: March 2016;

Swallow - lastavica - hirundo rustica. Sightings: September 2016; Summer 2016; March 2016;

Swift - crna čiopa - apus apus. Sightings: September 2016; April 2016; October 2015;

Tawny pipit - primorska trepteljka - anthus campestris

Tree pipit - prugasta trepteljka - anthus trivialis

Turtle dove - grlica - streptopelia turtur

Wheatear, black-eared - mediteranska bjelka - oenanthe hispanica. Sightings: September 2016; April 2016; March 2016;

Whinchat - smeđoglavi batić - saxicola rubetra. Video, by Branimir Devilnightmare. Sightings: September 2016;

Whitethroat - grmuša pjenica - sylvia communis

Woodchat shrike - riđoglavi svračak - lanius senator. Sightings: April 2016;

Wren - palčić - troglodytes troglodytes.

Yellow wagtail - žuta pastirica - motacilla flava.

 © Steve Jones 2016

For more of Steve's beautiful nature pictures, see his personal pages: Bird Pictures on Hvar 2017, and Butterflies of Hvar

Related items

back to top
You are here: Home Nature Watch Bird sightings 2016

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Met Office issues rare red weather warning for Wednesday and Thursday

    UK Health Security Agency also issues red heat alert for six English regions, indicating risk to life even for the healthy

    Met Office forecasters have issued a rare red weather warning for Wednesday and Thursday in the face of extreme heat and humidity, while a red heat health alert has been issued in England indicating “a risk to life for even the healthy population”.

    The weather warning covers southern Wales as far west as Swansea, and an area of England that includes London and runs from the inland areas of Kent across to Somerset, as far north-west as Birmingham, and as far north-east as southern Cambridgeshire.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Emotional and horrific’: volunteers ‘live’ as Somerset animals to study wildlife risks

    People trained to experience world as otters, salmon and other River Tone creatures for pioneering research

    What does a kestrel make of the dog sniffing in the long grass below? Why does an exhausted salmon pause before a weir? How will an otter experience the rumble of a passing train?

    Eighteen people have spent six weeks swimming, slithering and soaring as otters, salmon, earthworms, red deer and kestrels in an attempt to better document the risks for wild animals in our human-dominated landscape.

    Continue reading...

  • Starmer has a strong green record – but a rightwing backlash weakened his plans

    Prime minister was forced to row back on some policies despite strong support among voters for climate action

    Keir Starmer has faced a problem no Labour government has needed to deal with before. His energy and climate policies – core to solving the cost of living crisis – have come under attack from opposition parties, which have made dismantling the agenda one of their top priorities, second only to immigration, in their pitch to voters.

    This is new in British politics, where a cross-party consensus on the climate and environment has held at least since the days of Margaret Thatcher. She warned the UN of the climate crisis in 1988; David Cameron in 2006 urged voters to “vote blue, go green”; Theresa May enshrined in law the requirement to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; Boris Johnson championed the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow in 2021; even Rishi Sunak only tried a partial rollback of green policies as a last desperate throw before calling an election.

    Continue reading...

  • El Niño is back with a vengeance – and fears of ‘Godzilla’ strength may be the least of our worries

    UN’s World Food Programme and agriculture agency issue joint appeal for funds to avert global hunger crisis before it happens

    Adugna Woyessa was a little boy the first time drought tore his country apart. As harvests failed in rain-starved regions of Ethiopia in the early 1970s, and his school turned a classroom into a grain store for farmers to send aid, he had no idea that scientists were beginning to connect the force parching its fields with cyclical shifts in trade winds that had long supercharged violent weather from South America to Australia.

    The now notorious El Niño – Spanish for “little boy” – was named by fishers in the Pacific in the 1800s, but it was not until the 1970s that scientists understood its global nature and began to piece together the historical impact of the natural weather pattern characterised by hot years and brutal extremes.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: Somewhere in the vast forest is a miniature one | Amanda Thomson

    Abernethy forest, Cairngorms: One of my favourite species, the tiny twinflower, does better in Scots pinewoods than most places in the UK. Now I just have to find some

    The soundtrack to my day is the calls of siskins, blackcaps, willow warblers, coal tits and tree pipits, the drumming of a great spotted woodpecker and an occasional cuckoo. But this morning my gaze is aimed downwards. I’m walking slowly, gingerly, looking for a colony of twinflowers that I know I’ve seen around here before.

    They’re one of my favourite flowers and a sign for me that summer is here. Standing just 10cm in height, their stems form a delicate Y with two, tiny, beautiful pale pinkish-white bell‑shaped flowers that hang from each of the tops.

    Continue reading...

  • How Europe’s EV makers shrank their product to challenge the bloated SUVs

    Smaller, cheaper cars built for narrow city streets are becoming more stylish – but require careful design decisions

    The winding backstreets of London, Paris and Rome are a large part of their charm. But they are also a problem for electric carmakers. For a long time, squeezing big batteries into smaller, cheaper cars to fit European streets was too much of a problem, so manufacturers focused on bloated SUVs instead.

    But that is finally changing. Battery technology has improved and Europe’s carmakers havecut manufacturing costs enough that they can now sell cars that might have a chance of fitting down a medieval lane or two.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘It’s Russian roulette’: alarm as Europe backs critical minerals mines in water-stressed regions

    Exclusive: European Commission planning to rewrite key law to allow water-intensive mines in regions suffering from drought

    The European Commission plans to rewrite the EU’s flagship water protection law to speed up the development of critical minerals mines, despite many being located in drying and water-stressed regions, analysis has found.

    Mining is a water-intensive industry, requiring large volumes of water for ore processing, dust suppression, waste management and mine dewatering. While modern projects recycle water, they still require significant amounts, and in water-stressed regions those demands can add to pressure on already stretched rivers, aquifers and water supplies.

    Continue reading...

  • Trapped by floods and fearing death in the heat: the Australians taking legal action over the climate crisis

    Ten people affected in different ways by extreme weather are taking a case against the federal government to the UN

    As flood waters rose in Brisbane’s West End in February 2022, Brendon Donohue was trapped alone in his second-storey apartment for 10 days. The 33-year-old is legally blind and his movement is limited by Peters plus syndrome. He received evacuation alerts on his phone in the middle of the night. But with the lift, intercom and front entrance shut down he had no safe way out of the building.

    “It was terrifying,” he says. “The whole street was badly impacted with water. The power went out, which made me not able to contact anyone. I ran out of food but couldn’t get any into the building.”

    Continue reading...

  • From mobile jungles to shadow art: how Dutch people try to beat the heat

    A national heatwave plan has been activated to help people stay cool during the Netherlands’ increasingly hot summers

    Households in Amsterdam are being urged to hang their curtains outside their windows as health experts recommend simple hacks to moderate the heatwave rolling across the Netherlands, where homes were built for old-fashioned damp and coldish northern European weather.

    In a viral social media post last week, Eline Coolen, the heat coordinator at the city’s public health institute, urged sweaty city-dwellers to rig up temporary curtain rails or drape curtains or sheets outside to stop the sun’s rays reaching their large windows.

    Continue reading...

  • How India’s heatwaves are shutting schools – and pushing women out of the workforce

    Forced to stay home or switch jobs, working mothers are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis as classes go online for weeks or months at a time

    Outside, the temperature has passed 41C (105.8F). Inside Sakshi Katyal’s city apartment, the air conditioner is blasting but it does little to relieve the stress of balancing housework and helping her five-year-old log in on a laptop to online classes. Her daughter’s school closed in May and Katyal is not clear when it will reopen. Probably not till the autumn.

    Schools across Delhi and in about half of India’s 28 states have been ordered to close from mid-May until the end of June, when in many places the summer break starts. There is no official record of closures in past years but the Guardian has spoken to school officials who say the number of days schools are shut for because of the heat has risen sharply. The impact on families, especially on working women, has been huge.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.