Eco Hvar

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

Eco Environment News feeds

  • ‘I needed to be in that strange, flat place’: how an Orkney garden healed a writer

    After her sister died, Victoria Bennett left Cumbria for the remote Scottish archipelago, where she learned to go with the ebb and flow of life

    It was during her first winter in Orkney that the nature writer Victoria Bennett experienced the joy of baying into the sea during a storm. “There’s something very physically releasing about howling,” she says. “It’s quite animalistic and powerful.” On a stormy beach, when waves are crashing on the rocks, “you can really let rip”, she says. “The sound just disappears.”

    Until that moment, Bennett had been struggling with her decision to move to the remote archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. “I was beginning to feel like I was in a fight against the sea, and against the weather.”

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: The skies here are busy with satellites and fieldfares | Rchard Smyth

    Prendwick, Northumberland:On a crisp, cold walk, I’m reminded that winter still clings on, and that familiar constellations are far from alone

    The red sun rising over the radar station on Alnwick Moor picks out the tall shape of a hare at our end of the meadow. It lopes forward a little way – forever appearing, as hares always do, to be on the brink of a forward roll – and then pauses, sits up and shakes the dew from its front paws.

    A nearby pheasant lets rip a choked cock-crow. Both of these animals are game, here in England (as is the red-legged partridge, toiling tortoise-like through the weeds at the meadow bottom).

    Continue reading...

  • Toxins plus climate harms likely cause of reduced fertility, study finds

    Researchers find ‘alarming’ effect on fertility across global species from simultaneous exposures

    Simultaneous exposure to toxic chemicals and climate change’s impacts likely generates an additive or synergistic effect that increases reproductive harm, and may contribute to the broad global drop in fertility, new peer-reviewed research finds.

    The review of scientific literature considers how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, often found in plastic, coupled with climate change’s effects, such as heat stress, are each linked to reductions in fertility and fecundity across global species – including in humans, wildlife and invertebrates.

    Continue reading...

  • Cop negotiations chief on how Iran war oil shock paves road to climate talks in Turkey

    Exclusive: As countries meet at key climate crisis meetings, Australia’s Chris Bowen says war underlines need to move away from fossil fuels

    The fallout from the Iran war is driving countries to boost homegrown energy reliability and opens an opportunity for progress on clean generation at the next UN climate summit, says the lead negotiator at the talks.

    Chris Bowen, the Australian climate change minister and new president of negotiations at the Cop31 conference in Turkey in November, said the energy market disruption should be seen as a global fossil fuel crisis – the second in four years, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – and it was having an acute impact in Asia.

    Continue reading...

  • Scientists believe birds’ skulls hold clues to inner lives of long-extinct dinosaurs

    Early birds were like ‘T rex reincarnated’, says scientist who believes avian skulls offer insight into dinosaurs’ behaviour

    T rex is often depicted as more brawn than brains, but now scientists are hoping to probe just what was going on inside its head, drawing on findings from another kind of dinosaur: birds.

    Scientists have previously found some species of bird not only make and use tools, but are able to plan ahead and show basic forms of empathy – with laboratory tests suggesting emus can recognise other birds might have different experiences to themselves.

    Continue reading...

  • Criminalisation of climate protesters in UK is counterproductive, research finds

    Study of 1,300 campaigners finds arrests, fines and jail terms increase determination of activists to take direct action

    The criminalisation of direct action climate protests in the UK is counterproductive and increases the determination of activists to undertake disruptive demonstrations, according to a study of 1,300 campaigners.

    New findings suggest arrests, fines and lengthy prison sentences given to nonviolent climate protesters who have blocked roads or damaged buildings may actually radicalise them. The repression of protest could even be one driver of recent covert actions such as the cutting of internet cables, they said.

    Continue reading...

  • Young country diary: A close call with a black adder | Orla

    Dartmoor: We went for a family walk on the moor, and I ended up seeing something really rare and special

    It was a bright spring morning, and I had gone up to Dartmoor with my mum, my brother and my grandma for a walk in the fresh sunshine. My mum suggested that we go off the path to look at some bluebells and everyone agreed. It was beautiful. I could hear the birds singing and see the granite rocks sparkling.

    My grandma and my brother walked away from us, and I went in the opposite direction towards some brambles by a slab of concrete that was catching the sun. And then I saw it – a large, black snake rearing up at me. We looked at each other for a second – it had black scales and faint zigzag patterns on its body.

    Continue reading...

  • Queensland’s renewable energy ‘whiplash’: how the shift from coal stalled in Australia’s most polluting state

    In 2024 seven solar and windfarms and seven storage projects – totalling 3,202 megawatts – had been approved. Then came the LNP government

    For all involved, it felt like Queensland’s transition away from coal-fired power was happening at speeds never seen before.

    It was 2024, and the rubber was hitting the road hard on the Labor government’s plans to get the power grid almost entirely off coal by 2035.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘The birds are a global citizen’: Indigenous groups in Australia and Alaska team up to track a feathered adventurer’s epic journey

    A new knowledge-sharing project aims to ensure the survival of the migratory short-tailed shearwater

    Short-tailed shearwaters used to blacken the skies on the south-west coast of Australia, so abundant were they in their coastal homes each Djilba season – the time in the calendar of the Noongar peoples between August and September, when days shift from blustery cold and wet winds to warmer weather.

    In Wudjari Noongar, the language of the traditional owners of this place, they call Kepa Kurl, but which, since colonisation, has been called Esperance, the birds are called yowli. To other cultures, they are muttonbirds.

    Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

    Continue reading...

  • What counts as the woods? Judge axes Nova Scotia’s ban that defied ‘commonsense definitions’

    The court sided with a Canadian hiker who deliberately challenged the order imposed to curb spread of wildfires

    As wildfires raged across Nova Scotia last summer, the Canadian province made a simple plea to residents: stay away from the woods.

    As the situation deteriorated, authorities turned the request into a prohibition: anyone caught hiking under the shade of the forest canopy faced a C$25,000 fine – a figure more than half the average worker’s yearly salary.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

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