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 environment articles Nature Watch Bird sightings 2016

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Severe drought declared in six areas of England as reservoirs run low

    Some reservoirs in south at critical levels as water companies call for extended restrictions that would affect golf clubs, private schools and car washes

    A severe drought has been declared in six areas of England, with some reservoirs at critically low levels, threatening public supplies.

    Parts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex have moved into severe drought, and urgent measures are being taken to secure public supplies of water after the UK experienced its hottest summer on record.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘I am still a child, it cannot be good to be married’: how drought forces Afghan families to sell girls as brides

    As climate breakdown pushes families to starvation, many feel forced to ‘sacrifice’ daughters to save siblings. Photographer Elise Blanchard travelled the country speaking to girls as young as eight, 10 and 14 who have been engaged or married to repay debts or pay for food

    ‘I’m not happy about this,” says 11-year-old Khatira, who was sold into marriage to repay debts, sitting in her home in Qala-e-Naw, capital of Badghis province in north-west Afghanistan. “She was healthy before her engagement, now she is worried and cries a lot,” says her 40-year-old mother, Noor Bibi.

    When her 20-year-old husband-to-be comes to her home, Khatira runs away. Since her engagement, she has stopped going outside because she “is ashamed of having a husband in front of the other girls”, says her mother.

    Shepherds watch over their sheep in the hills of Bala-Murghab, Badghis province, north-west Afghanistan. By March, the pasture was already too dry for the season

    Continue reading...

  • A perfect storm: how the super El Niño is devastating the fishing industry

    Peru’s anchoveta have made up about a 10th of the entire global commercial fishing catch since 1970, more than any other fish. A combination of warming seas and decades-long overfishing spells disaster

    On 10 June 2026, the government of Peru made a decision that it knew would hurt one of the world’s major fishing industries. It stoppedall anchoveta fishing boats from going out to sea, suspending the fishing season. At first the order was temporary, but in mid-August, the suspension turned into a total closure. This was no easy call. For one thing, it was a brutal blow to the Peruvian economy.

    Peruvian anchovies – the scientific name is Engraulis ringens – are not the salty, punch-packing little fillets in a puttanesca sauce or caesar salad dressing. That is a different species – Engraulisencrasicolus – which is smaller, tastier and found mostly in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Only a small part of Peru’s anchoveta catch is eaten in fish form. The rest – more than 90% – is immediately processed as fishmeal and fish oil, packed in sacks and barrels, and shipped to fish, shellfish and seaweed farms, factory farms and nutritional supplement producers around the world.

    Continue reading...

  • No timeline for lifting Land Registry paywall as ownership remains opaque

    Defra promised in March to work towards free access to data on large plots in England and Wales

    The government has refused to say when the public will be able to freely access information about who owns large plots of land across England and Wales.

    Emma Reynolds, the previous secretary of state for the environment, announced in March that the paywall protecting large amounts of the Land Registry would be partly lifted.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Like selling wolves from Yellowstone’: how protected US sharks are being sold off to foreign aquariums

    While anglers cannot take endangered sand tiger sharks, a loophole lets private firms catch the fish to sell abroad, profiting from Delaware Bay’s conservation success

    Shortly after 12.45pm, what remains of a 300-metre line goes taut. Somewhere beneath the murky green surface of Delaware Bay, on the eastern US coast, a sand tiger shark has taken the bait of a mackerel chunk. Marine researchers at the University of Delaware haul the line towards a small boat as the shark’s grey-brown outline emerges.

    It is a large animal: 225cm (7ft) long with a 90cm girth. Its mouth hangs open, revealing rows of jagged teeth. The researchers work quickly, measuring the shark, recording its sex, and taking blood and muscle samples. A tag is then fastened beneath its dorsal fin, through its thick sandpapery skin.

    Continue reading...

  • Mont Blanc, the ‘roof of Europe’, loses more than a metre of height in a year

    Peak of French mountain now 4,807 metres high and fluctuates year by year due to changes in Alpine climate

    Western Europe’s highest mountain shrank by more than a metre last year. The peak of Mont Blanc in France now stands 4,807.47 metres above sea level, a team of surveyors said on Wednesday, putting “the roof of Europe” 1.29 metres lower than in 2025.

    The mountain is about 4,792 metres tall but the summit constantly shifts as heat, wind and precipitation change the thickness of snow and ice on top. The height scientists recorded during an expedition last month was 1.88 metres greater than it was in 2023, when it reached the lowest levels in recent memory.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: Thrilled by Darwin, and the wonder of worms | Lev Parikian

    Downe, Kent: It’s hard not to feel the earth move by a visit to the great man’s house. He truly valued these creatures of the dirt

    The garden beds are moistened by steady rain, but the ground is still unyielding. A blackbird hops across bare soil. A dart, a jab, and up it comes – a wriggling tube of pink flesh. A simple catch. But when I rummage in the dirt, my only reward is loam under the fingernails. Perhaps I should have brought a bassoon.

    I’ve come to Down House. Here, Charles Darwin changed the world. And here he wrote his last book, its title usually shortened for convenience: Earthworms.

    Continue reading...

  • The hidden costs of fracking: boom in Argentina linked to trail of sickness

    Families in Vaca Muerta, the centre of Patagonia’s shale operation, report cancers, miscarriages and pollution

    In Allen, a small town in Argentine Patagonia, many people living on the same street ended up falling ill. For some, it was severe migraines, nausea or skin irritation. For others, cancers, congenital abnormalities, miscarriages or stillbirth seemed to affect foetuses or children. People say it all started 13 years ago – when a well was drilled near their homes to extract gas and oil.

    Calle Ciega 10 [Dead-end Street 10] lies on the eastern edge of Vaca Muerta, a vital area for Argentina’s economy, home to the world’s second-largest reserve of shale gas and fourth-largest reserve of shale oil. The region has more than 2,600 active wells, including one on this small street where about 20 families live, most of them seasonal workers on fruit farms.

    Continue reading...

  • From black soldier flies to mealworms: farming insects for food, fodder and fertiliser in Uganda

    Cultivating the nutritious bugs means families can raise livestock and enrich their own food, while lowering pressures on the land

    A few minutes’ walk from his home in the Kyaka II refugee settlement, Kanane Bikanyale feeds black soldier fly larvae to chickens in a coop above a fishpond. The larvae disappear in a scrum of chickens. Nearby, more larvae grow in modified jerrycans, while adult flies are kept in netted boxes.

    Bikanyale kept chickens before he fled to Uganda from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). But the cost of conventional feed and shortages of ingredients made them increasingly difficult to raise – a widespread pressure for millions of smallholder farmers whose margins are tight.

    Kanane Bikanyale tends to his black soldier fly larvae in a rearing unit in the Kyaka II refugee camp in Uganda

    Continue reading...

  • Is the modern economic system broken? These urban beekeepers think so – and this is their solution

    At Bybi in Copenhagen, a dedicated group of staff and volunteers have built a community for all centred on the production of honey – much of which is given away for nothing. Could it be replicated elsewhere?

    The bees at Bybi, a collective of beekeepers in Copenhagen, live on the roof. Their home is a complex of Victorian buildings, right in the centre of the city, that looks like an idealised vision of the modern social enterprise, ennobled by the architecture of the past. It’s a place of cottage industry in concert with nature, where the marginalised are brought in from the fringes and corporations stand waiting to help, where jobs happen but a lot of the work is done by volunteers, and where – this bit is important – a lot of time is spent discussing ideas.

    Oliver Maxwell, Bybi’s 48-year-old founder, encourages me to examine the buildings more closely. They were once a prison, a workhouse and a hospital; their functions today – a homeless shelter, a young offender institution and, until recently, a job centre – are not so different. Denmark’s Victorian transformation, from “agricultural backwater to industrialised agriculture”, was reflected in how they treated people, Maxwell says.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

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