Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata)

OTHER NAMES: Yellow-naped Parrot
Latin Etymology: Amazona ("Amazon") auropalliata ("gold cloaked")

Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata) at Tarcoles, Costa Rica - November 2025

Featured Subspecies: Amazona auropalliata auropalliata
Weight: 500g  /  Length: 36cm  /  Wingspan: ?
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

A species of parrot which has recently been elavated to Critically Endangered level due to the twin pressures of deforestation and poaching for the pet-trade, with it being a popular species in aviculture. As mimics they develop extensive repartes of vocalisations and studies have shown they have developed dialects with geographically boundaries in ways with similarities to humans. Unfortunately, this vocal skill is also a contributing factor to their popularity in the pet trade as they mimic human speech.
 
Related Species: 

Order: Psittaciformes

Family: Psittacidae

Genus: Amazona

SUBSPECIES: A. a. auropalliata, A. a. parvipes, A. a. caribaea
 
- Sighting Locations -

COSTA RICA - Spanish - Loro de Nuca Amarilla ("Yellow-naped Parrot")
Widespread in North West
- COSTA RICA 2025 TRIP: Seen at Tarcoles
 
Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis)

OTHER NAMES: Bengal Bustard
Latin Etymology: Houbaropsis "(Houbara (bustard) appearance") bengalensis ("of Bengal")

Adult male Bengal Florican (subspecies H. b. blandini) at Florican Grasslands, Cambodia - February 2019

Featured Subspecies: Houbaropsis bengalensis blandini
Weight: 1.2-1.9kg  /  Length: 66-68cm  /  Wingspan: 72-105cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

As on the time of writing this, the Bengal Florican is the most critically endangered species I've seen in the nearly ten years I've been producing this website.  The bustards as a whole seem to be one of the most vulnerable families of birds to human activity due to their relatively slow reproduction rate and ground-nesting habitat that often has them dwelling within farmland.  Only two population areas of this species remains; one in India and Nepal, the other in Cambodia and there are potentially less than 1000 left worldwide.  They also have a wonderfully comic mating display involving hopping out of long grass and then parachuting down.

Related Species:
Order: Otidiformes
Family: Otididae
Genus: Houbaropsis
SUBSPECIES: H. b. bengalensis, N. b. blandini 

 - Sighting Locations -

CAMBODIA -  Khmer: ខ្សឹប ឬ ទ្រមាក់អណ្តើក ("Whisper" or "Turtle tail")

A critically endangered resident

SINGAPORE / CAMBODIA 2019 TRIP - One seen at Florican Grassland Reserve

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

European Eel (Anguilla anguilla)

OTHER NAMES: Eel
Latin Etymology: Anguilla ("Eel") anguilla ("eel")

Adult European Eel (Anguilla anguillai) being attacked by Great Cormorant at Seahouses, Northumbria - July 2009

Featured Subspecies: ?
Weight: 3.6kg  /  Length: 60-80cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

Despite the name, the common (also known as the European) eel is currently highly endangered - the world population has crashed by 80% in the last 40 years due to a number of factors. A spectacular migrant, it breeds off the coast of North America and then returns to European rivers for the rest of its life. This unfortunate individual was in a battle with this cormorant which despite a valiant struggle, it eventually lost.  They have a fairly challenging migratory lifestyle, where they breed in the Sargasso Sea and then cross the Atlantic to live much of their lives in European Rivers before returning to the Sargasso Sea.  They can be very long lived, with anecdotal reports in excess of 150 years.

Related Species:
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Anguillidae
Genus: Anguilla
SUBSPECIES: unknown

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - An increasingly scarce resident

 - Seen at Seahouses

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List .RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

European Hamster (Cricetus cricetus)

OTHER NAMES: Eurasian Hamster, Black Bellied Hamster, Common Hamster
Latin Etymology:  Cricetus ("Hamster") cricetus ("Hamster")

Adult European Hamster (Cricetus cricetus) at Miedling Cemetary, Vienna, Austria - October 2024

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 220-460g  /  Length: 20-35cm
NO UK STATUS /  IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

The largest species of Hamster in the world, and significantly larger than domesticated species, the European Hamster is a grassland specialist that is considered critically endangered due to persecution and the dramatic decline in grassland habitats due to farming. Like domestic species, they store food in their rather substantial cheeks to take it to their burrows.  In recent decades some of their strongholds have ended up being cemetaries where they are able to forage without being disturbed by farming practices.

Related Species:
Order: Rodentia 
Family: Cricetidae
Genus: Cricetus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

AUSTRIA - Austrian: hámster euroasiáticu - "Eurasian Hamster"

Resident in North Eastern Austria

 - VIENNA 2024: Seen in Vienna 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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