Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus)

OTHER NAMES: Spur-winged Plover
Latin Etymology:  Vanellus ("lapwing") spinosus ("thorny")

Adult Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus) near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 127-177g/kg  /  Length: 28cm  /  Wingspan: 69-81cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A species which only just barely extents into Europe, crossing over the Turkish straights into European Turkey and the very edge of Greece. It's range then covers Turkey and the Levant, then is essentially mainly connected via the Nile to it's Sub Saharan African heartlands. The name refers to a very rare evolutionary feature among birds - they possess a small sharp spur on their forewing which it will use to defend its nest!

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Vanellus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  -   Turkish:Diken kanatlı kız kuşu ("Thorn winged lapwing")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Several groups seen in coastal area near Side

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

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Western Rock Nuthatch (Sitta neumayer)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Sitta (bird mentioned by Aristotle) neumayer (for Franz Neumayer, an Austrian collector)

Adult Western Rock Nuthatch (Sitta neumayer) in mountains near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: Sitta neumayer syriaca
Weight: 24-37g  /  Length: 13.5cm  /  Wingspan: 25cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

As the name suggests, the Western Rock Nuthatch takes a more rocky lifestyle than the other species I'd seen to date, being present on exposed mountainsides where they nest and feed among the rocks looking for insects and spiders. A fairly recent split of "Rock Nuthatch" with the other being the Western Rock Nuthatch which is found from Eastern Turkey to Kyrgzstan. Pliny the Elder apparently credited this species as being the one that inspired humanity to build homes of earth in immitation of it's nest.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sittidae
Genus: Sitta
SUBSPECIES: S. n. neumayer, S. n. tschitscherini, S. b. plumbea, S. n. syriaca, S. n. rupicola

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  -   Turkish:Kaya sıvacı kuşu ("Rock plasterer bird")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Common in mountains near Side

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

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Finsch's Wheatear (Oenanthe finschii)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Oenanthe ("vine bloom" for the time of year they arrived) finschii (for  explorer Friedrich Finsch)

Adult male Finsch's Wheatear (Oenanthe finschii) in mountains near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: Oenanthe finschii finschii
Weight: 21-32g  /  Length: 14cm  /  Wingspan: 25-27cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A species of dry rocky hillsides from Turkey to Krgyzstan, with this individual being on the extreme Western edge of it's range. It's eponymous name is named after the colonial naturalist and explorer Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch whose ornithological career including books on parrots of the world, but who also was involved in German colonial plans in South East Asia and the Pacific.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
SUBSPECIES: O. f. finschii, O. f. barnesi

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  -   Turkish:Ak sırtlı kuyrukkakan  ("White-backed Whalepecker")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One in mountains near Side

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

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Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Motacilla ("wagtail") citreola ("golden yellow")

Adult Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola) near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: Motacilla citreola citreola
Weight: 18-25g  /  Length: 15-17cm  /  Wingspan: 24-27cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

One of my favourite birds of the trip, the Citrine Wagtail is a strikingly yellow species, in contrast the local Western Yellow Wagtails which were of the "Black-headed wagtail" (M. f. feldegg) subspecies.  While its range does cover partso of Ukraine and Belarus and pockets in the Baltic, the bulk of its range is central Asia where breeds from the Arctic Ocean down to Himalayas, and then Winters on the Indian Subcontinent and more Northerly parts of South-East Asia. The bird seen in Antalya would have been on passage, either to the small Turkish population or to Eastern Europe.

Related Species: 
Order:  Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Genus: Motacilla
SUBSPECIES: M. c. citreola, M. c. werae, M. c. calcarata

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Sarı başlı kuyruksallayan ("Yellow headed wagtail")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One near Side

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

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Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia)

OTHER NAMES: Sprosser
Latin Etymology: Luscinia ("Nightingale") luscinia ("Nightingale")   

Adult Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: g/kg  /  Length: 16cm  /  Wingspan: 18cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Interestingly, despite their names in English, the Thrush Nightingale is actually the species that would be more familar to Carl Linneaus as a naturalist in Sweden, hence why it's binomial is functionally nightingale nightingale. North East Europe represents the very West most point of their range which extends into central Russia an Kazakstan. 

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Luscinia
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Ardıç bülbülü ("Juniper Mockingbird")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One near Side

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

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Red-throated pipit (Anthus cervinus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology:  Anthus (a small bird mentioned by Pliny) cervinus ("stag coloured")

Adult Red-throated pipit (Anthus cervinus)  near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 17-24g  /  Length: 14-15cm  /  Wingspan: 25-27cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A pipit species that breeds in the Far North, primarily of Eurasia but also has a toehold in Alaska, then migrating to Africa and South East Asia to Winter. In breeding plumage the brick red throat is diagnostic, however outside of breeding plumage it can be indistinct. This bird here seen on its northward migration through Turkey is beginning to moult into it's super plumage.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Genus: Anthus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Kızıl gerdanlı incir kuşu ("Red-throated Pipit")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One near Side

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

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Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Tringa (bird named by Aristotle) stagnatilis ("swamp")

Adult in Winter plumage of Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) at Side, Antalya, turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 45-120g  /  Length: 22-26cm  /  Wingspan: 55-59cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A species with a somewhat unusual breeding range as it favours the steppe of Central Asia to breed and the core range is Moldova to the Russian Far East, however, it's Wintering range is huge and varied comprising almost all of sub-Saharan Africa, India, South East Asia and Australia.While it does have a patchy distribution in North Eastern Europe, this bird in Turkey would have been on passage.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Tringa
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Bataklık düdükçünü ("Swamp whistler")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One near Side. 

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

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Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology:  Lanius ("to tear to pieces") nubicus ("of Nubia")

Adult male Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus) at Side, Antalya, turkey - April 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 20-23g  /  Length: 17-18.5cm  /  Wingspan: 24-26cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The smallest of all the true shrikes, the masked shrike has a very limited breeding range along the Aegean Sea and the Levant, as well as a seperate population which exists in a narrow band through Iraq and Iran, while they breed in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a smaller species, they primarily hunt insects, but have also been recorded taking smaller bird species.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Laniidae
Genus: Lanius
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Alaca örümcek kuşu ("Pied Shrike")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Several birds near Side. 

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

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Greater Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Calandrella (diminutive of Calandra) brachydactyla (Short toed)

Adult Greater Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla)) at Side, Antalya, turkey - April 2025

Featured Subspecies: ?
Weight: 18-25g  /  Length: 14-15cm  /  Wingspan: 27-32cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A small lark species with a stout, wedge shaped bill found around the Mediterranean and Central Asia. As with most larks they both breed and primarily feed on the ground, with a varied diet consisting of invertebrates, seeds and plants as found in their preferred arid scrubland habitats. 

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Calandrella
SUBSPECIES: C. b. brachydactyla, C. b. hungarica, C. b. rubiginosa, C. b. hermonensis, C. b. woltersi, C. b. artemisiana, C. b. longipennis, C. b. orientalis

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Bozkır toygarı ("Steppe Lark")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Several birds near Side. 

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

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Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana)

OTHER NAMES: Ortolan
Latin Etymology: Emberiza ("bunting")  hortulana ("gardener")

Adult Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana) at Side, Antalya, turkey - April 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A 
Weight: 21-27g  /  Length: 16-17cm  /  Wingspan: 23-29cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

 A widely but patchily distributed species over much of Eurasia, the ortolan in many ways is a fairly unobtrusive bunting that is noted for its presence in French cuisine. The particular recipe involves a rather cruel and bizarre process involving catching the birds and keeping them in the dark with enough millet that they gorge themselves, then they are drowned and marinated in the brandy and are then cooked in their own fat. A traditional manner of consuming them involving covering ones head with a white cloth or towel, which, depending on who you ask, may be to shield the act from the eyes of God. Either way, the practice seems to have severely affected the population in Europe despite being technically banned by EU law.

Related Species:wawa
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genus: Emberiza
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Bayağı Kirazkuşu ("Common Cherrybird")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Several birds near Side. 

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

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Cretzschmar's bunting (Emberiza caesia)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Emberiza ("bunting") caesia ("blueish grey")

Adult Cretzschmar's bunting (Emberiza caesia) at Side, Antalya, turkey - April 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 20-25g  /  Length: 14-15.5cm  /  Wingspan: 22-25cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A small species of bunting primarily breeds around the Aegean and the Levant, and wintering in Sudan. They are closely related to the Ortolan bunting, though the general differentiation is the head colour; in this case Cretzschamar's is silvery grey vs a more green tinged head on the ortolan. Their eponym is named for Philip Jakob Cretzschmar, who was a physician, scientist and associate of Eduard Rüppell.

Related Species:wawa
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genus: Emberiza
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Kızıl kiraz kuşu ("Red Cherry Bird")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Several birds near Side. 

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

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Eastern Orphean warbler (Curruca crassirostris)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Curruca (bird mentioned by Juvenal) crassirostris ("stout beak") 

Adult male Eastern Orphean warbler (Curruca crassirostris) at Side, Antalya, turkey - April 2025

Featured Subspecies: Curruca crassirostris crassirostris
Weight: g/kg  /  Length: 15-16m  /  Wingspan: cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Formerly lumped in the wider "Orphean Warbler" species, the Eastern species breeds from Croatia through to Krygzstan with the heart of its range being cenred around Greece and Turkey. They are named for the mythical figure Orpheus in allusion to their intricate song. This individual photographed has a pale iris which can be one of the better ID cinching features, but it's not present in all or even most individuals.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
Genus: Curruca
SUBSPECIES: C. c. crassirostris, C. c. balchanica, C. c. jerdoni

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: ?

 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Onee near Side

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

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Krüper's nuthatch (Sitta krueperi)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology:  Sitta (bird mentioned by Aristotle) krueperi(named for ornithologist Thobald Krüper)

Adult Krüper's nuthatch (Sitta krueperi) near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 10-14g  /  Length: 12.5cm  /  Wingspan: cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A near endemic of Turkey which is primarily tied to the distribution of Turkish pine, although there has been a recent discovery that at least one population may have adapted to Scots Pine in central Turkey.  Other populations are found on Lesbos and also in the Caucasus mountains, and these are again tied largely to Turkish Pine.  Though not considered threatened currently, the face it is tied specifically to one species makes it very vulnerable to habitat loss.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sittidae
Genus: Sitta
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Turkish: Küçük sıvacıkuşu ("Little Nuthatch")

 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One bird in the mountains near Side. 

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

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Eastern Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe melanoleuca)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Oenanthe ("vine bloom" for the time of year they arrived) melanoleuca (black and white)

Adult Eastern Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe melanoleuca) near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 15-22g  /  Length: 13.5-15.5cm  /  Wingspan: ?
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A recent split from the closely related Western Black-eared Wheatear, this species had a wide range of appearances depending on morphs, sex, age and season with coloured ranging from start black and white to drab brown and a selection of combinations in between. Their range is South Eastern Europe to Iran and the Caspian Sea.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - 

 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Numerous at several sites near Side

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

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Brown Fish Owl (Ketupa zeylonensis)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Ketupa ("Malay word Ketupok for Buffy Fish Owl") zeylonensis ("of Sri Lanka")  

Adult Brown Fish Owl (Ketupa zeylonensis) near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: Western Brown Fish Owl - Ketupa zeylonensis semenowi
Weight: 1.1 - 2.5kg  /  Length: 48-61cm  /  Wingspan: 120-140cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The Brown Fish Owl is as the name suggests, a large brown owl that hunts primarily on fish, frogs and crabs. Their primary range is in India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia, but there are relic populations in Iran and, as well as in the case of these birds - some in Southern Turkey. Unusually for owls, they have been recorded feeding on carrion. As with species like ospreys, their feet are unusual and have two back facing toes.

Related Species:
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Ketupa
SUBSPECIES: K. z. semenowi, S. z. leschenaulti, K. z. zeylonensis, K. z. orientalis

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Balık baykuşu ("Fish Owl")

 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One bird in the mountains near Side.

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

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Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology:  Anthus (a small bird mentioned by Pliny) campestris ("of the fields")

Adult Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)  near Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 23g  /  Length: 16.5-18cm  /  Wingspan: 25cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A large pipit, and even by the standards of it's already fairly cryptically coloured family, fairly plain looking with minimal streaking on its chest. They have a wide but patchy distribution over most of continental Europe and migrate in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian penninsula, Pakistan and North West India. Surprisingly, they do have a film about them from 1944 about a fictional pair being discovered nesting near an English village during World War II.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Genus: Anthus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

TURKEY  - Kır incir kuşu ("Prairie Pipit")

 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - Several at different sites near Side

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

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