Birds of Nuremberg, Germany

[Ramon Quisumbing]

My wife and daughter and I were visiting friends in Nuremberg (Nurnberg), Germany last July. Germany has lots of birdlife because of its many forests and lush city parks (unlike Italy where there are very few birds because the entire country is denuded or planted to olive orchards). I had the opportunity to do a bit of birding in Nuremberg with my then newly acquired Canon 7D and 400 mm lens, handheld.

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), F/5.6, 1/250 sec.


What a pose by this European Robin! It seems to be saying "Look what I caught"! F/8, 1/500 sec.


I saw 2 species of woodpeckers, although I could only take documentary shots.

Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis), F/5.6, 1/125 sec.


Green Woodpecker feeding its huge young. F/7.1, 1/400 sec.


Great-Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major), F/8, 1/640 sec.


Unspecified Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris or ________) as identified by Paul Bourdon, Bob Kaufman and Steve Pryor - F/8, 1/640 sec.


Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) nesting in the middle of a pond. F/8, 1/500 sec.


Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus), F/8, 1/500 sec.


Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) as identified by Bob Kaufman, Paul Bourdin and Mick Harris, F/8, 1/640 sec.

[Steve Albano]

Looks like you had a good time checking the environ.. . Thanks for sharing.. .

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Thanks, Steve.

[paulbourdin]

The 'Wryneck' is in fact a Treecreeper. Could even be Short-toed Treecreeper, I'll check my books this afternoon.

The last picture looks like a canary of some sort, which would make it an escaped cage bird. Again I'll have to check my guides.

[Bob Kaufman]

The last picture looks like a juvenile Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris).

I agree with Paul regarding the Treecreeper (Certhis familiaris).

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Paul / Bob, thanks for the IDs. In the last photo, I actually saw several birds of the same species feeding around the railroad tracks.

[paulbourdin]

Nov 22, 2011 2:27:04 GMT Bob Kaufman said:

The last picture looks like a juvenile Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris).

Of course it is! I haven't seen one of these in 20 years, that's my excuse anyway!

[steve pryor]

The poor quality of the Certhia precludes any sort of meaningful separation of the two ranging species. It could be either.

As far as the Great Spotted Woodpecker, it is cogent a mention here of the possible, though extralimital (known western range interface in central europe is slightly more to the east) Dendrocopus syriacus. Here some of the morphological distinguishers are not evident, e.g., the lateral white notching of the lateral tail (good for D. major). The bird is juvenile. However, the ID is secured in this case by a couple of visible features, i.e., the juvenile major has a clean breast, and juvenile syriacus do not, and also, that little black upturning stripe directed toward the mid-nape shows a decided white gap in syriacus (and here conjoins with the nape black).

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Thanks for all the info, Steve.

[Mick Harris]

Nice set of shots. The last one is of a Greenfinch( Chloris chloris) in juvenile plumage.

[Ely Teehankee]

Those birds are wonderful especially to someone like me who has never seen them before. Well done Ramon and Mabuhay.

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Mick, thank you.

Ely, thank you. The photos would be much better with the 800 mm lens. But even if I already had bought the 800 mm lens last summer, I still would not have brought it with me to Germany. It's just too heavy and bulky.

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Bob, Paul, Steve and Mick, thank you, I have modified the IDs of the Treecreeper and Greenfinch in this posting.

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Nov 22, 2011 8:28:51 GMT steve pryor said:

The poor quality of the Certhia precludes any sort of meaningful separation of the two ranging species. It could be either.

As far as the Great Spotted Woodpecker, it is cogent a mention here of the possible, though extralimital (known western range interface in central europe is slightly more to the east) Dendrocopus syriacus. Here some of the morphological distinguishers are not evident, e.g., the lateral white notching of the lateral tail (good for D. major). The bird is juvenile. However, the ID is secured in this case by a couple of visible features, i.e., the juvenile major has a clean breast, and juvenile syriacus do not, and also, that little black upturning stripe directed toward the mid-nape shows a decided white gap in syriacus (and here conjoins with the nape black).

Steve, here are 2 more documentary shots of the Treecreeper (Certhia). Perhaps you can identify the subspecies.