ITALIAN SPARROWS: A GALLERY

In Italy and the Mediterranean region, the house sparrows are sometimes considered a different species, the Italian sparrow Passer italiae, also known as the Cisalpine sparrow. There is great taxonomic confusion over this species. Some consider it a hybrid of the house sparrow and Spanish sparrow, others consider it a subspecies of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus italiae), still others consider it a species in its own right, and yet others consider it a subspecies of the Spanish sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis italiae). Whatever you think about its status as a species, here are some photos of them!

A male Italian sparrow on a bridge in Florence

Another male Italian sparrow, in the Villa Borghese park of Rome

Yet another male Italian sparrow, in the gardens of the Parco de Princippi Grande Hotel

Another male Italian sparrow, in the exact same place

A female Italian sparrow, in the same gardens

A flock of Italian sparrows at the Villa Borghese, as well as a feral pigeon on the left. 

THE GULLS OF VENICE: BLACK-HEADED, YELLOW-LEGGED AND MEDITERRANEAN

In Venice, along with feral pigeons, gulls are everywhere. Black-headed gulls are the commonest, with yellow-legged gulls also present. Further out in the countryside, you can also see Mediterranean gulls and slender-billed gulls. This post is a gallery of some of these gulls. First, let's have a little information on these gulls.
The black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, is a small gull found in much of Eurasia, as well as coastal eastern Canada. In breeding plumage, the adult has a chocolate-brown coloured head (which can look black from a distance), a red bill and feet, a mostly white body and grey wings. In non-breeding plumage, the chocolate-brown hood is lost, with two dark spots on the head all that remains. This bold and opportunistic gull eats insects, fish, seeds, carrion, food scraps, invertebrates and worms, among others. Its call is a kree-ar. It can live for up to 32.9 years in the wild.
The yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis, is another very common gull. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Herring gull, L. argentatus, or the Caspian gull, L. cachinnans. There are two subspecies, with subspecies michahellis in the Mediterranean area, including Venice. It is very common in Italy. Adults have slate-grey wings, a mostly white body and yellow legs, as well as a yellow bill with a red dot on the lower mandible. It has a red ring around its eye. Younger birds, or juveniles and immatures, are pale mottled brown. The call is a loud laugh deeper and more nasal than that of the herring gull. Like most Larus gulls, it is omnivorous, eating pretty much whatever it can get its beak on.
The Mediterranean gull, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus, is less common than the two gulls above. In breeding plumage, it can be distinguished from the black-headed gull by its jet-black head and white eye crescents. In non-breeding plumage, instead of two dark spots it has a dusky-coloured 'bandit mask; through the eye. Once this bird was found only in the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, but it has now expanded over most of Europe, as far north as Ireland and Britain.
Now here are the pictures.

A black-headed gull, in non-breeding plumage

A flock of black-headed gulls in the Venetian countryside, all in non-breeding plumage

Another black-headed gull in non-breeding plumage

A swimming black-headed gull in non-breeding plumage

A black-headed gull, again in the Venetian countryside, also in non-breeding plumage

Here we have two different gulls. On the left, a black-headed gull in non-breeding plumage. On the right, an adult yellow-legged gull.

A closer view of that adult yellow-legged gull.

Another yellow-legged gull, this photo was taken from the deck of a water taxi

A subadult yellow-legged gull

A juvenile yellow-legged gull. Notice the difference?

A flock of yellow-legged gulls. Some are subadults, some are adults, some are juveniles.

A yellow-legged gull on the head of a winged lion statue, St. Mark's Square, Venice

Finally, a Mediterranean gull in non-breeding plumage.

A BIRDING TRIP IN VENICE

My mother organised it so that when we were staying in Venice, I would get to go on a birding trip with a birding guide. This was meant to be with my father, but he got sick so I went with my mother instead.

We took a train to a station where we would meet our guide, Menotti. He would be driving us to the Po Delta area, a large wetland where we could see a variety of waterbirds. Along the way, Menotti pointed out a variety of birds common in the Venice countryside, most of which were lifers I would never have seen otherwise. Eurasian jays, magpies, Mediterranean gulls, great spotted woodpeckers, collared doves, wood pigeons, feral pigeons, yellow-legged gulls, black-headed gulls, Eurasian kestrels, little egrets, cattle egrets, great egrets, grey herons, dunlins, great crested grebes, little ringed plovers, avocets, caspian terns, common buzzards, little stints and common moorhens, among others.

Eurasian magpies are abundant in the Venice countryside, and we saw many of them

Collared doves were also common

We saw several of these Mediterranean gulls

We saw this great spotted woodpecker not very far from Venice

We saw several of these Eurasian kestrels

A flock of these dunlins were seen next to a road, along with two avocets, many yellow-legged gulls, a caspian tern, little stints and little ringed plovers

A little ringed plover

Two little stints

Soon, we arrived at the Po Delta area. We followed a road through some wetlands. A red-backed shrike flew out of a bush, as avocets, little ringed plovers, little egrets, black-headed gulls and greenshanks fed in the mud.

A pied avocet, a bird I've always wanted to see but never thought I would

Two common greenshanks, a familiar sight from Australia and Sri Lanka

Then we came to a larger pond, in which there were great crested grebes, little grebes, grey herons, mute swans and pygmy cormorants. 

A great crested grebe, we saw several of these in the pond

A little grebe, a familiar sight from Sri Lanka

A pygmy cormorant

I spotted something flying in the sky and landing in a nearby pond. We went to investigate and I saw a sight I definitely had not been expecting . . .

GREATER FLAMINGOES!

After staying around to watch the flamingoes for some time, we kept going. We came to another pond where there were avocets, black-headed gulls, black-necked grebes, yellow-legged gulls, wood sandpipers, mute swans, a Caspian tern and a rare vagrant to Italy, a Western reef egret. 

A wood sandpiper

A black-necked grebe in non-breeding plumage

A Caspian tern on the left, and a black-headed gull on the right

A rare vagrant to Italy, a western reef egret

A mute swan, its young and two gulls

We then drove back to Venice, stopping on the way to look at a common buzzard.

A common buzzard, we saw several of these 

HOODED CROWS, CARRION CROWS AND A JACKDAW: A GALLERY

The hooded crow, Corvus cornix, is a species of crow found in much of continental Europe and Scotland. It was once considered a subspecies of the carrion crow Corvus corone, mostly because they are very similar in habits and sometimes hybridise. For example, like the carrion crow, the hooded crow is a constant scavenger, and is an omnivore. It will eat things like food scraps, small mammals, smaller birds, carrion, eggs, molluscs and crabs. However, unlike the carrion crow, it is mostly pale grey, with a black face, wings and tail. It was abundant in all the places I visited.
The carrion crow, Corvus corone, is also a species of crow. It will eat many different things, scavenging like the hooded crow. Its habits are pretty much the same. However, it is coloured black with a green or purple sheen, with the bill, legs and feet also coloured black. It will sometimes hybridise with the hooded crow.
The Eurasian jackdaw, Corvus monedula, can be found across Europe, western Asia and North Africa. There are four different subspecies. At 34 to 39 centimetres long, it is the second-smallest bird in the genus Corvus. It is coloured mostly blackish grey or black, with a pale grey nape.
Now enough with the information, I'll just show you the photos!

A hooded crow at the Tiergarten Zoo, Vienna

Another hooded crow in the park in front of the Hilton Vienna

A hooded crow photographed through the window of the Uffuzi Gallery in Florence

A hooded crow in front of the Termini Train Station in Rome

A hooded crow in the Rome Forum

A carrion crow at the Tiergarten Zoo

Another carrion crow, also at the Tiergarten Zoo

Finally a jackdaw, in the area around the Leaning Tower of Pisa

A TRIP TO VIENNA AND ITALY: THE TIERGARTEN ZOO

I have just returned from a 2-week trip to Vienna, Florence, Rome and Venice. I saw many different art galleries, important buildings and other tourist attractions, but also managed to fit in some birding. However, I'll only post about some of the birding parts of our trip, with an exception for the trip to Mt. Vesuvius. This post is about a visit to the Tiergarten Zoo in the grounds of the Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna.
We left for the zoo at about 9 am, stopping at the river in front of the hotel to look at the white wagtails, black-headed gulls, grey herons and northern mallards, the first two of those lifers.

A black-headed gull in front of our hotel

A white wagtail on the banks of the canal/river

A grey heron, also in/on the banks of the same river

When we arrived at the zoo we walked forwards, stopping to watch several great tits feeding at a feeder (another lifer), as well as a red squirrel below them.

A great tit, Parus major

The red squirrels around the Tiergarten Zoo are unbelievably tame, walking right up to people

We kept walking, brought tickets and continued our journey, heading along the treetop walk. I looked around for birds, but only saw hooded crows and carrion crows (If you're waiting for a photo of these, don't worry, there'll be a gallery of them coming up). We continued on and came to a feeder. After waiting for a while at this feeder and spotting two more lifers, European nuthatches and blue tits, the feeder was swarmed by house sparrows and we moved on.

A European nuthatch

A rather blurry photo of a blue tit

We kept going, seeing more hooded crows, carrion crows, house sparrows and the occasional great tit. Eventually we made it to the exit. We then looked around the palace gardens and maze, but couldn't see anything new. After that we looked around in the palace, then headed back out of the palace, its zoo and its grounds.