Hungarian Birds

I am near the halfway point in my time in Hungary. It's been an incredible trip so far and I have lots of new knowledge to share. I am going to use this week to catch-up on several posts I have in progress. I will start by listing the birds I've seen or heard so far and the places I saw them. There are over 300 breeding birds in Hungary so I won't, just yet, provide a comprehensive bilingual vocab list.

I have spent some time searching for birds in four locations: 1) Budapest, 2) Sziget Monostor, 3) Hortobagy National Park, and a fairly undisturbed section of the 4) Tisza River below Tokaj.

The highest numbers of species are from the Hortobagy National Park and its immediate surroundings. There are a few reasons for this. The park is fairly large and contains many types of grassland, woodland, and wetland habitats. It's in the middle of the migratory flyway between northern Europe and Africa, and some of the birds noted are holdovers from the spring migration. Another reason for the high counts here is that I spent three days in the park, compared to only two days on the Tisza and one at Sziget Monostor. One of the days in the park, I spent five hours with a guide, Tamás Zalai, a park ranger and outstanding birder. My bird count nearly doubled on that day. If you visit the park, I highly recommend you hire a guide. You can do that by booking in advance (Park Website) or during your visit at the visitors center in the town of Hortobagy.

The Hortobagy National Park is considered one of Europe's top ten places to see birds and one of the top two in Hungary. I'll have a lot more to say about the Hortobagy in subsequent posts.

Locations: Budapest - BU; Sziget Monostor - SM; Hortobagy - HO; Tisza River - TR.

Common Name
Great-crested Grebe (HO)
Cormorant (HO)
Pygmy Cormorant (HO)
Dalmatian Pelican (HO)
Bittern (HO)
Night Heron (HO, TR)
Grey Heron (HO, SM, TR)
Purple Heron (HO)
Little Egret (HO)
Great White Egret (HO, SM, TR)
Squacco Heron (HO)
Spoonbill (HO)
White Stork (HO, SM, TR)
Black Stork (TR)
Greylag Goose (HO)
Mallard (HO, SM)
Teal (HO)
Garganey (HO)
Ferruginous Duck (HO)
Pochard (HO)
Shelduck (HO)
Marsh Harrier (HO)
Rough-legged Buzzard (HO)
Buzzard (HO, SM, TR)
Kestrel (HO)
Hobby (TR)
Red-footed Falcon (TR)
Pheasant (HO, TR, SM)
Corncrake (HO, TR)
Water Rail (HO)
Coot (HO)
Great Bustard (HO)
Little Ringed Plover (TR)
Lapwing (HO)
Avocet (HO)
Black-winged Stilt (HO)
Oystercatcher (TR)
Greenshank (HO)
Black-headed Gull (HO, TR)
Whiskered Tern (HO)
Black Tern (HO)
White-winged Black Tern (HO)
Wood Pigeon (HO)
Rock Dove (BU, HO, TR, SM)
Collared Dove (HO)
Long-eared Owl (HO)
Hoopoe (HO)
Roller (HO)
Bee-eater (HO)
Kingfisher (TR)
Cuckoo (BU, HO, TR, SM)
Black Woodpecker (TR)
Green Woodpecker (HO)
Skylark (HO)
Crested Lark (HO)
Swift (BU)
Swallow (BU, HO, SM, TR)
Sand Martin (TR)
Grey Wagtail (HO)
Yellow Wagtail (HO)
Stonechat (HO)
Nightingale (HO)
Blackbird (BU, HO, SM, TR)
Song Thrush (TR)
Reed Warbler (HO, TR)
Great-Reed Warbler (HO)
River Warbler (HO, TR)
Sedge Warbler (HO)
Blackcap (HO, TR)
Chiffchaff (SM)
Red-backed Shrike (HO, SM, TR)
Great Grey Shrike (HO)
Magpie (BU, HO, SM, TR)
Starling (BU, HO, SM, TR)
Golden Oriole (HO, TR)
Hooded Crow (BU, HO, TR, SM)
Rook (HO)
Jackdaw (HO)
Chaffinch (SM)
Greenfinch (HO, SM)
Goldfinch (HO, SM, TR)
House Sparrow (BU, HO, SM, TR)
Tree Sparrow (HO, TR, SM)
Corn Bunting (HO)

Hungarian Name
Búbos vöcsök
Kárókatona
Kis kárókatona
Borzas gödény
Bölömbika
Bakcsó
Szürke gém
Vörös gém
Kis kócsag
Nagy kócsag
Üstökösgém
Kanalasgém
Fehér gólya
Fekete gólya
Nyári lúd
Tőkés réce
Csörgő réce
Böjti réce
Cigányréce
Barátréce
Bütykös ásólúd
Barna rétihéja
Pusztai ölyv
Egerészölyv
Vörös vércse
Kabasólyom
Kék vércse
Fácán
Haris
Guvat
Szárcsa
Túzok
Kis lile
Bíbic
Gulipán
Gólyatöcs
Csigaforgató
Szürke cankó
Dankasirály
Fattyúszerkõ
Kormos szerkõ
Fehérszárnyú szerkõ
Örvös galamb
Parlagi galamb
Balkáni gerle
Erdei fülesbagoly
Búbosbanka
Szalakóta
Gyurgyalag
Jégmadár
Kakukk
Fekete harkály
Zöld küllõ
Mezei pacsirta
Búbospacsirta
Sarlósfecske
Füsti fecske
Partifecske
Hegyi billegetõ
Sárga billegetõ
Cigánycsuk
Fülemüle
Fekete rigó
Énekes rigó
Cserregõ nádiposzáta
Nádirigó
Berki tücsökmadár
Foltos nádiposzáta
Barátposzáta
Csilpcsalpfüzike
Tövisszúró gébics
Nagy õrgébics
Szarka
Seregély
Sárgarigó
Dolmányos varjú
Vetési varjú
Csóka
Erdei pinty
Zöldike
Tengelic
Házi veréb
Mezei veréb
Sordély