Hanging on a wire

Well, the correct term for this post would be Perching instead of Hanging. But it's close enough! 😁 Off to this week's SMAP, being the theme Birds on Wire; you can check the original contest post here!

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Going on a full portuguese species post this time, but starting far away from the mainland, in the Açores islands.

^{Common sterling / Estorninho malhado (PT) - Sturnus vulgaris}

In the beautiful Pico island, common sterlings were a frequent sighting; sometimes one individual on a wire with a mean look, sometimes a couple; and sometimes a whole bunch of them! But staying on the theme, here's more of the perched ones.

Despite their name, this is not the usual sterlings I see; and it was the first time that I've seen them with such a spotted plummage. In mainland Portugal, spotless sterlings are a lot more common, at least for me.

^{Spotless sterling / Estorninho preto (PT) - Sturnus unicolor}

And this is how I normally see them: by the dozens, on the electric wires! In these last years, them seem to be more and more common in urban areas too. I rarely saw them near my home, and now it's very very frequent to see or hear them; they're a noisy bunch, they don't usually go unnoticed!

Less noisy than sterlings, but also normally found on wires? Well, here you go!

^{Red rumped swallow / Andorinha dáurica (PT) - Hirundo daurica}

These are probably the portuguese swallows with the most striking colour; despite the mostly black and white plummage, they have beautiful reddish colours too. Not only in the head, but also in the rump; unfortunately couldn't get them facing the other way!

Other species very commmonly seen on wires and very easy to recognize are these little guys.

^{European stonechat / Cartaxo comum (PT) - Saxicola rubicola, male}

Little bird, on top of a bush or wire, in an open position, with black head and orange chest? 99,9% chance of being a male stonechat! This one was taken in the fields of Alentejo, away from the main urban areas, but you can easily see them there as well. Unlike the shrike, that I was only able to see in rural areas.

^{Iberian grey shrike / Picanço real (PT) - Lanius meridionalis}

These shrikes are a subspecies of the grey shrikes, endemic to the Iberian Peninsule (POrtugal and Spain).

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Left the coolest ones to the end. Birds of prey are normally seen flying, but sometimes we get lucky and can catch them standing still!

^{Common kestrel / Peneireiro comum (PT) - Falco tinnunculus, male}

Kestrels are the most common hawks here in Portugal. This one is a male, easily distinguished from females by their grey head. I know, technically he's not on a wire... but he's cool, there are wires in the photo, and this is my blog, so I say it works too! :P

Even better than finding a kestrel perched.... was being able to photograph another bird of prey perching, on the same birdwatching session!

^{Black winged kite / Peneireiro cinzento (PT) - Elanus caeruleus}

These kites are only seen in very specific areas of the country! Luckily for me, this area was one of them. They are beautiful, with their white, grey and black plummage, and with their red eyes!

Too bad I couldn't get closer for clearer photos, but just being able to see them standing still was already a blessing!

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Have a great week everyone!

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