Adult males ranges from 45–52 cm (18–21 inches) and from 888 to 1400 grams (1.9 to 3.1 lbs), while females range from 40–50 cm (16–20 inches) and from 500 to 1182 grams (1.1 to 2.6 lbs). The species is aptly named for its golden-yellow eye. Adult males have a dark head with a greenish gloss and a circular white patch below the eye, a dark back and a white neck and belly. Adult females have a brown head and a mostly grey body. Their legs and feet are orange-yellow.

Their breeding habitat is the taiga. They are found in the lakes and rivers of boreal forests across Canada and the northern United States,Scandinavia and northern Russia. They are migratory and most winter in protected coastal waters or open inland waters at more temperate latitudes. Naturally, they nest in cavities in large trees. They will readily use nestboxes, and this has enabled a healthy breeding population to establish in Scotland where they are increasing and slowly spreading with the help of nestboxes. They are usually quite common in winter around lakes of Britain and some are being encouraged to nest in nestboxes which are put up to try to have them there all year round.

Often the natural tree cavities are made by broken limbs, unless they are made by Pileated Woodpeckers or Black Woodpeckers, the only tree-cavity-making animals who make a cavity large enough to normally accommodate a goldeneye. Average egg size is a breadth of 43.3 mm (1.7 inches), a length of 59.3 mm (2.3 inches) and a weight of 64 grams (2.3 oz). The incubation period ranges from 28 to 32 days. The female does all the incubating and is abandoned by the male about 1 to 2 weeks into incubation. The young remain in the nest for about 24–36 hours.Brood parasitism is quite common both with other Common Goldeneyes as well as other duck species and even Tree Swallow and European Starling eggs have been found mixed with goldeneye eggs! The broods commonly start to mix with other females’ broods as they become more independent. Goldeneye young have been known to be competitively killed by other goldeneye mothers, Common Loons and Red-necked Grebes. The young are capable of flight at 55–65 days of age.

Adults are approximately 64 cm (25 in) long and weigh 800 g (28 oz). They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey. These are short-necked and stout herons.

Adults are 33–36 cm long. They have long pink legs, a long thin black bill and are blackish above and white below, with a white head and neck with a varying amount of black. Males have a black back, often with greenish gloss. Females’ backs have a brown hue, contrasting with the black remiges. In the populations that have the top of the head normally white at least in winter, females tend to have less black on head and neck all year round, while males often have much black, particularly in summer. This difference is not clear-cut, however, and males usually get all-white heads in winter.

Immature birds are grey instead of black and have a markedly sandy hue on the wings, with light feather fringes appearing as a whitish line in flight.

The Alpine Ibex, Capra ibex, is a species of wild goat that lives in the mountains of the European Alps. The Spanish Ibex(Capra pyrenaica) and the Middle Eastern Nubian Ibex (Capra nubiana) are very close relatives of the Alpine Ibex. Its names in various European languages are French bouquetin, Italian stambecco, Slovene kozorog, German Steinbock, andDutch steenbok. Confusingly the Dutch word has entered the English language(via Afrikaans) not for this animal, but as the name for an unrelated species of African antelope, the steenbok (Raphicerus campestris).

The Mute Swan was first formally described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin as Anas olor in 1789, and was transferred by Johann Matthäus Bechstein to the new genus Cygnus in 1803. It is the type species of the genus Cygnus.^[4] Both cygnus and olormean “swan” in Latin; cygnus is related to the Greek kyknos.^[5][6] The synonym Sthenelides olor has occasionally been used in the past.

Despite its Eurasian origin, its closest relatives are the Black Swan of Australia and the Black-necked Swan of South America, not the other Northern Hemisphere swans.^[1] The species is monotypic with no living subspecies.^[1][3]

The White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on its wings. Adults have long red legs and a long pointed red beak. Its two subspecies, which differ slightly in size, breed in the warmer parts of Europe (north to Estonia), northwestern Africa, southwestern Asia (east to southern Kazakhstan), and southern Africa. It is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. As White Storks rely on the uplift of airthermals (which form over land but not water) to glide long distances, they avoid the Mediterranean Sea and detour via the Levant in the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west on their migrations between Europe and Africa.

A carnivore, the White Stork eats a wide range of animal prey, including insects, crayfish, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and small birds. It takes most of its food from the ground, among low vegetation, and from shallow water. It is a monogamous breeder, but does not pair for life. Both members of the pair build a large stick nest, which may be used for several years. The female lays one clutch of usually four eggs per year, which hatch asynchronously 33–34 days later. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs and both feed the young. The young leave the nest 58–64 days after hatching, and continue to be fed by the parents for a further 7–20 days.

The White Stork benefited from human activities during the Middle Ages as woodland was cleared; however, a decline in population began in the 19th Century due to changes in farming methods. Disappearing from several European countries in the early 20th Century, it has been the subject of conservation and reintroduction programs across Europe, and storks are breeding once again in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Continuing threats to the species include the drainage of wetlands, collisions with overhead power lines, use of persistent pesticides, and illegal hunting on migration routes and wintering grounds. It has few natural predators, but may harbour several types of parasite. This conspicuous bird has given rise to many legends across its range, of which the best known is the story of babies being brought by storks.

A carnivore, the White Stork eats a wide range of animal prey, including insects, crayfish, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and small birds. It takes most of its food from the ground, among low vegetation, and from shallow water. It is a monogamous breeder, but does not pair for life. Both members of the pair build a large stick nest, which may be used for several years. The female lays one clutch of usually four eggs per year, which hatch asynchronously 33–34 days later. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs and both feed the young. The young leave the nest 58–64 days after hatching, and continue to be fed by the parents for a further 7–20 days.

The White Stork benefited from human activities during the Middle Ages as woodland was cleared; however, a decline in population began in the 19th Century due to changes in farming methods. Disappearing from several European countries in the early 20th Century, it has been the subject of conservation and reintroduction programs across Europe, and storks are breeding once again in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Continuing threats to the species include the drainage of wetlands, collisions with overhead power lines, use of persistent pesticides, and illegal hunting on migration routes and wintering grounds. It has few natural predators, but may harbour several types of parasite. This conspicuous bird has given rise to many legends across its range, of which the best known is the story of babies being brought by storks.

Adults are 25–27 cm in length with a 44–47 cm wingspan and a weight of 80–140 g (up to 180 g pre-migration). They have short greenish-grey legs and a very long (5.5–7 cm) straight dark bill. The body is mottled brown with straw-yellow stripes on top and pale underneath. They have a dark stripe through the eye, with light stripes above and below it. The wings are pointed.^[2][3]

It is the most widespread of several similar snipes. It most closely resembles the Wilson’s Snipe G. delicata of North America, which was until recently considered to be a subspecies G. g. delicata of Common Snipe. They differ in the number of tail feathers, with seven pairs in G. gallinago and eight pairs in G. delicata; the North American species also has a slightly wider white edge to the wings.^[4][5] Both species breed in the Aleutian Islands.^[2] It is also very similar to the Pintail Snipe G. stenura and Swinhoe’s Snipe G. megala of eastern Asia; identification of these species there is complex.^[6]

There are two subspecies of Common Snipe, G. g. faeroeensis in Iceland, the Faroes, Shetlandand Orkney (wintering in Britain and Ireland), and G. g. gallinago in the rest of the Old World.