This is a common owl in open lowland country in much of eastern Europe, particularly in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. It often breeds in and around settlements and farmsteads. As this photo shows Little Owls are also often rather photogenic!

These spectacular birds breed in the boreal zone of Eastern Europe, fairly widely in Poland & at a few sites in the Czech Republic. Though they do not breed in Hungary, over 70,000 congregate in east of the country every autumn, mainly in the Hortobagy area. The daily movements and noise that this mass of birds makes is a truly great experience. Mid to late October is the best time to visit Hungary to witness it. When the first hard frosts arrive in November the cranes move on southwards to winter in north Africa and the Middle East.

There are around 1200 resident Great Bustards in Hungary. They are mostly found on the Great Plain, east of the River Danube. The sight of displaying males in spring is one of the region's birding delights. They are however now absent or very rare in the rest of Eastern Europe.

Every year in late August several hundred Dotterel arrive in eastern Hungary and feed, rest and moult there at traditional sites. When the first hard frosts of winter arrive, usually in late November, they move on to warmer climes. Join a Hungary tour in late summer or autumn to see this bird!

This heron (aka Black-crowned Night Heron) is found commonly on natural and man-made wetlands, especially fishponds, in Hungary, Romania & Bulgaria. There are also a few colonies locally in the Czech Republic, Slovakia & Croatia. A migrant they arrive in April and have usually left by late October.

Ural Owls are found in upland forests throughout most of Eastern Europe, with particularly good numbers locally in eastern Slovakia, Transylvania in Romania and Hungary's northern hills. There are also a few pockets in Croatia and the Czech Republic. As with many owls breeding numbers fluctuate from year to year. Join a Hungary or Slovakia tour to see this fantastic bird!

This impressive woodpecker is rather common in most of Eastern Europe. In Hungary, for example, it has increased and spread remarkably in recent decades even breeding on the Great Plain. In Romania it has spread, too, now being quite common in the Danube Delta. It is also common in Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and parts of Croatia. In fact, it can be seen in wooded places in many of the region's towns and cities.

This is another essentially Eastern European bird, which can be seen throughout the region, as far north as southern Poland and as west as Bohemia in the Czech Republic. After many decades of expansion it seems now to have settled into its range. Common in gardens, orchards, along lanes and in parks in lowlands in Slovakia, northern Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

Though often a tricky bird to see, it is in fact not uncommon in Eastern Europe. However, occsasionally individuals are very confiding and walk or fly into the open. On spring migration it can be heard and seen in damp to wet lowland and upland habitats such as hay meadows, pastures and bogs. Numbers fluctate locally from year to year. Breeds in Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Resident and locally common in parks, flood-plain forests and broadleaved woodlands throughout Eastern Europe, particularly in oakwoods. Good numbers in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, northern Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.