Bird Watching in Hungary

Frequently I drive along the road 6 in Hungary , which runs down the south of the country from Budapest . Every few kilometres I usually see medium sized, brown birds of prey either sitting in the trees or bushes or hunting across the fields. I have only ever seen one really close up, it had killed a small animal on the side of the road and was busy pulling it to pieces and eating it, completely oblivious to the passing traffic. I was really quite amazed at how large it was as I usually only see them from a distance but they all seem to be of the same species.

I looked in books and on the internet in an attempt to discover what they might be and thought I would have no problem in finding out because as there seemed to be so many I presumed they must be one of Hungary’s” most common” birds.

Imagine my surprise and delight in discovering that “birding” is a very popular past time in Hungary and because Hungary has the most variety of bird species in Eastern Europe , approximately 373, it is also a very popular destination for bird watching enthusiasts from all over the world.

There were so many medium sized raptors listed that my attempt to discover exactly what bird I had been looking at failed miserably. Then I discovered the web site of the Global Birding Pal Club where you can make contact with people who are just interested in watching birds and delight in contacting or meeting fellow enthusiasts or where professional guides advertise their services.

I went to the Hungarian web site of the club and put my enquiry to three of the people listed in the hope that at least one would be able to understand English. My Hungarian is not good enough to write to them in their own language so imagine my delight when all three of them replied. The unanimous answer was that the bird most likely would be the Common Buzzard -Latin name Buteo Buteo -Hungarian name Egerészölyv.

One of the birding pals who answered my enquiry was a young man named Kókay Szabolcs whom, after a couple of communications, I discovered was not only an enthusiastic bird watcher but also a very talented artist and illustrator of birds. I am sure you will all love his work which you can see at: www.kokay.hu

I also frequently drive through Kiskunság National Park which at various times of the year is visited by an enormous number and variety of water birds. There are quite a few National Parks in Hungary and each has a lot to offer in the way of wildlife -birds, animals, flowers, plants, etc. You can find them all listed with their web addresses at the following web site:

http://www.parks.it/world/HU/Eindex.html

Below you will find a number of links to lists of bird species found in Hungary , links of general interest and details of Hungarian bird watching tours.

Checklists of bird species found in Hungary

http://www.bsc-eoc.org/avibase/avibase.jsp?region=hu&pg=checklist&list=clements

http://www.c3.hu/~mme/nb/hun_list.htm

http://www.hungarianbirdwatching.com/birds_checklist.htm

General links

http://extra.hu/chernelmte/chernelmte_en.html

http://www.birdingpal.org/Hungary.htm

http://www.ramsar.org/profiles_hungary.htm

http://www.birdinghungary.com/why.htm

http://www.birdinghungary.com/

Bird watching tours in Hungary

http://www.birding.hu/