The goosander (Mergus merganser), known as the common merganser in North America, is a large piscivorous duck belonging to the Mergus genus. In Iceland also the Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) belongs to this genus. The goosander has also been called the Buff-breasted Merganser or simply the sawbill because of its serrated billedges used for fishing. …
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The Red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) is a wader of the Phalaropus genus belonging to shorebirds (Charadriiformes). The Phalarope genus is a small group of birds with only three living species. Besides the red-necked phalarope, the red phalarope (called the gray phalarope in Europe) (Phalaropus fulicarius) and the Wilson´s phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) belong to the genus. …
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The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) belongs to the auk family (Alcidae) wich live and breed around Iceland. Other members of this family include the Black guillemot, Common murre, Thick-billed murre, Razorbill, and the rarely seen Dovekie. Puffins live in the NA Atlantic and breed in Greenland, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Norway but the majority …
All Icelanders know the oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) as it is very noticeable due to its loud calls during summer. The oystercatcher is a wader (Charadrii) belonging to the Haematopodidae family, widely distributed on the coast of western Europe but is also found in East Europe and Asia. The oystercatcher is black and white and a …
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There are known over a hundred species of ducks in the world, but the word duck and the childish words „bra-bra“ are by most Icelanders related and refer to the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). The mallard is tame, easily recognized, and found around ponds where children feed the ducks. The mallard belongs to the Anseriformes within …
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The horned grebe, also known as Slavonian grebe (Podiceps auritus), belongs to the Podicipedidae family along with 20 other species belonging to six genera and is the only grebe species found in Iceland. The horned grebe is distributed in Scandinavia and the Baltic, east to Asia and North America. Few breeding pairs have been observed …
The black tailed godwit (Limosa limosa islandica) belongs to the waders (Charadrii) but is of the Scolopacidae family. It is closely related to the redshank (Scolopacidae) and the whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) within the subfamily Tringinae. This subspecies nests mainly in Iceland but has also been observed at a few destinations in the west and mid-Europe …
The black-headed gull (formerly Larus ridibundus, now known as Chroicocephalus ridibundus) belongs to the gull family (Laridae) and the genus Chroicocephalus. Gulls in this genus are small to medium-sized most of them having a distinguished hood on the head. These species were previously placed in the Larus genus, which includes the real gulls. The bird is widely …
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The Black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) belongs to the Alcid family (Alcidae) along with the puffin (Fratercula arctica), the common murre (Uria aalge), the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia), the razorbill (Alca torda) and the rare little auk (Alle alle). The Black guillemot is an arctic bird species that occupies many areas of the coastline in the …
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The barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) is a waterfowl (Anatidae) that belongs to the black geese genus (Branta). The black geese genus is often related to the New World in the West while the gray geese genus (Anser) is related to the Old World in the East, but these two genera mix in their most northern …
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