Common Birds of Greece

The world's largest pelican — Lake Kerkini in northern Greece holds the most reliable colony, with 1,500+ birds nesting, easily viewed from the lakeside road.

A pigeon-sized falcon that times its breeding to intercept migrating passerines in autumn — the Aegean island colonies are among the last great falcon spectacles in Europe.

Dadia Forest in Thrace is the most important Cinereous Vulture breeding site in Europe — up to 30 pairs nest, and birds can be watched soaring from the observation hide.

A range-restricted nuthatch found in Greece only on Lesbos island — the pine forests above Agiasos and Mytilene harbour Greece's only breeding population.

A Mediterranean endemic — hundreds raft off Crete's north coast in spring before streaming through the Bosphorus on inland-sea migration routes.

One of Europe's most elegant warblers — the male has a jet-black hood, white moustache, and red eye, singing from phrygana scrub tops in the Greek islands.

Arrives in Greece in May as one of the last migrants — the rich chestnut-and-yellow male is one of Europe's most striking buntings, singing from roadside wires.

The smallest cormorant in Europe — nests in enormous mixed colonies with herons, egrets, and spoonbills at Lake Kerkini, Greece's finest mixed waterbird site.