Birds of Lake Skadar: a Species Guide

Dalmatian pelican — Pelecanus crispus

The largest bird on the lake, with a wingspan close to three metres and curly nape feathers. Globally threatened; Skadar is one of very few European breeding sites. Look for it on open water and sandbars, most often between February and May.

Pygmy cormorant — Microcarbo pygmaeus

Small, dark and abundant, perching in loose groups on dead branches and reed stems and diving constantly. Present all year and often the first bird you photograph.

Herons and egrets

Grey heron stalks the reed margins; great egret is unmistakably white and tall; little egret is smaller with black legs and yellow feet; squacco heron is buff and secretive until it flies and turns brilliant white. All four feed along the channel edges at dawn.

• •Grey heron — Ardea cinerea, reed edges, all season.
• •Great egret — Ardea alba, open shallows.
• •Little egret — Egretta garzetta, channels and river.
• •Squacco heron — Ardeola ralloides, summer, dense cover.

Cormorants, terns, grebes and ibis

Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) fishes the deeper open lake and dries its wings on rocks. Whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida) hawks insects over the lily fields in summer, dipping to the surface. Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) displays on calm bays in spring. Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) passes through in dark, glinting flocks on migration.