Throwback Thursday: Icelandic bird of the year 2021

You might remember, a couple of weeks ago, I posted an image of the German bird of the year 2021. Today, I have the one, the Icelanders have chosen: European golden plover

European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria) / Goldregenpfeifer

The Heiðlóan (pluvialis apricaria), or the European golden plover (Goldregenpfeifer in German) won the election. Once, this bird was common in middle Europe. Nowadays, you can only find it in Northern Europe: Iceland, Faroe Islands, Scandinavia, and Siberia. It has certain requirements for its habitat. (sidenote: I just noticed, the German word Lebensraum was also taken as a loanword into English with exactly the same meaning – wow).

I met these little guys last summer in Iceland a couple of times. This image was taken in the Westfjords.

Take care!