Rtas' main collection

I just have the drunken papo marabout that does'n stand at this scale but 1 stork, 1 marabout and few flamingoes at 1/32 scale, and I live close where real ones are now living in my department! :)

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The Schleich figure currently resides in my collection as a Chilean, its colours don't match any other species well enough. My other flamingo species include Papo's greater and Safari and CollectA's American.

My guess is that Schleich put their flamingo in the Africa range as the general community think flamingos are African and they didn't care if it was a South American species or not.

Alain and Pardo, of course, any southerner has seen flamingos in the wild, that's an unfair game !

But have you ever seen razorbills ? Have you ever seen puffins ?

Unfortunately Alain, I did not see them when I was working as a street fundraiser in the Montpellier-Nîmes area.

Pardo and Adam, thank you for your analysis about flamingos. I now have to decide whether I keep considering my two Schleich ones as greater flamingos or re-classify them as chilean flamingos and buy Papo's model as a greater one

IV Birds and reptiles

B) Birds

5) Birds of prey

a) Owls

Species : Eurasian eagle owl, tawny owl, snowy owl
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Figures on this picture (from left to right) :
- Schleich 14738 Eagle Owl (2015-2019)
- Schleich 14238 Tawny Owl (1999-2004)
- Schleich 14671 Snowy Owl (2012-2020)

Fun facts :
- I finally decided to buy the eagle owl when I found one with a less whitish face during one of my figure hunts.
- Although I live in a city, I can hear a tawny owl howling from my flat by night.
- I have the tawny owl from my childhood, bought the snowy owl in my favourite Schleich shop and got the eagle owl during one of my treasure hunts.
- I have seen eagle, snowy and tawny owls in zoos but I can't remember any satisfying tawny owl observation in the wild.

Beautyful owls from the golden age of Schleich !    

I love to read your fun facts !!!

It would be so great to have you here and tell me about bird voices !!!
The birds are going mad with their song but I only know little over a dozen voices  
There are lots of tawny owls around here, but they "uhuuh" more in wintertime, - or perhaps I just hear them more, because it is dark from mid-afternoon  

I have the eagle and the snow owls and I saw both in Rocamadour "birds health center" :) but Eagle owl in the wild during the day! :)

Tawny owls are always a joy to see or hear at night. Back in 2015 my parents awoke to hear a very large bang on their bedroom window. They ignored it and went back to sleep. In the morning I went in my parents' room to find something and a perfect imprint of an owl was on their bedroom window. It stayed there for up to two months and it was so cool.

Susanne if you wish to hear birdsong and photos of the species visit Ebird.org they have an online database of bird species and their calls.

Most of us use the Schleich flamingo as a Chilean. I don't remember which species Schleich marketed but I rmemeber seeing it later being sold with the water hole that is African as you mentioned.
That's one of the Schleich hybrids and it may explain why it is not in my collection. You can use it as you want but if it has greyish legs with pink joints, it is a Chilean, if it has completely pink legs, it is a greater one. As pointed before, also the black on bill is intermediate between both species.
I have the Papo greater flamingo, too big for you and the Safari American flamingo, smaller than Schleich's, I guess. If you need a comparison picture of the Safari figure, I have the Papo marabou also with me and mine stands perfectly but it is because our figures are not subject of a huge effort.
I also own the CollectA shoebill, excellent figure but I have the Eikoh too that is smaller. Unfortunately these are not with me at the moment.

Oh, stories about birds..
We have an owl here, I'm not sure which one, maybe it's a tawny owl.  Well, we were away for the weekend last year and when we got back we first saw some feathers here and there in my apartment...
After 2 minutes of searching we saw an owl sitting up on the kitchen hood and looking at me with those eyes... I did not expect that I would be frightened in the view of an owl, but I admit I did. It's different when you're indoors.. I tried very hard not to frighten the bird and opened slowly the  balcony doors. It flew away with great precision. It still remains a mystery how the owl trapped into my apartment.

Then, the other day, I think it was the same owl that grabbed in front of our eyes a poor little sparrow that was sitting on my balcony's banister. In a split of second and in the light of day. I was shocked really.

I'm also hosting a bat, but that's another story...  

Susanne, I knew you would like this vintage one ! I also have the old eagle owl from the birds of prey series [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but it is now in my vintage collection.

I am no bird songs specialist, I only know a few of them, while I can identify visually most of European bird species. I mostly hear my tawny owl in summer because it is so hot that I have to sleep (or stay awoken all night long ) with open windows.

Alain, you are so lucky ! The eagle owl is a mythical bird, I would dream about seeing it in the wild. Where was that ?

Adam, beautiful story, each time I hear something from you, I really feel like you are living in a magic place.

Roger, as you can see on my picture, mine have completely pink legs, I mean, there are some grey shadings but they are pink for the most part. So, how should I call them ?
I would love to see that safari American flamingo. And indeed, we found at least one advantage about our situation

Nice story Kostas, I have bats in my flat in summer too, baby bats who fall from the attic right in my flat actually, and it's a nightmare to look after them. You have to feed them every three hours with fresh worms... I prefer to give them to an association which take care of them when I can.

My village isn't magical, its just an average village in rural Britain. Here's a photo from the canal side[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

No I haven't seen razorbills, and puffins only in zoos.
Caracal live more northern than me and he have flamingos breeding near him. Flamingos are very far from where I live and I saw them only once in a very long travel. You have the Caracal's breeding colony of flamingos probably nearer than me

Nice new owls, and the tawny owl figure is probably a rarity! Me too, I've heard (VEEEERY occasionally) tawny owls sometimes, but never had a sight of one. I wonder why always movies use the tawny owl as background sound at night, no matter if the scene is based in whatever country

I have seen (and cared for) the three owl species in captivity, and also seen eagle owl in the wild :)

Advicot wrote:

My village isn't magical, its just an average village in rural Britain. Here's a photo from the canal side[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

WHAT THE HELL ! IT IS MIDSOMER !!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Spoiler:

Pardo, both you and Alain make me jealous talking about your eagle owl observations in the wild. I don't care much about seeing flamingos (that's something anyone can do) but eagle owls...

When, where and how did you care for owls ? Are you a zoo keeper ?!

No, I was working at a private state with animals (mainly raptors and farm animals) for a man that made his job with raptors (airport security, flight exhibition and medievail fairs).

RtasVadumee wrote:

Roger, as you can see on my picture, mine have completely pink legs, I mean, there are some grey shadings but they are pink for the most part. So, how should I call them ?
I would love to see that safari American flamingo. And indeed, we found at least one advantage about our situation

Well, you can use it just as a flamingo so it will work everywhere. I was to put this tpicture in a comparison topic but as your topic is already very illustrated and this is not a flamingos' comparison, I am putting it here.
Safari's figure is tall but very delicate, not bulky as the Papo flamingo.

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Thanks for the pic ! It is nice indeed, I may buy it one day although it is not my priority.

IV Birds and reptiles

B) Birds

5) Birds of prey

b) Vultures

Species : Griffon vulture, Andean condor, whiteback vulture
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Figures on this picture (from left to right) :
- Schleich 14691 Griffon Vulture (2013-2016)
- Schleich 16708 Condor (2001-2003)
- Schleich 16706 Whiteback Vulture (2000-2003)

Fun facts :
- This is one of the jewels of my collection : the Andean condor from Schleich was only available for two years, everyone wants it and I do own it And I just paid the regular price since I got it in my childhood ! This figure has everything a collector may desire : it is rare, it is ancient, it represents an iconic species which is very rare in main brands' range and no one would deny it is the best model for that species.
- I have the condor and the whiteback vulture from my childhood and I bought the griffon vulture in a local shop, where it was still available.
- I have seen Andean condors and whiteback vultures in zoos and griffon vultures in the wild (in the Cévennes).

Update : Were added to the collection
- Schleich 14847 Vulture (2021-still in production)
- Papo 50168 Vulture (2015-still in production)
- Safari 100270 King Vulture (2019-still in production)
- Safari 264929 California Condor (2009-2018)
For further information, please check the addition topics.
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If the condor and the whiteback vulture were released with an updated paintjob I would buy them as soon as I could find them. I have no whiteack vulture but an Andean condor by Nayab and three griffon vultures(Schleich, Mojo, Papo) as well as Bullyland's bearded vulture, Papo's red headed vulture and Safari's California condor and king vulture

Lucky you to have this jewel-condor!  I saw it on ebay but its price!

I have this Schleich griffon vulture, the old one and the wonderful Papo one without socle and with opened wings.

The small village I am originated from is in the hearth of the area where griffon vultures have been reintroduiced 40 years ago, so when I am back in "my" highlands, I see them almost every days above all during summer in evening. They draw circles in the sky by packs of 30 or 40! In Occitan language, my great-father called them "bouldras" (from latin language "vulturas" = "big vulture") They had disapeared after the sanitary laws that forbad to leave death sheep or cattle in mountains.

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I also saw many of them in Cantabria (Picos de Europa) and Santander area!..

Rogério, I saw the eagle owl in the same area, it stood on a telephone post on road side but when I stopped the car, it flied away!.. :)

Wonderful models

Magnificent bird in your photo Alain! :)

Yes, you are lucky of having Schleich Andean condor, it is not impossible to find, I've seen it several times for sale but the prices are unaffordable. The white-backed could also enter my collection if I ever get a good chance.
I have the Bullyland Andean condor, Safari California condor, Bullyland bearded vulture, Bullyland black vulture, Epoch Egyptian vulture, Mojö griffon vultures, Safari king vulture, Bullyland white-rumped vulture and a few more smaller sized ones.

Advicot wrote:

If the condor and the whiteback vulture were released with an updated paintjob I would buy them as soon as I could find them. I have no whiteack vulture but an Andean condor by Nayab and three griffon vultures(Schleich, Mojo, Papo) as well as Bullyland's bearded vulture, Papo's red headed vulture and Safari's California condor and king vulture

Roger wrote:

I have the Bullyland Andean condor, Safari California condor, Bullyland bearded vulture, Bullyland black vulture, Epoch Egyptian vulture, Mojö griffon vultures, Safari king vulture, Bullyland white-rumped vulture and a few more smaller sized ones.

Wait... what ?! There is a bullyland bearded vulture figure ?! I absolutely need to see that.
Never heard about a Papo red headed vulture, can I see it too ?
The safari king one is on my wishlist, may I have a comparison pic with anything you would find relevant please ?
Actually, may I see ALL your vultures, guys ?

Caracal wrote:

The small village I am originated from is in the hearth of the area where griffon vultures have been reintroduiced 40 years ago, so when I am back in "my" highlands, I see them almost every days above all during summer in evening. They draw circles in the sky by packs of 30 or 40! In Occitan language, my great-father called them "bouldras" (from latin language "vulturas" = "big vulture") They had disapeared after the sanitary laws that forbad to leave death sheep or cattle in mountains.

Alain, they are very impressive birds, especially for someone who is used to seeing only buzzards, albeit not as impressive as the golden eagle in my opinion, even though it is smaller. What is this village you are talking about ?