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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Crested Tit Parus cristatus ©Monique Bogaerts Website

Bosnia and Herzegovina  is a country in Southeast Europe with a population of c.3 million people and covering a little over 51,200 km2 (just under 20,000 square miles). It is situated on the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest. In the south it has a 20 kilometres (12 miles) long coast on the Adriatic Sea, with the town of Neum being its only access to the sea. Although the city is surrounded by Croatian peninsulas, by international law, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a right of passage to the outer sea. In the central and eastern regions, the geography is mountainous encompassing the central Dinaric Alps, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat. The Dinaric Alps generally run in a southeast–northwest direction, and get higher towards the south. The highest point of the country is the peak of Maglić at 7,828 feet, on the Montenegrin border. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city and its metropolitan area has around 420,000 inhabitants.

Overall, nearly 50% of Bosnia and Herzegovina is forested. Most forest areas are in the centre, east and west parts of Bosnia. Herzegovina has a dominant karst topography. Northern Bosnia contains very fertile agricultural land along the Sava river and the corresponding area is heavily farmed. This farmland is a part of the Pannonian Plain stretching into neighbouring Croatia and Serbia.

The Štrbački buk Waterfall, on the Una River in Una National Park – Julian Nyča, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

There are seven major rivers: the Sava is the largest and forms its northern natural border with Croatia. It drains 76% of the country’s territory into the Danube and then the Black Sea. The Una, Sana and Vrbas are right tributaries of the Sava. They are in the northwestern region of Bosanska Krajina. The Bosna River gave its name to the country, and is the longest river fully contained within it. It stretches through central Bosnia, from its source near Sarajevo to Sava in the north. The Drina flows through the eastern part of Bosnia, and for the most part it forms a natural border with Serbia. The Neretva is the major river of Herzegovina and the only major river that flows south, into the Adriatic Sea.

Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Herzegovina, the smaller, southern region, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Phytogeographically, Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region and Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be subdivided into four eco-regions: Balkan mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests, Pannonian mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests.

Birding Bosnia & Herzegovina

Ornithology in Bosnia and Herzegovina started to develop at the end of the 19th century thanks to Otmar Reiser, who was a curator of the National Museum at that time and one of the most respected European ornithologists of the 19th and 20th century. The second half of the 20th century has been marked with research, mainly in ecology, by Dr. Svjetoslav Obratil, the most well-known ornithologist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 218 species can be found nesting in the country. Unfortunately, in the last 150 years, due to constant destruction of habitat, 16 species have been lost.

Kozara National Park – elektronak, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Thanks to the variety of its nature, it is possible to find a great number of interesting locations for observation and study of birds, such as Hutovo blato, Bardaèa, Livanjsko polje, Sutjeska National Park, Kozara National Park, mountain Vran, Lake Boraèko, mountain Igman, and Bjelašnica etc. See ‘Top Sites’ below for details.

Top Sites

  • IBA Bardaèa

    Satellite View
    Bardaèa is designated an IBA and consists of a complex of fishponds near Srbac. This wetland of about 700ha has 185 recorded species of birds. The majority have been recorded during autumn migration. Many endangered species nest in and around the fish ponds area, including Ferruginous Duck Aynthya nyroca, White Stork Ciconia ciconia, Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia and Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, etc.

  • Livanjsko polje

    Satellite View
    Livanjsko polje is one the biggest grassland areas in Krajina, situated in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina at an altitude of approximately 700m. Ornithological researches so far show that this location has 163 species of birds. In the last 20 years, there have been, among others, European Bee-eater Merops apiaster, Garganey Anas querquedula and Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus recorded nesting here.

  • Mountain Vran and Dugo field

    Satellite View
    This region, in the eastern part of the middle Dinarida, includes a chain of characteristic mountain tops of the mountain Vran, together with the broader area of the Blidinje Park and Lake Blidinje. There have been about 100 species of birds recorded here including nesting Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus.

  • NP Hutovo Blato

    Satellite View
    This National Park is a Mediterranean wetland situated near Èapljina in Herzegovina. It is an IBA and there are 235 species officially listed. This area is considered very important for feeding and resting birds during their autumn migration to Africa. Hutovo Blato is also an important habitat for nesting for some globally endangered species such as Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmaeus, Ferruginous Duck Aynthya nyroca, & European Bee-eater Marops apiaster etc., as well as for a number of species which spend the winter in wet locations.

  • NP Sutjeska

    Satellite View
    The Sutjeska National Park in eastern Bosnia is a mountainous region situated near the Sutjeska River. This area, including the forest of Peruèica, has about 108 species of birds. The Tjentište area along the river Sutjeska is one of the most important areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina for nesting Concrake Crex crex.
Contributors

  • Dražen Kotrošan & Ida Telalbašiæ

    | kotrosan@bih.net.ba

Number of Species

  • Number of bird species: 346

    (As at March 2025)
Checklist

  • Avibase

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist includes all bird species found in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to report them.

  • Wikipedia

    Annotated List
    This is a list of the bird species recorded in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The avifauna of Bosnia-Herzegovina include a total of 346 species.

  • Wild Herzegovina

    Checklist
    The number of bird species you are likely to see on the tour will vary and it ranges from 125 to 160 per tour.

  • eBird

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist is generated with data from eBird (ebird.org), a global database of bird sightings from birders like you. If you enjoy this checklist, please consider contributing your sightings to eBird. It is 100% free to take part, and your observations will help support birders, researchers, and conservationists worldwide.
Useful Reading

  • Birds of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East

    | Photographic Guide | By Frédéric Jiguet & Aurélien Audevard | PUP | 2017 | Paperback | 447 pages, 2200 colour photos, colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780691172439 Buy this book from NHBS.com

  • Collins Bird Guide

    | By Lars Svensson | Harper Collins | Edition 3 | 2023 | Paperback | 478 pages, 4000+ colour illustrations, 700 colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780008547462 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Birding Aps

  • Collins Bird Guide

    Android
    The Collins Bird Guide App provides everything you need to identify a species quickly and learn about it thoroughly.

  • Collins Bird Guide

    Apple iOS |
    Collins Bird Guide 4+ A field guide to Europe NatureGuides Ltd. Designed for iPad

Museums & Universities

  • National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Information
    The Department of Natural History represents the first scientific and cultural organizational unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of natural history…
Organisations

  • Nase Ptice - Bosnia & Herzegovina Ornithology Society

    Website
    Ornithological Society “Naše ptice” is a nongovernmental, nonprofit, non-partisan, volunteer organization founded in 2003 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, involved in the field of ornithology, ecology, bird ringing and protection and monitoring of birds and birds’ habitats. The Society and is strongly involved in projects which aim at raising general public awareness about bird protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • *Protected areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina

    InformationSatellite View
    Four national parks and 8 'natural areas'...

  • NP Drina National Park

    InformationSatellite View
    Particularly important animal species are brown bear (Ursus arctos), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).

  • NP Kozara National Park

    InformationSatellite View
    This is a place where you can breathe fully and do sports activities while enjoying beautiful landscapes.Kozara Mountain is located in the North West of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a low, “island” mountain, situated between the Pannonian Plain in the North and the Dinarics in the South, and bordered by the rivers Sava, Una, Vrbas and Sana.

  • NP Sutjeska National Park

    InformationSatellite View
    NATIONAL PARK OF SUTJESKA is the oldest and largest national park in BiH, which is by its natural values and beauties the pearl of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It covers the area of Sutjeska with strict natural reserve Perućica, parts of the mountains Maglić (2386 m – the highest peak in BiH), Volujak, Vučeva and Zelengora. Thanks to the outstanding natural values and their preservation, since 2000, NP Sutjeska has been included in II category of IUCN (UN Department of Nature and Natural Resources).

  • NP Una National Park

    InformationSatellite View

  • NR Hutovo Blato

    InformationSatellite View
    In the south of Herzegovina, in a typically karst environment, on the left bank of the Neretva river, lies the Hutovo Blato, a unique sub-Mediterranean wetland in Europe. It has been known of yore as a green oasis…
Sightings, News & Forums
Guides & Tour Operators

  • Wild Herzegovina

    Local Tour Operator
    Birdwatching & Wildlife Holidays - Imagine birdwatching surrounded by breathtaking and diverse scenery that ranges from wetlands , alpine meadows, deep canyons and crystal clear rivers to an infinite variety of karst landscapes... and not another birdwatcher in sight!
Trip Reports

  • 2008 [05 May] - Mark Easterbrook

    Report
    This was a week long trip taking in parts of Bosnia, Montenegro and Croatia…

  • 2018 [07 July] - Dragan

    Report
    Bosnia and Herzegovina was the very heartland of former Yugoslavia, with Sarajevo in its geographical centre. And in the middle of a heatwave of the 2012 summer,
Blogs

  • Wayne Scott - Bosnia and Herzegovina Birding

    BLOG
    Last update 2015
Photographers & Artists

  • Birds of Bosnia

    Website
    My name is Almir Hukic and I'm a wildlife photographer from Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

  • Birds of Bosnia

    Instagram Site
    Wildlife photographer from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Proud author of the long-eared owl and birds of lake...

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