The elusive Sand Cat (Felis margarita) sighted in Merzouga region for the first time in almost three decades. The sand cat was observed and photographed on the evening of 23 February 2019 (photos below). According to the locals, the species has not been observed in the region of Merzouga since the 1990s. Exactly, the last
The 24th report of the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee (MRBC) has just been published. In 2018, the MRBC examined 168 new records of which 157 were accepted. These included the first Moroccan records of: Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), Smew (Mergus albellus), and Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata). The report included also the 2nd Balearic Spotted Flycatcher
The Atlas Long-legged Buzzard is more closely related to Common Buzzard than to Long-legged Buzzard according to a new study. The taxon cirtensis should be treated therefore as an allospecies of the Common Buzzard superspecies. La Buse du Maghreb est une alloespèce de la Buse variable: Selon cette étude, la Buse du Maghreb (cirtensis) est
North African Buzzard is not a Long-legged but an allospecies of Common Buzzard Read More »
A Hume’s Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus humei) was heard on 11 and 12 February at “Fôret Moulay Abdellah”, an urban park located inside Morocco’s capital Rabat by resident birder Pedro Fernandes. This would be the first record of this Asian vagrant for Morocco. I am on the road and without references, but I am sure it’s
First Hume’s Leaf Warbler for Morocco and Northwest Africa Read More »
A new example of commensalism between geckos and birds reported from Algeria. A Common Wall Gecko laid eggs on White-crowned Wheatear’ nest. The White-crowned Wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) is a very good representative of desert birds. In North Africa, you know you are almost in the desert if you start seeing this species near the roads.
Commensalism between a gecko and White-crowned Wheatear in Algeria Read More »
The Northern Bald Ibis population in Morocco had yet another good breeding season in 2018 despite the adverse weather conditions during the chick rearing period. The breeding population in the two colonies of Souss-Massa National Park and Tamri has reached a record number of 147 breeding pairs (122 pairs in 2017, see graph below). The
Record breeding season for Northern Bald Ibis in Morocco Read More »
Eight falcons seized by the Tunisian customs at Ben Guerdane in southeastern Tunisia, near the border with Libya. From their appearances, we can see that most of them are Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) and maybe one or two Saker Falcons (Falco cherrug). Some could even be a hybrid between these two species. Comments on the ID
Eight falcons seized by Tunisian customs near Libya Read More »
A pair of Common House Martin breeding in winter in south-west Spain. Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum) is a long-distance migratory species whose Palearctic populations are wintering mainly in Africa south of the Sahara. Some birds in the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco don’t migrate and remain in the breeding areas throughout the year. However, to
Another observation of Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) in Algeria and Northwest Africa in general. There were no documented breeding of the Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) anywhere in Northwest Africa since many years. In Morocco and Algeria, for example, the last known breeding pairs date back to the early 1990s. Despite this lack of observations, the
An Isabelline Shrike – known also as Daurian Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) photographed at Tamri estuary on 2 January by Dutch birder Paul van der Poel and his wife. This is the second record of this Asian vagrant for Morocco. The first one was observed at the estuary of Oued Massa on 2 November 2004 (see