The Spanish Government officially declared the Andalusian Buttonquail as extinct in Spain. This is the first bird species to go extinct in Europe since the extinction of the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) almost 170 years ago. There are, however, some differences between the two extinctions. The Great Auk is lost forever, whereas the Andalusian Buttonquail […]
Andalusian Buttonquail declared extinct in Spain Read More »
The autumn migration through the Strait of Gibraltar is over for the majority of soaring birds. The Griffon Vulture is an exception, because its southward migration starts much later – from mid-October and peaking in November. Some rare birds can also migrate late. Read this: “4 Cinereous Vultures, 2700 Griffon Vultures and a Spanish Imperial
Autumn bird migration at the Strait of Gibraltar by Migres Foundation Read More »
In spring 2018, Moulaï and Mayache discovered a new breeding site of the Algerian Nuthatch. The latest similar discovery was in the early 1990s. Karim Hadddad and his colleague Saber Dekkiche and local guide Ryad M. visited the newly discovered site on 24 September 2018. Karim shared with us the following detailed trip report. The
Visiting the new Algerian Nuthatch breeding site Read More »
A new breeding site of the Algerian Nuthatch was discovered last spring, that’s almost three decades since the last similar discovery. Until now, the Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti) was known only in four sites, namely the forests of Babor, Guerrouch, Tamentout and Djimla (see map below). All sites are close to each other but separated
New Algerian Nuthatch breeding site discovered in 2018 Read More »
The Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) breeds from Scandinavia eastwards across Eurasia. It winters in eastern China and Japan. The species is in great trouble as its global population size has declined by a 75–87% over a period of 30 years (see: Edenius et al. 2017. The next common and widespread bunting to go? Global population
First Rustic Bunting for Algeria and Northwest Africa Read More »
North African (or Atlas Crossbill) and Balearic crossbills are the most genetically divergent among all Common (Red) Crossbill subspecies in the Western Palearctic according to a new study. This divergence is even greater than between the Common and Parrot crossbills. Parmi toutes les sous-espèces du Bec-croisé des sapins (Loxia curvirostra) dans le Paléarctique occidental, le
Atlas and Balearic crossbills genetic divergence Read More »
Two captive-bred Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus) released in southern Italy last August died shortly after they started their migration. One bird shot dead by an illegal hunter in western Sicily, while the other died two days after it arrived to Tunisia, probably poisoned. The Egyptian Vulture in Italy: Egyptian Vulture numbers have decreased by more
Two Egyptian Vultures released in Italy shot and poisoned during migration Read More »
The invasion of the Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) continues in Morocco. Certainly, the invasion is not as fast as in some countries like Mexico. Also, the numbers of birds are not increasing dramatically like in Spain where the species is considered now a as a plague in some major cities. But the signs of the
Monk Parakeet invasion continues: now breeding at Rabat Read More »
A South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) was observed yesterday, 16 September, on the Moroccan waters by Bob Flood and Ashley Fisher from a ferry traveling from Lanzarote to Cádiz. The bird was observed at about 50 nautical miles off Safi, approximately where the red dot is on the map below (calculated on the basis of
South Polar Skua off Safi, Morocco: second national record Read More »
As in the case of the Kordofan Lark, this blog-post deals also with another potential vagrant to the Western Palearctic region: the Horus Swift (Apus horus). In January 2018, Frédéric Bacuez and Bram Piot discovered about 18 Horus Swifts at the Doué river, located in northernmost Senegal. The identification, however, was not easy at the
Horus Swift: a potential Western Palearctic vagrant Read More »