MaghrebOrnitho

First record of Eastern Imperial Eagle for Tunisia and Northwest Africa

8 August 2018 / Birds of Tunisia

Eastern Imperial Eagle / Aigle impérial (Aquila heliaca), El Haouaria, northern Tunisia, 29 April 2017 (Mohamed El Golli).

An Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) was photographed in spring 2017 at El Haouaria, northern Tunisia (Mohamed El Golli). El Haouaria, located at the extreme north-east of the Cap Bon peninsula, is known as a major point for migratory raptors following the Central Mediterranean Flyway (continental Italy-Sicily-Tunisia). In our opinion, this is the first record […]

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Migration of rare vultures at Jbel Moussa, spring 2018

5 August 2018 / Bird Migration

Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli), east of Tanger-Med Port, Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco, 2 May 2018 (R. El Khamlichi).

At the Strait of Gibraltar, some birds are still migrating northward as late as August or even September in some extreme cases (see one of these under the Rüppell’s Vulture text here). However, the northward migration, for all intents and purposes, is over by the end of July (see for example, Garcia & Bensusan 2006).

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First record of Blue-naped Mousebird for Algeria

1 August 2018 / Birding News, Birds of Algeria

Blue-naped Mousebird / Coliou huppé (Urocolius macrourus), Tamanrasset, southern Algeria, 29 July 2018 (photo via Abdelkader Beq).

Blue-naped Mousebird (Urocolius macrourus) photographed in the Tamanrasset region, southern Algeria. This is the first national record of the species. Première observation du Coliou huppé en Algérie (en français voir au dessous de la photo). The Blue-naped Mousebird was photographed and filmed at a village in the Tin-Zaouten district, located in the south of Tamanghasset

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Big flock of Sudan Golden Sparrow at Tamanrasset, Algeria

31 July 2018 / Birding News, Birds of Algeria

Moineaux dorés (Passer luteus), Tamanrasset, sud d’Algérie, 28 juillet 2018 (Abdelkader Beq)

A big flock of Sudan Golden Sparrow (Passer luteus) was photographed a few days ago in the Tamanrasset region, southern Algeria (Soufyane Bekkouche). A Blue-naped Mousebird (Urocolius macrourus) was also photographed in the same area. The birds were photographed at a village in the Tin-Zaouten district, located in the south of Tamanghasset province. The village

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Breeding of Black-headed Gull at Dayet Dar Bouazza, Morocco

25 July 2018 / Birds of Morocco

Black-headed Gulls / Mouettes rieuses (Chroicocephalus ridibundus): occupied nests, Dayet Dar Bouazza, Morocco, 26 May 2018 (Benoit Maire).

The Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) slowly colonising new sites in Morocco. However, not all these ‘colonies’ are comparable: while some are large enough and stable, others consist only of a few breeding pairs. (But the latter will probably grow if the right conditions are present; for instance, enough immigrants are recruited to the colony during

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Tawny Eagle in north-east Algeria

22 July 2018 / Birding News, Birds of Algeria

Tawny Eagle / Aigle ravisseur (Aquila rapax), northern-east Algeria, 17 July 2018 (Mourad Harzallah).

Tawny Eagle photographed in Algeria for the first time in several years. The eagle was photographed this week in north-east Algeria by Mourad Harzallah (a very good naturalist, teacher, and a local ecotourism guide). It’s much bigger than the Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata), and some photos below also attest this. Several people in a FB

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The Algerian Nuthatch twitch: easier than you think

13 June 2018 / Birding News, Birds of Algeria

The Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti) is a dream species for every Western Palearctic birder, especially so since the 1990s with the start of what they call in Algeria the “Black Decade”. However, although the security situation in the whole country has improved greatly since many years now, many WP birders still hesitating to visit Algeria

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Birding trips to Morocco, spring 2018

12 June 2018 / Birds of Morocco

White-faced Storm Petrel / Océanite frégate (Pelagodroma marina), off Agadir, Morocco, 3 May 2018 (Gil Ewing).

Here is a summary of three birding trips to Morocco led by Mark Beevers with Rockjumper Birding Tours this spring. It includes only interesting and sought-after species (e.g. some North African endemic species and subspecies, and localised, rare or uncommon species,…). Mark will send all national rarities to the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee (MRBC) in due

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First colour-ringing of Spoonbills in Morocco

30 May 2018 / Birds of Morocco

Eurasian Spoonbill / Spatule blanche (Platalea leucorodia), Oued el-Maleh Dam, Casablanca region

The nominate subspecies of the Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia leucorodia) is a rare breeder in Africa. Until the installation of a new colony at Oued el-Maleh Dam near Casablanca in 2017, the Smir colony located in the north of Morocco used to be the only breeding colony in Africa. (Though other subspecies breed in the

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ID of Kordofan Lark: a potential Western Palearctic vagrant

18 April 2018 / Birding News

Kordofan Lark / Alouette du Kordofan (Mirafra cordofanica), Richard Toll, northern Senegal, 01/03/2018 (Jan Heip)

Kordofan Lark (Mirafra cordofanica). The name sounds familiar to Western Palearctic birders because until recently the species was included in the WP list. However, Crochet & Haas (2013) suggested that the species should be deleted. Here is a (slightly edited) quote from this article: The distribution of Kordofan Lark as shown in Snow & Perrins

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