The Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) continues to expand its breeding areas in Morocco. After the first breeding at Smir heronry near Tétouan in 2011, then at Merja Fouarat near Kénitra in 2013, and at Bouznika and an urban park at Casablanca in 2015, this year it started breeding at Oued Bou Regreg (on the Rabat side […]
Breeding of Glossy Ibis at Bou Regreg, Rabat Read More »
A cat was photographed just after he caught a Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) at Rhourde el-Baguel, Ouargla province, eastern Algeria. The scene was captured by Fethi Saadaoui on 7 April 2017. Cats are known to catch a wide variety of birds, but catching an agile bird like a flycatcher is not easy. The bird must
Cats killing wildlife: Collared Flycatcher and Goldfinch Read More »
A Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) photographed at Barrage El-Mansour Eddahbi, Ouarzazate, on 18 March 2017 by Chris Townend during his Wise Birding tour to Morocco. It’s the 7th record for Morocco. Une Fuligule à tête noire (appelée aussi Petit fuligule selon Wikipedia) photographiée au Barrage El-Mansour Eddahbi le 18 mars par Chris Townend. C’est la
Lesser Scaup at Barrage El-Mansour Eddahbi, Morocco Read More »
The ‘Royal Tern’ is split into two species by the ‘IOC World Bird List’ in January 2020. The split is based on research published in 2017 and reported in this blog (see below) at the time. The original title of the blog when first published was “African Royal Tern should be split from the American
West African Crested Tern split from Royal Tern Read More »
Robert Swann visited Morocco in late February to see two Western Palearctic rarities: Pied Crow and Kelp Gull. (See below the second photo for updates regarding the latter species). Pied Crow He started at Mhamid where he got good views of the “resident” Pied Crow (Corvus albus) on 23 Feb. Here is his comment: I spotted
Kelp Gulls at Akhfenir, southern Morocco Read More »
White-throated Bee-eater at Dakhla Bay: second record for Morocco and the Western Palearctic. The White-throated Bee-eater was found at Dakhla Bay, Oued Dahab region on 28 February 2017 by Billy Herman and Annelies Jacobs. It’s the second WP record for the species. It should be remembred that the first record was observed at the site
White-throated Bee-eater at Dakhla: 2nd WP record Read More »
The High Commission for Water, Forests and Desertification Control (HCEFLCD) in close collaboration with the National Zoological Park and GREPOM/BirdLife Morocco has released five Griffon Vultures into the Nature Reserve of Jbel Moussa on 7 February 2017. This release operation was intended by the Forestry Administration to be the basis for launching, in the long-term,
Griffon Vultures released at Jbel Moussa (video) Read More »
Golden Nightjar (Caprimulgus eximius) is an apparently sedentary sub-Saharan species with a breeding range extending from Senegal and Mauritania to Sudan. Although genetic studies of nightjars and related Caprimulgiformes have been published previously, none has included Golden Nightjar. In this study published in the Ostrich journal (Lawrie et al. 2017), mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of
Taxonomy and breeding range extension of Golden Nightjar Read More »
A nice male Sudan Golden Sparrow (Passer luteus) was photographed on 16 January 2017 at Djanet, south-east Algeria by Bilel Gueroui. The species hasn’t been observed in Algeria since decades, and Djanet is only the second site for the species in the country. The first observation of the Sudan Golden Sparrow in Algeria dates back
Sudan Golden Sparrow at Djanet, Algeria Read More »
A Pied Crow (Corvus albus) observed at 21 km north-east of Tarfaya on 9 January by Abdeljebbar Qninba, Abdeslam Rihane and their colleagues (photo 1). Today (23 Jan), a Pied Crow observed at Khnifiss Lagoon (exactly near Auberge Khnifiss) by Imad Cherkaoui and Leabid Ayach (photos 2 & 3). Probably the same bird observed north-east
Pied Crow at Khnifiss Lagoon, southern Morocco Read More »