First Lapland Longspur and 2nd Yellow-billed Cuckoo for Morocco

Lapland Longspur / Plectrophane lapon (Calcarius lapponicus), near Dayet Dar Bouazza, Casablanca, Morocco, 13 Nov. 2021 (Benoit Maire)

Two very rare visitors from North America and the Arctic landed in Morocco recently: Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Lapland Longspur. Lapland Longspur A Lapland Longspur was found at a small pond near Dayet Dar Bouazza on 13 November 2021 by Benoit Maire. Dayet Dar Bouazza and the adjacent pond where the bird was found are small …

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Sudan Golden Sparrow at Ceuta

Sudan Golden Sparrow (Passer luteus), Ceuta, 3 Oct. 2021 (Grupo de anillamiento Chagra).

A Sudan Golden Sparrow (Passer luteus) captured at Ceuta during a ringing session. On 3 October, the Chagra Ringing Group captured an unexpected bird during a ringing session at Punta Blanca in Ceuta: a juvenile Sudan Golden Sparrow. How it arrived this far north? While the possibility of a natural arrival can’t be discarded, so …

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Bird observations at Sidi Toui National Park, Tunisia

Dupont’s lark / Sirli de Dupont (Chersophilus duponti)

The authors from the Zoological Society of London report their bird observations at Sidi Toui National Park made during six surveys (in 4 years). Although the main focus of the surveys was to monitor the oryx and gazelle populations, their ornithological records were nevertheless very important as they added new information about the birds of …

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Breeding of Griffon Vulture at Jbel Moussa, Morocco

Griffon Vultures mating at Jbel Moussa, northern Morocco, January 2021 (Jbel Moussa Vulture Rehabilitation Centre).

Griffon Vulture started breeding again in Morocco following a very successful reintroduction trial at Jbel Moussa by the Moroccan Department of Forestry in cooperation with GREPOM. Watching Griffon Vultures mating and starting breeding for the first time ever at Jbel Moussa is a real joy. And that’s for several reasons, the most important of which …

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New to Algeria: African Crake, Red-tailed Shrike and Little Bunting

Red-tailed Shrike / Pie-grièche du Turkestan (Lanius phoenicuroides), Skikda, northern Algeria, 9 Oct. 2020 (Youcef Karrit)

Three species new to Algeria were discovered in autumn 2020: Red-tailed Shrike, Little Bunting and African Crake. The Red-tailed Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides) was discovered and photographed at Skikda on 9 October by Youcef Karrit. This is also the first record for the whole Northwest Africa. Other closely related species are also very rare in the …

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Spanish Marbled Ducks tracked to Africa

This GPS-tracked Marbled Duck made a round-trip from Spain to Algeria and back in about 24 hours (Ecology Research Group at Miguel Hernandez University of Elche)

Movements of two satellite-tracked Marbled Ducks (Marmaronetta angustirostris) from Spain to North Africa. One of them, made a spectacular round-trip in 24 hours. As part of the ‘Marbled Duck reintroduction project’ in the Valencian Community (SE Spain), 21 birds were fitted with GPS-trackers and released into El Hondo Natural Park (Some birds are of wild …

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Morocco: sharing the birds – a Sound Approach guide

‘Morocco: sharing the birds’ by Arnoud B van den Berg & The Sound Approach

The new Sound Approach title ‘Morocco: sharing the birds’ is to launch on 1 July 2020 and is now available for pre-order. Morocco: sharing the birds – A Sound Approach guide to birds of the MaghrebBy: Arnoud B van den Berg & The Sound ApproachISBN: 978-90-810933-9-2NUR-code: 435Published by: The Sound Approach, Enefco House, 19 The …

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