A 3-year old male Peregrine Falcon ringed in Sweden was captured south of Casablanca by poachers on 18 December 2015. It was released by Karim Rousselon after negotiations with the captors. Un Faucon mâle pèlerin d’origine suédoise de 3 ans capturé par des braconniers le 18/12/2015 au sud de Casablanca. Remis en liberté par Karim […]
Swedish Peregrine rescued from poachers at Casablanca, Morocco Read More »
The report of the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee (MRBC) for the year 2015 has just been published. During that period, the MRBC examined 124 new records of which 112 were accepted. The report included the first Moroccan records of three species: White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus). It’s also the 4th for the Western Palearctic, seen at
Birding the Sahara is just excellent after rains. A large team composed by several researchers from different fields participated in late November 2015 in an expedition to the areas of Tirs and Adrar Sotouf (west and south-west of Aousserd respectively). The visit was in the framework of a project about the “Inventory of cultural and
Desert birds breeding in late autumn and other curiosities Read More »
Recent observations of the globally endangered Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in Morocco become so rare that some authors considered the species on the verge of local extinction as a breeding species. In this context, the observation of 4 birds in spring 2013 and a successful breeding pair near the Tazekka National Park were received with excitement among the
Significant population of Egyptian Vulture found in Morocco Read More »
Eagles were found electrocuted again at the same dangerous power line south-west of Guelmim. In this way, each passing day is a bad news for the eagles of the region, both residents and winter visitors. After 3 Spanish Imperial, 1 Golden and 5 Bonelli’s eagles were found electrocuted on 22 October and 7 November in
There was a Grey/Timneh Parrot on 3 December at the Botanical Gardens of Rabat. I was caught off guard and could not see much as the bird flew past me — had an instant to look at it as it passed. It looked big (good for Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus, but a difficult thing to
Six young Spanish Imperial Eagles (Aquila adalberti) satellite-tracked from southern Spain visited Morocco this autumn. Last month, we published the news about one of these eagles that did not move from a single point located in Guelmim region. Project coordinators at Junta de Andalucía and Doñana Biological Station suspected that it may have been dead
Electrocution of Spanish Imperial, Bonelli’s and Golden eagles at Guelmim Read More »
Guelmim region is one of the most frequented areas by Spanish Imperial Eagles (Aquila adalberti) wintering in Morocco. In this region, they share the space and the resources with another Mediterranean raptor, the Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) which is very abundant in this area outside the breeding season. The first photo shows a Bonelli’s Eagle
Prey availability and pylons: a lethal mix for eagles Read More »
A summary of vulture migration census during November 2015 at Jbel Moussa and Punta Cires (Dalia beach) on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, northern Morocco: 4 November: More than 400 Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) crossed the Strait of Gibraltar this day at Jbel Moussa and Punta Cires. They were first detected (by
Vulture migration at the Strait of Gibraltar, November 2015 Read More »
A new subspecies of Common Chaffinch endemic to north-east Libya was described by Lars Svensson in a recent paper. Below are the summary and the main conclusion taken from the paper: “A new subspecies of Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs in North Africa is described. It is restricted to northern Cyrenaica in north-east Libya. Differences from
A new Common Chaffinch subspecies in North Africa Read More »