Many desert birds are nomadic and their movements are governed mainly by local rainfall which is scarce and occasional in the Sahara. It’s known that annual plants in the deserts respond to the short periods of rains with extremely rapid growth. This consequently engenders rapid growth in animal life (insects, other arthropods…). And desert birds […]
Birding the Sahara: go after the rains Read More »
Three pairs of Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) constructing a colony nest on Eucalyptus trees in Melilla on 13 August 2012 were reported by Diego Jerez in his blog Aves y Natura Norteafricanas. He added that this is the first observation of the species in Melilla and the birds were originated without a doubt from escaped
Monk Parakeets breeds at Melilla Read More »
Interesting news posted by Dick Forsman following his short visit to the Moroccan side of the Strait of Gibraltar this month with Javier Elorriaga and Antonio-Roman Muñoz from Fundación Migrés. The aim of this visit was to study the enigmatic “Gibraltar buzzard” which occurs in the areas around the Strait. D. Forsman commented: Javier Elorriaga
Gibraltar Buzzard: status and identification Read More »
For decades, the African Wolf was misclassified as a subspecies of the Eurasian Golden Jackal (Canis aureus). This taxonomic confusion has only recently been clarified through extensive genetic and morphological studies, which have led to the recognition of the African Wolf as a distinct species. Here is the summary of its recent taxonomic history. Pendant
African Wolf: from a misclassified taxon to a full species Read More »
The House Bunting (Emberiza sahari) colonised Tangier in mid-2000. However, despite searching the species has never been recorded at Tétouan or at any other locality in northernmost Morocco outside of Tangier. The House Bunting at Tétouan was recorded thanks to Yousef El Ouahabi who had been observing them visiting his house to feed with the
House Bunting finally colonised Tétouan, northern Morocco Read More »
On 12 May 2012, we visited Smir wetland to observe and count the breeding populations at the adjacent heronry. Unlike last year, this breeding season was not very good for all nesting birds, drought and disturbance have probably both contributed to the failure of the breeding this season. Here are the numbers we have counted
Smir heronry in the breeding season 2012 Read More »
This Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) photographed while catching a sharp-ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl) at a small pond near Sidi Bettache, western Morocco (Saad Rih). The prey, also known as Iberian ribbed newt, is a near threatened Ibero-Moroccan endemic. The Little Grebe is mainly piscivorous (fish-eater), although it’s known to take bigger prey such as newts (Wilkinson
Little Grebe catching a newt (Pleurodeles waltl) Read More »
The Maghreb is the equivalent term of Northwest Africa. Historically and in the narrow sense of the term, the Maghreb means the three countries linked by the Atlas Mountains (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) which also share a long history (this is also shared with neighbouring Libya and Mauritania depending on the historical era). The climate
Maghreb endemic birds Read More »
Marsh Owl is a critically endangered species is Morocco. This piece tries to address one of the main current problems causing its decline. Your help, as a responsible ecotourist or guide, is much needed. Marsh Owl (Asio capensis) is a typical owl restricted to Africa and its biggest island, Madagascar. Three subspecies are recognised: Globally,
Why Marsh Owl in Morocco is endangered and how to save it? Read More »
The Crimson-winged Finch sensu lato consists of two distinct taxa, alienus in Northwest Africa and sanguineus in the Middle East, Turkey, Caucasus, Central Asia and north-west China. The split of this taxon into two separate species, African Crimson-winged Finch (Rhodopechys alienus) and Asian Crimson-winged Finch (R. sanguineus), was first proposed by Kirwan et al. (2006).
African Crimson-winged Finch: a new endemic species Read More »