Articles about the first records of different bird species for Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia (and occasionally for adjacent countries as well).
An adult Wahlberg’s Eagle photographed in spring 2018 at El Haouaria, northern Tunisia. This is the first record for the country and third for the Western Palearctic. Un Aigle de Wahlberg adulte photographié en avril 2018 à El Haouaria dans le nord de la Tunisie. Il s’agit de la première observation pour le pays et […]
First Wahlberg’s Eagle for Tunisia and 3rd for WP Read More »
The nearest breeding populations of the Western Reef Eegret (Egretta gularis) to Northwest Africa are located in coastal West Africa (nominate subspecies) and in the Red Sea (subspecies schistacea). On 17 July 2018, a dark-morph Western Reef Egret was observed in the Mekhada marches, a Ramsar site located in the wilaya of El Tarf, northeast
The Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) breeds from Scandinavia eastwards across Eurasia. It winters in eastern China and Japan. The species is in great trouble as its global population size has declined by a 75–87% over a period of 30 years (see: Edenius et al. 2017. The next common and widespread bunting to go? Global population
First Rustic Bunting for Algeria and Northwest Africa Read More »
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
First record of Eastern Imperial Eagle for Tunisia and Northwest Africa Read More »
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
First record of Blue-naped Mousebird for Algeria Read More »
Until recently, the Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) was considered as an accidental visitor to Morocco (and Northwest Africa in general). But now it’s actually a regular migrant and wintering species in small numbers. Movements of the species across the Sahara to West Africa are even rarer, nevertheless a few birds have reached sub-Saharan Africa since
First record of Cinereous Vulture for The Gambia Read More »
Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) is considered an accidental visitor in Morocco. But based on recent observations, the species should be regarded as a migrant and wintering visitor in Morocco. For example, 4 birds were counted at Jbel Moussa in spring 2017 and 6 birds in spring 2016 (including 3 birds photographed together on 7 May).
First record of Cinereous Vulture for Mauritania Read More »
During one of his marine surveys off the Moroccan coast, Andy Williams photographed a Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) flying c. 30 km off Agadir on 23 March 2013. However, he could not get access to the photos from the trip for a long time until last summer (see Andy’s comment below). The ‘WP reports’ (Ławicki &
On 18 May 2017, Rachid observed an immature Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) at Jbel Moussa. The bird was migrating northward along with Short-toed Snake Eagles (Circaetus gallicus) and Honey Buzzards (Pernis apivorus) at an altitude of about 1500 m. This is the first record for Morocco. In the Maghreb, the species was previously recorded in
The Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) breeds in northern North America (Canada and Alaska) and northern Siberia, and winters in southern South America, southeastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. It’s one of the most observed Nearctic species in Western Europe and also in parts of the west coast of Africa. For example, the species was removed