Birds & Birding

Andalucía is a birdwatcher's paradise and attracts ornithologists throughout the year. The best time of the year, however, is during the spring as this is when you can see many wintering species, together with those arriving for the summer months.

Not surprisingly, the Straits of Gibraltar is a key point of passage for raptors, storks and other birds migrating between Africa and Europe. Overall, northern migrations take place between mid-February and June, while those birds heading south will set off between late July and early November when there's a westerly wind.

As a result the Doñana region with its 50,720 hectares of protected area, surrounded by 84,200 hectares of buffer zone and 35 km. of Atlantic coast is a major conservation site. Millions of wintering birds, mainly waterfowl and waders from the north, flock to the area each year and many millions more use it as a feeding station during the migration periods. It is also of major importance as a breeding ground for some of the scarcest and most endangered bird species in Europe. Over 250 different species are regularly seen here and rarities are often recorded. The geographical position means that the area is likely to attract any vagrants or accidentals that may wander, or be storm-blown, into the region.

This is the Purple Swamp-hen. One of the many resident species that, although rare in any other part of Europe, is common here in Donana, with up to 10,000 birds being present.

To show the great variety of birds across the coast from Faro down to Donana, mid December 2004, 6 keen bird watchers had a 4 day trip to Faro and Donana, organised by John Butler, during which they identified the following 148 different birds,

Avocet, Great Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Common Buzzard, Chaffinch, Common Chiffchaff, Zitting Cisticola, Common Coot, Red-knobbed Coot, Great Cormorant, Common Crane, Carrion Crow, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Stone Curlew, Curlew, Collared Dove, Feral Rock Dove, Tufted Duck, Dunlin, Dunnock, Booted Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Peregrine Falcon, Firecrest, Greater Flamingo, Gadwall, Purple Gallinule, Northern Gannet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greylag Goose, Black-necked Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Audouin’s Gull, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Hawfinch, Black-crowned Night Heron, Grey Heron, Squacco Heron, Hoopoe, Glossy Ibis, Jackdaw, Jay, Common Kestrel, Lesser Kestrel, Common Kingfisher, Black Kite, Black-shouldered Kite, Red Kite, Northern Lapwing, Calandra Lark, Crested Lark, Thekla Lark, Linnet, Azure-winged Magpie, Magpie, Mallard, House Martin, Sand Martin, Common Moorhen, Osprey, Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Oystercatcher, Red-legged Partridge, Northern Pintail, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Water Pipit, Common Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Northern Pochard, Common Raven, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Black Redstart, Redwing, Robin, Sanderling, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Serin, Northern Shoveler, Southern Grey Shrike, Indian Silverbill, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Skylark, Common Snipe, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Eurasian Spoonbill, Spotless Starling, Starling, Black-winged Stilt, Little Stint, Temminck’s Stint, Common Stonechat, Black Stork, White Stork, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Common Teal, Sandwich Tern, Blue Rock Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Crested Tit, Great Tit, Penduline Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper, Turnstone, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Cetti’s Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Common Waxbill, Whimbrel, Whinchat, Eurasian Wigeon, Woodlark, Green Woodpecker, Woodpigeon, Winter Wren.

Of course, the group mentioned above are clearly experienced bird watchers, but it does show just how many species are around this coast. There are at least 2 companies on the web including John Butler who will organise Birding trips, in Donana which is about a 1 hour 30 minute drive away.

Donana Bird Tours organised by John Butler
Discovering Doñana Ltd.