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Europe - Spain

Black Vulture © Graham Catley Located in the Mediterranean region, Spain is very important for wildlife with 32% of its surface area qualifying as Important Bird Areas (IBAs). The country is organised into 17 regions, each with its own regional government and a central government that deals with global political issues at a national level. Environmental laws apply at both levels. Spain hosts a number of species that occur nowhere else in Europe, whilst other species rare elsewhere (eg: Lesser Kestrel) are common in Spain. Popular birding areas include Los Picos de Europa in the north of the country for Griffon Vulture, Lammergeier and Eagle Owl, the central steppe for Little and Great Bustards, Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, larks and wheatears, and the Coto Donana and surrounding area for White-headed and Marbled Ducks, Crested Coot, Purple Gallinule and (found nowhere else in Europe) White-rumped Swift. Key habitats: There is a wide diversity of habitats: from coastal areas to inland Mediterranean habitat, to the high mountains and the wet Northern Cantabric region. The central regions are dominated by agriculture. Total number of bird species recorded: 480 Number of globally threatened species: 8 Number of Near Threatened species: 9 Number of endemic species: 11 Number of Endemic Bird Areas: 1 Number of Important Bird Areas: 391 Threats: The main threats are habitat fragmentation and a decline in habitat quality, mainly due to increasingly intensive human use, including inappropriate infrastructure development. Number of National Parks: 13 International treaties ratified: Ramsar Convention, CITES, Biodiversity Convention, Bonn Convention on Migratory Species, Barcelona Convention, ACAP, Eurobats, ACCOBAMS, OSPAR, Antarctic Treaty, ICCAT The BirdLife Partner: SEO/BirdLife. Date founded: 1954. Number of members: 8,000 Major programmes: To assist implementation of the European Union's Natura 2000 network in Spain, SEO/BirdLife has been lobbying the central government to have all IBAs protected as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under European law. However, given that 32% of the surface area qualifies as IBAs, and in some regions like Extremadura as much as 75%, this is not a straightforward task, but despite this difficulty, after strong SEO/BirdLife lobbying, 40% of Spain's IBAs are protected as SPAs. SEO/BirdLife is also active in bird monitoring, which provides essential data and a sound basis for conservation work. A recent example is the just published Atlas of Breeding Birds of Spain, which covers the whole country with all breeding species recorded in 10 x10 km squares. SEO/BirdLife has been increasingly active internationally, and since 1998 has worked mainly in North Africa and Latin America. In Morocco, SEO/BirdLife is carrying out mainly wetlands projects and has a permanent base and is responsible for the BirdLife country programme. www.seo.org (text supplied by Birdlife International)

Trip Reports Spanish Pyrenees to Ebro Delta, summer 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spain (Andalucia and Extremedura), April 7th - 16th 1999, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Extramadura, 18th May - 25th 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spain, 27th June - 5th July 1999, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Salou, Catalonia, May 28th - June 5th 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spain, 6th - 22nd April 2001, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spain, Picos, Plains and the Pyrenees, 1st - 7th July 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Almeria (south-east Spain), 1999 and 2002, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Almeria, 2nd - 9th October 2003, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Northern, Central and Southern Spain, February 2004 , author Surfbirds Admin (link created September 24, 2004) Spain, May 25th - June 10th 2002, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spanish Pyrenees, June 2002, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) The Pyrenees, July 2002, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Biscay and the Picos de Europa, 11th - 17th September 2002, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Extramadura and Cota Donana, Spain, 11th - 20th April 2003, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Valencia, birding in and around Oliva, January - December, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) The Spanish Pyrenees and the Zaragoza Plains, 22nd May - 1st June 2003, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spain, The French Pyrenees and Majorca, 22nd June - 5th July 2003, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spain, Coto Donana National Park, 1st - 8th May 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Ebro Delta, Spain and the Ile de Re, France, May 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Madrid and Extramadura, 19th - 26th June 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 24, 2004) Spain, Extremadura - 2nd to 9th September 2006, author Andy Lovering (added September 13, 2006) (Spanish Imperial Eagle, Black-Bellied Sandgrouse & Azure-winged Magpies) South-West Spain: Coto Donana and Sierra de Grazalema - 14th - 16th May 2004, author Surfbirds Admin (added October 8, 2004) (with photos of Rock Thrush, Red-knobbed Coot and White-headed Duck) Mallorca Oct 2006, author Stephen Burch (link created November 4, 2006) (Bluethroat, Albufera, Waterworks, Black Vulture, Audouins Gull) Spain, author Roger Puxley (added November 23, 2005) (Pyrenees foothills, Steppe & Plains - 9th - 13th November 2005) Lanzarote, Canary islands, between 20 October and 2 November 2005, author John Armstrong (added November 22, 2005) (see text of report) Spain - July 29th - August 19th 2003, author Surfbirds Admin (added November 15, 2004) (Monfrague, Coto Donana, Laguna Medina, Castro Urdiales and Eagle Owl !) Southern Spain (Cota Donana and Grazalema) April 2005, author Alan Miller (added May 8, 2005) (The spectacle of thousands of birds at El Rocio marshes from our hotel room, amazing views of Red-necked Nightjar on the road in front of the car, and stunning views in the mountains with raptors circling overhead were some of the highlights of 10 days sp) Birding Trip to Coto Doñana, Spain in April 2005, author Tony Moverley (added May 5, 2005) (Villamanrique, El Rocio, La Rocina, Valverde, Matalascanas, Marbled Duck, Black-shouldered Kite, Squacco Heron, Black-eared Wheatear, Black Vulture) Spanish Pyrenees, May 18th to 23rd 2006, author John Hopper (added May 31, 2006) Picos de Europa, 15th - 19th May 2008, author Tony Moverley (added May 27, 2008) (Potes, Espinama, Fuente De, Bonneli's Warbler, Alpine Accentor) Spain, Extremadura & Sierra Gredos - 10th - 17th May 2008, author Eric Barnes (added May 25, 2008) (Extremadura, Sierra Gredos, Monfrague, Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Calandra Lark, Roller, Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Black Vulture,) Southern Spain May 4th - 7th May 2006, author Richard Bonser (added May 24, 2006) (I was keen on seeing Western Olivaceous Warbler and Common Waxbill) Spain - Extremadura, Coto Donana and Sierra Guadarrama - 26th March – 10th April 2004, author Guy Langan (added May 23, 2005) Spain March 12 - April 13 2005, author Blake T. Matheson (added May 2, 2005) (Dupont's Lark, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Moustached Warbler, Spanish Imperial Eagle) Conil de la Frontera, Cadiz Province, Spain 15th-28th April 2007, author Dave Flumm (added May 14, 2007) Spain 25-Apr - 10-May 2002 - 245 species, author bas van de meulengraaf (link created March 7, 2005) (Monfrague, Pyrenees, Aiguamolls de L'emporda, Doñana, El Rocio, Cabo de Gata, Belchite, Laguna de Medina, El Hondo) Spain - Ebro Delta & Belchite - March 2006, author Iben Hove Sørensen (link created March 31, 2006) (Ebro Delta, Steppes of Belchite) Spain - The Ebro lands - March 2006, author Iben Hove Sørensen (link created March 30, 2006) (Catalonia, Ebro Delta, Els Ports, Montsia) Fuerteventura, Canary Islands 2nd - 8th March 2005, author John Waldon (added March 30, 2005) (Fuerteventura, Houbara Bustard, Stone Curlew, Berthelot's Pipit) Spain - Ebro Delta & Montsia mountain chain - February 2007, author Iben Hove Sørensen (link created March 27, 2007) (Ebro Delta, Montsia, 1 day, 102 species recorded) Spain - Ebro Delta - February 2007, author Iben Hove Sørensen (link created March 27, 2007) (Ebro Delta, Great Bittern, Black-winged Stilt, Audouin's Gull) The Spanish Pyrenees - 11th - 20th July 2004, author Steve Bird (added March 20, 2007) Coto Donana, Spain, 17th – 24th February, 2007, author Christopher Hall (added March 17, 2007) (By the end of this most productive trip we had seen everything from the tiny Zitting Cisticola to the mighty Spanish Imperial Eagle) Gran Canaria - March 6th - 12th 2008, author Urban Lundström (added March 16, 2008) (Meloneras, Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés, San Augustin, Black-winged Stilt, Little Egret, Spoonbill, Cory´s Shearwater) Central Spain, 28th - 30th May 2005, author Gruff Dodd (added June 9, 2005) Spain - Pyrenees, Belchite & the Ebro Delta - May 2006, author Iben Hove Sørensen (link created June 7, 2006) (Guara, Hecho valley, Monegros, steppes of Belchite, Ebro Delta, Montsia, Llobregat Delta, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dupont's Lark, Lammergeier) Spain - Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - April - May 2006, author Julian Sykes (added June 5, 2006) (Monfrague, Gredos, Los Cabaneros, Trujillo) Southern Andalucia - Coto Donana - May 24th - June 7th 2007, author Derek Lister (added June 27, 2007) Extremadura, Spain 15/4/2007 – 25/4/07, author Nick Ransdale (added June 27, 2007) Showing the 50 Most Recent Trip Reports Posted  See More BACK TO TRIP REPORTS HOME PAGE POST A TRIP REPORT EDIT YOUR TRIP REPORTS

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Recent Sightings Barbate Estuary, Cádiz, Spain, 18 April 2007, Lesser Crested Tern (1), Caspian Tern (7), Little author Fraser Simpson (added April 23, 2007) Mazarron Old Mines Area, 3 Chough 2 Black author Peter Roberts (added March 20, 2007) Camposol, Old Railway track above Saladillo Restaurant, Near Mazarron, Murcia, 2 Great Spotted Cuckoo, 1 Hoopoe, 2 Black author Peter Roberts (added March 20, 2007) Bolnuevo, Murcia, freshwater lake near sea shore, 1 Male Marsh Harrier 6 White headed ducks 2 author Peter Roberts (added March 20, 2007) Sancti-Petri marshes - Andalucia, Spain, Terek Sanpiper (xenus cinereus) seen on 25th author Santiago Villa (added October 6, 2006) Showing the 5 Latest Recent Sightings Posted  See More ADD SOME RECENT SIGHTINGS

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