Birds in Spain Blog

A dark, blackish stork was videotaped using hand-held digiscoping techniques on 10th January 2014 (Sergi Sales, Carolina García, Ricard Gutiérrez, see below). The bird resembled initially a Black Stork Ciconia nigra but obviously it was not because of entirely dark feathering. The possibility of a melanistic bird arose, but caution with these plumage aberrations is needed and indeed a paper on this species apparent cases of melanism was published not many years ago (Gordinho, L. 2008 Â propos des Cigognes blanches Ciconia ciconia 'melàniques' Ornithos 15: 304-307). Investigating through the net, and commenting the record with the fellows from the Empordà area, it became clear that there was not only one black (the above bird) but three 'dirty' storks in different degree of darkness (Àlex Ollé in litt). In fact, the portal ornitho.cat gathers sightings of these birds since at least November 2013 (links to ornitho.cat pages under the date, all photos and inf...

Although scarce, albeit regular in both migration periods, there are very few records of White-winged Black Tern ( Chlidonias leucopterus ) in Spain during the winter months (December to February). The aim of this post is to collect them. The species, almost restricted to the Mediterranean seaboard (e.g. only 21 known records in Galicia, the latest for the autumn period on 31.10.1989, see Aves Raras en Galicia blog ) is a typical migrant. In the NE, it appears the last days of April and has a peak in the first ten days of May and it can be present until early June in scarcer numbers. Post-breeding migration begins during the summer, in late July and into August with further juveniles seen during September and sometimes October being the last records of the 2nd tenth of the month (Gutiérrez et al 1995 Els Ocells del Delta del Llobregat , Lynx Editions). Migration dates can be a bit modified depending on latitude in the country. However, there are a number of records in Spain in wint...

Falco vespertinus 2 w ♂ Véjer de la Frontera, Cádiz, 6.1.2012 (Stephen Daly) On 6th January 2012, 1500hrs. at Patria (near Vejer de La Frontera), Cadiz, Andalucía, Stephen Daly & Stephen Knapp saw and photographed a ringed 2w male (euring 7) Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus). It is not only an overall scarce species in Spain but accidental in winter. Stephen Daly published an entry in his blog with photos of the bird and asked if any Spanish ringing program had been held. Indeed, according to the lastest data available on the whole of Spain, through official reports in the journal Ecología for 2007 , only three birds have been ringed from 1973-2007 in Spain, with two more in 2008 ( as explained in this blog ). No foreign recoveries had been reported for this species, a scarce migrant and sometimes irruptive species in Spain with over 200 individuals in 2008. So where the bird came from? Falco vespertinus 2w ♂ Véjer de la Frontera, Cádiz, 6.1.2012 (Stephen Daly...