Top 100 Birding Sites of the World

Information

SITE RANK

HABITAT Steppe, rolling farmland, open woodland, scrub, rugged mountainsides, small towns

KEY SPECIES Great and Little Bustards, Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Black Vulture, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Iberian Azure-winged Magpie

TIME OF YEAR All year, although April to June is best for the breeding birds

A good time to catch up with Pin-tailed Sandgrouse is early morning or evening when they commute to a drinking source.

Lying some 250 km to the west of Madrid, the region of Extremadura could hardly be more different from the bustling Spanish capital. This is a sparsely populated, peaceful area with rolling hills, scattered farmsteads, Mediterranean-type scrub and steppe, its wide vistas and undisturbed landscapes in many ways presenting a throwback to a time when most people worked the land, and high-intensity agriculture had not yet entered the vocabulary. It is a refreshing place to visit, and an inspiring region indeed to go birdwatching.

In terms of ornithology and conservation, Extremadura’s most important habitat is its steppe, which is dotted about the region, with major patches close to Merida, Caceres and Trujillo. This rolling grassland holds one of the most significant populations of Great and Little Bustards in the world, never mind Europe. Over 10,000 pairs of the latter occur and, until recently, were known to gather in flocks of more than 1,000 individuals, while Great Bustards still number 6,900 birds (counted 2006). So Extremadura ranks as one of the easiest places in the world to see these shy terrestrial birds. All you need to do is to stop on one of the many minor roads and scan likely areas. Displaying Great Bustards, which seem to ruffle up their plumage into a lather, often resemble sheep from a distance, so don’t fall into the trap of wondering where all these sought-after birds are among the livestock. Large males hold court and dominate copulations with the local females. Male Little Bustards, meanwhile, sometimes combine several displays at once, stamping their feet, leaping into the air while flashing white wings and making a flatulent snort, all at the same time.

Often accompanying flocks of the relatively tall Little Bustard, especially in winter, are Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. Extremadura is the best place in Europe for these, holding many hundreds of pairs. A much tougher proposition is the Black-bellied Sandgrouse, a rarer species mainly occurring at higher elevations (above 1,300 m), and difficult to find even there. Sandgrouse, which are herbivores, often delay their breeding season here until June, when the first glut of seeds appears in the grasslands.

Other breeding species of the steppe include Common Quail, Montagu’s Harrier and Eurasian Stone-curlew, while the air rings in spring with the songs of Greater Short-toed and Calandra Larks, the latter sporting conspicuous black undersides to the wing. Meanwhile, in the winter, many thousands of Common Cranes migrate from northern Europe to spend the winter on nearby agricultural land.

Another important habitat of Extremadura is known as dehesa, a type of open woodland with scattered cork oaks, home to a highly distinctive set of birds. Its signature species is the Black-winged Kite, a very widespread Old World species that is abundant in Africa but very rare in Europe. With its large, forward-facing eyes, this species hunts over tall grass by slowly quartering and hovering, and nests in cork oaks and other low trees. Alongside this species are birds such as European Roller, which relies on ground very rich in large invertebrates, Southern Grey and Woodchat Shrikes, Great Spotted Cuckoo and the localized Iberian Azure-winged Magpie. The cuckoo is a brood parasite of both Eurasian and Iberian Azure-winged Magpies. The latter often breed in loose colonies, and can be seen passing through groves of trees one after the other, each member uttering its shrill calls. Until recently this species was considered conspecific with the Azure-winged Magpie of the Far East, and there were suggestions that, in view of the extraordinarily disjunct distribution, the Iberian birds might have been introduced. Recent sub-fossil remains, however, have confirmed that the presence of these subtle blue, pink and black birds is entirely ‘natural’.

One of the jewels in the crown of the region of Extremadura is the magnificent Monfragüe National Park, about 60 km to the north of Trujillo. This 1,550-sq-km, rich mixture of broad-leaved forest, scrub and rugged gorges at the confluence of the Rio Tejo and Rio Tietar should be considered as one of the very best sites in Europe for raptors, with some 16 breeding species, including probably the highest breeding populations in the world of Black Vulture (200 pairs) and Spanish Imperial Eagle (at least 10 pairs, some of which nest on pylons). Egyptian Vultures breed along the gorges, while there is a healthy colony of Griffon Vultures, some of which can be seen at the famous landmark of Penafalcon, a huge rocky outcrop towering over the road into the park. Along with the Spanish Imperial Eagles, Golden, Booted, Bonelli’s and Short-toed Eagles all breed, as do Red and Black Kites. On a good day, it is perfectly possible to see every one of these.

The rocky areas such as Penafalcon also hold a range of other exciting species. For many years a pair of Black Storks has bred on the rock, much to the delight of visiting birders, while the supporting cast includes Black-eared Wheatear, Alpine Swift, Red-billed Chough and Blue Rock Thrush, among others. In recent years the very rare (in Europe) White-rumped Swift has also appeared in small numbers, although it usually turns up after most birdwatchers have left the area after the end of May.

Another interesting raptor that occurs in Extremadura is the now globally threatened Lesser Kestrel. This is a species of unusual habits, tending to select towns and buildings in which to nest in colonies, rather than wilder habitats. From its urban base it commutes out over fields and rivers to hunt insects and, occasionally, lizards. Several of the towns in Extremadura have colonies of these birds, including Caceres and Trujillo, and they often share the rooftops with colonies of White Storks and Pallid Swifts.

The globally endangered Lesser Kestrel breeds colonially on some of the region’s historic buildings.

A population of nearly 7,000 Great Bustards patrols the steppes of Extremadura.

Great Spotted Cuckoos are brood parasites; they spell trouble for magpies, which are the main hosts.