Birds in the Picos de Europa.

BIRDS IN THE PICOS DE EUROPA

Lammergeier news Threat to Capercaillie!

Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) © Carlos Sanz

With a variety of eagles and vultures soaring the thermals, Little egrets on the coast, Black and Common redstarts, Wrynecks, Great and Middle-spotted woodpeckers, Spotted flycatchers and European nightjars breeding around the village, Wallcreepers on the limestone and more exotic species just a little south, the Picos de Europa and their surroundings are hosts to enough resident and summer-visiting birds to keep birdwatchers busy!

Wryneck (Jynx torquilla)

Alpine accentor (Prunella collaris) Northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

Source redparquesnaturales.mma.es

Blue Rock-thrush ( Monticola solitarius )

by Simon Harthill

Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush ( Monticola saxatilis )

Female left, male right. © Phil Farrer

Among the alpine species to be found here are Rufous-tailed and Blue rock-thrush, Northern wheatear, Alpine accentor and choughs (Alpine and Common), Snow finch and that elusive Wallcreeper....

Wallcreeper ( Tichodroma muraria)

Source MMA

...although, with our help, many of our guests have succeeded in watching this pretty little bird doing as it's name suggests. The cable-car at Fuente De is an effortless means of reaching their high-alpine habitat.

Peña Remoña from the Collado de Valdecoro Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)

Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) in flight and close-up

Juveniles and adult Common, or Red-billed, chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax)

The Picos de Europa are home, or summer breeding ground, to a good many raptors. Griffon vultures with their impressive, nearly 9ft wingspan are, for the present, numerous and a regular feature of these skies.

Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) © Phil Farrer

Lammergeiers are being encouraged to return from the Pyrenees and occasional, rare sightings of Black vulture are possible. Egyptian vultures arrive to breed in these mountains in spring. There are a few resident, breeding pairs of Golden eagle, while Booted and Short-toed eagles are fairly plentiful in the summer, Bonelli's being rather more rare. Thanks to a reintroduction initiative, the estuaries of the Cantabrian coast will hopefully see the return of Osprey.

Egyptian vulture ( Neophron percnopterus) Booted eagle with chick ( Aquila pennata)

Photos © Carlos Sanz

Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo)

Bonelli's eagle ( Hieraaetus fasciatus) Short-toed eagle ( Circaetus gallicus)

Six species of owl are found here, including Scops whose call has been confused with that of the midwife toad. (An Eagle owl flew by our courtyard during dinner!) Buzzards, both Common and Honey, are numerous.

Osprey ( Pandion haliaetus )

Focussing particularly on the estuary at Villaviciosa in Asturias, Spanish wildlife conservation group Fapas have been working on a reintroduction project for the Osprey (in Spanish, Águila pescadora) on the Costa Cantábrica.

Capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallus ) Black woodpecker ( Dryocopus martius )

The ancient, deciduous woods are home to Capercaillie and Black woodpecker. In the rivers, Grey herons fish and Dippers.... dip. Peregrine falcons, Hobbies and harriers patrol the skies.

Just over an hour's drive south takes you to White stork territory, with nests on every available pinnacle.

Photos T.Rees

White stork (Ciconia ciconia)....

....and Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)

The plains, or meseta, just over the mountain passes are also habitat of Hoopoe and Bee-eater, though both have been sighted in the Picos area as accidental visitors.

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

European bee-eater ( Merops apiaster )

In June 2009 we will again be hosting the growingly popular

bird-watching/wildlife holidays with

Oliva Rama Tours & Holidays.

Led by naturalist Julian Sykes, these all-inclusive weeks visit Northern Madrid, Sepulveda and the Picos de Europa. Primarily focussing (!) on birdlife, the trips will also be looking out for speciality species of butterflies, moths, flowers and other wildlife. See here for details. Here are some of Jules's photos taken in the Picos in June 2008 to whet your appetite....

Pasque flower, Pulsatilla rubra ssp. hispanica, © Julian Sykes

A Picos endemic, the Gavarnie blue, Agriades pyrenaicus asturiensis © Julian Sykes

And last but not least...........

A Wallcreeper, Tichodroma muraria, dust-bathing obligingly close to Jules's group.

Photo © Julian Sykes.

Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture

(Gypaetus barbatus)

Sp. Quebrantahuesos

The only bone-eating bird in existence, the Lammergeier (or Lammergeyer) is one of the rarest European raptors and was last known to breed in the Picos de Europa in the 1960's, since when it has been hunted to extinction. It is now listed by the Spanish Ministry for the Environment as in danger of extinction nationally.

Photo FCQ/O.Díez

With a wingspan of 2,60m - 2,80m, it is identifiable by the diamond-shaped tail and pale head and underbody. Though naturally white, the last two features usually appear as a pale orange due to the bird's habit of rubbing itself with mud so acquiring the iron oxide pigments of the limestone habitat.

Bones are dropped from a height onto rocks to expose the nutricious marrow, hence the Spanish name Quebrantahuesos, which translates as bone-breaker.

Highly territorial, their reproductive rate is low with a long cycle of 180 days between egg-laying and fledging of the single young bird.

Photo FCQ/O.Díez

A ten-year conservation plan, the "Recuperación del Quebrantahuesos en los Picos de Europa", is underway to restore the Lammergeier to the Picos. Funded by the EU's LIFE project and headed by the Fundación para la Conservación del Quebrantahuesos (FCQ), the plan will be integrated with the conservation efforts of the Picos de Europa National Park to encourage these beautiful raptors back over from the Pyrenees.

Photo FCQ/O.Díez

Stages of the project include establishment of nests with life-sized replicas of adult birds, insulation of electrical installations, creation of supplementary feeding stations, radio and satellite tracking and education. A study of the area has already been carried out, establishing the high probability for successful recolonisation of between 5-8 pairs. Spring 2009 will hopefully see the release of three young birds in the Picos de Europa.

Photo Fapas

A probable pair ( because two adults of the same sex are believed not to tolerate each others' company for long, though a strange breeding system often consists of two males and one female) have been seen in the area since the autumn of 2005 and in June 2006 some of our guests had a Lammergeier fly close enough over them to be able to see it's "beard." All suggesting a positive outcome for the project as long as the threat of poisoning (laid to target other animal species) can be surmounted.

Agradecimientos al (with thanks to) FAPAS

With many thanks to the

Fundación para la Conservación del Quebrantahuesos

for their photos of Lammergeier.

(Their website has an English translation.)

If you'd like to follow the progress of the Lammergeier reintroductions in the Picos, you can read the topic on Iberianature forum. And now available - the most up-to-date news on Lammergeiers and more on

The Picos de Europa !

Lammergeier in Jerez zoo

I was lucky enough to meet this stunning female bird, at very close quarters in the Botanical Zoo of Jerez where she forms part of their breeding programme.

The proposal to build a ski resort in the mountains of the Cordillera Cantábrica in the region of the San Glorio pass is putting under threat an important habitat of the rare Capercaillie (in Spanish, Urogallo), as well as that of the Cantabrian brown bear.

I've started an online petition, in English, against the project.

Please sign it here.

Capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallus )

Thanks again to FAPAS for photo.

Spain's SEO/Birdlife has begun a campaign to try and rescue this desperately threatened sub-species, Tetrao urogallus cantabricus, from the brink of extinction. Titled "El Sonido del Bosque" (The Sound of the Forest), work camps have started to improve the forest habitat by clearing the currently dense undergrowth so that the bilberries that are so vital to their existence can once again flourish and provide food for the adult birds. They also hope to encourage the breeding of more coleoptera species which, in turn, provide sustenance for the young birds.

Here are a few more images of birds taken in and around the Picos de Europa.....

Juvenile goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Photo T. Rees

Flora & Fauna of the Picos de Europa
Over the past 20 years, Teresa Farino has compiled a 90-page report (A4) which includes an eight-page introduction to the wildlife of these mountains, followed by lists of all the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies and vascular plants ever recorded the Picos de Europa, as well as brief summaries of these groups. If you would like to purchase a copy, the price is £12, excluding postage and packaging. Please contact Teresa for further details, or to place your order, at teresa@iberianwildlife.com

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