A Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla) captured and ringed at Ceuta on 7 November 2017 by the Chagra Ringing Group. The first record for the city of this northern species. In Morocco, there are only two confirmed records: one captured and ringed at Souss-Massa National Park in October 2013 (Ramírez et al. 2013), and another photographed… Read More »
Census of vultures and other raptors during the prenuptial migration 2016 on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, Jbel Moussa – Morocco. During 68 days between 22 February and 20 August 2016, more than 24000 birds belonging to 20 species were counted on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, in particular… Read More »
Over five thousands Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) migrate through northern Morocco twice a year, and an increasing number of Rüppell’s Vultures (Gyps rueppelli) are also migrating through the region (a paradox, since the latter species is declining in its West African breeding areas from where these vagrants are coming). Some of these vultures can end up… Read More »
The only viable wild population of Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) exists in Morocco. The tiny wild population in Palmyra desert, Syria is unfortunately on the verge of extinction. There is also a semi-wild population in Turkey. In Europe, there are two reintroduction projects: one in the Alps (Waldrapp Project), and another in Andalusia, Spain… Read More »
The following chronicle describes the experience of Juan Ramírez Román and his friend Antonio Román Muñoz in northern Morocco. They visited the area between 2 and 4 November to witness vulture migration, and also made a short visit to lower Loukkos marshes. Both the English summary and the detailed Spanish version below were written by… Read More »
A Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) photographed and recorded in video in the Rissani region, eastern Sahara by Deirdre Robinson on 15 March 2016. The eagle was initially perched on post with wide white wing patches visible, soared over rocky desert for several minutes with good views of white leading edge of wings. Deirdre was in… Read More »
Observation of a 2cy Lesser Spotted Eagle (Clanga pomarina) at Jbel Moussa today at 1:47 p.m by Rachid El Khamlichi (photo 1). This is the fourth record of the species in Morocco. The first one was observed at Merzouga in April 1996 by P.-A. Crochet et al. (Bergier et al. 1997), the second observed at Punta Cires near… Read More »
A summary of raptor migration observations during three days in May 2016 at Jbel Moussa (with emphasis on vultures): 2 May: A Rüppell’s Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) was photographed with a flock of 32 Griffon Vultures (G. fulvus) by Rachid El Khamlichi (photo 1). This is the second bird for spring 2016, the first one observed… Read More »
A Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) was photographed just south of Jbel Moussa on 27 April 2016 by Rachid El Khamlichi. The bird was flying north towards the Strait of Gibraltar when seen. It’s a 2nd calendar-year bird (born in 2015) like the six Spanish Imperial Eagles tracked with GPS-GSM transmitters from Andalusia and which all visited… Read More »
The recent detection of two young Bonelli’s Eagles (Aquila fasciata) crossing the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco (one has even crossed the Sahara desert) shows an unknown dispersive movement in this species. It is one more example that confirms the importance of North Africa to the Iberian raptors. The Bonelli’s Eagle is usually resident across… Read More »