Birding Factoids

315 species

15 endemic species
8 speciality species
5 endangered species 
1 week trip expectation -
about 70 species

    Canary, Madeira & Azores
    Hotspots
Checklist of Canary Islands BirdsTours and GuidesEco-LodgesSpeciality Birds
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Check out Kim Biledgaard's gallery Fuertaventura - Images from a week's visit
Paul and Andrea Kelly's Fuertaventura Bird Images
Teus Luijendijk's Canary Islands Birds
or some photos of Fuertaventura Bird Life
See also the Cursorius website of Birding the Macaronesian Islands
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Canary, Azores, and Madeira Islands Specialities
Berthelot's Pipit - Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort
Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort
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Cream Coloured Courser - Photo copyright Cursorius
Photo copyright Cursorius
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Spectacled Warbler - Photo copyright Henning Fedders
Photo copyright Hennig Feddes
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Blue Chaffinch - P{hoto copyright Nick Lowton
Photo copyright Nick Lowton
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Lesser Short-toed Lark - Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort
Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort
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Island Canary - Photo copyright Nick Lowton
Photo copyright Nick Lowton
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Zino's Petrel - Photo copyright Cursorius
Photo copyright Cursorius
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Plain Swift - Photo copyright Nick Lowton
Photo copyright Nick Lowton
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Great Grey Shrike - Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort
Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort
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Cory's Shearwater - Photo copyright Jeff Blincow
Photo copyright Jeff Blincow
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Dotterel - Photo copyright Henning Feddes
Photo copyright Henning Feddes

Fuertaventura Blue Tit - ENDANGERED - Photo copyright Paul and Andrea Kelly

Photo copyright Paul and Andrea Kelly
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Houbara Bustard - Photo copyright Cursorius
Photo copyright Cursorius
 
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    ....Birds of the Canary Islands - Lying in the North Atlantic about 
      100km off the coast of Morocco the Canaries are a group of seven main islands, volcanic in nature and varied in terrain that hold several endemic species and subspecies. Now one of the most popular destinations for North European tourists in search of winter warmth they are ideal for a birding holiday at any time of year.
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    ....Printable Canary Islands Checklists - the following downloadable  ....
    ....World Heritage Site in Canary Islands - Garajonay National Park, on 
      the World Heritage List since 1986, is the only Spanish area of nature to have received this distinction so far. It lies in the centre, ie, the highest part, of La Gomera Island in the Canaries and was created in order to protects its large bay-tree forests. 
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    ....Latest News from Abroad - this commercial site provides up-dated
      details about birdwatching sites abroad. All of these sites are described fully, with detailed maps, in a series of books entitled `Finding Birds in...' (sometimes referred to as Gostours guides). These notes are intended to supplement the books to provide the most complete and up-to-date service possible. Notes are available on the Canary Islands.
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    ....Birding the Azores - taken from  Where to Watch Birds in Africa
      - by Nigel Wheatley. "This archipelago of nine islands in the North Atlantic, due west of Purtugal, hosts some inportant seabird colonies, including over 50% of the Western Palearctic population of Roseate Terns, Cape Verde Island and Bulwar's Petrels, Cory's and Little Shearwaters, and Band-rumped Storm Petrel, but there are few landbirds except Island Canary and a race of Eurasian Bullfinch (in the laurel forests of the mountains in east Sao Miguel). The islands also attract North American vagrants, especially shorebirds, in mid-September. The best site for these is the disused coastal quarry just south of the harbour at Praia da Vitoria (known locally as Cabo da Praia) on Terceira Island.
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    ....Trip Report: Tenerife, Canary Islands, September 2003 - by Daniel
      Bastaja. I recently returned from a one week trip to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. In my haste to pack for the trip, I neglected to bring  my driver's licence which meant that renting a car was out of the question. Fortunately Tenerife has a great (and cheap) public  transport system. 
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    ....Trip Report: La Palma (Canary Islands) - February 17 to March 3,
      2000, By Tim Herfurth. Our trip to La Palma cant be seen as a real birding holiday. We just wanted to escape from the German winter. We found a beautiful island with nice walks, good food and 14 days of sunshine. My aim was to see the endemic breeding species which which proved to be rather easy.
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    ....Trip report: Canary Islands - this detailed trip report, by Henning 
      Fedders & Frank Rheindt, clearly describes (with pictures) why this is a great place to visit. As they say: "The Canary Islands are well-known amongst ornithologists for their handful of endemic landbirds that are more or less confined to this archipelago, complemented by a few so-called Macaronesian endemics which can otherwise only be found on the Azores and on Madeira to the north of the Canaries. In addition, these islands boast scores of seabird colonies, and they even constitute one of the main breeding grounds of one pelagic restricted-range species that can hardly ever be seen outside the Macaronesian region: the Madeiran Storm-Petrel, which otherwise occurs only on Madeira and a couple of other islands in the general vicinity. Furthermore, the Canaries attract dozens of North American stragglers every year, especially the more humid western islands, while the dry eastern islands hold a few North African desert specialties and can be good for western Palearctic migration."
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    ....Trip Report: Fuerteventura, August 2002 - by Nigel Blake. This was
      one of those trips that had very little pre-planning!
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    ....Trip Report: Canary Islands, by Teus Luijendijk, In June 2001, my
      girlfriend and I visited the Canary Islands Tenerife and La Palma for one week. It proved to be a wonderful visit. We drove around to see as much as possible of the countryside and did some birding, too. I also took the opportunity to watch the butterflies occurring at these islands (of which several are endemic). Videostills of some birds encounbtered are shown.
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    ....Trip Report - Gran Canaria, October 11 to October 25, 2000 - by 
      Jan Kuper. On this site you will find information on observations of birds and invertebrates during a holiday trip to Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, in October 2000. Descriptions of some interesting spots are be given. This is followed by (systematic) lists of observed birds, mammals, reptiles, diurnal butterflies, dragonflies and other invertebrates with English, Dutch and scientific species names. Some pictures are provided.  See also Jan's Tenerife report from October 6 to October 20, 1999.
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    ....Trip Report: Canary Islands, March 26 - April 6, 1999, by Ady Gancz.
      Traveling with non-birding members of my family, this was not strictly a birding holiday, nevertheless I did manage to see all of the endemic species and some, but not all of the endemic subspecies. I also managed to find a few interesting non-endemic species (e.g. Barbary Partridge). I have not seen many seabirds with respect to what was mentioned in other reports. I suspect this may be due to the time of the year.........
    ....Trip report: Canary Islands (Lanzarote and Fuertaventura)
      December 1998 by Sjaak Schilperoort, Voorschoten, The Netherlands. Lanzarote holds some interesting bird species (and subspecies), but both the number of species and number of birds is quite low. When driving/walking across the island it often looks deserted, and some parts (e.g. the lava fields) indeed are. The salinas are an exception with many waders and many species present in a small area. Finding the most interesting species (houbara bustard, barbary falcon, barbary grouse) proved to be not that hard. [This trip report is illustrated with several photos of Canary Islands birds.] 
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    ....Trip Report: Lanzarote (Canary Islands), March 17-30, 1997 - by
      Jens Erik Nygaard. I went to Lanzarote with my family from 17. to 30. of March this year. I found very few trip reports on the Internet, so I will give you a resume of what I saw there. My main impression is that there is not a great abundance of birds at the island, neither in terms of species nor individuals. Some of them are endemic to the Canary Islands, so I came back with 8 new lifers, and was quite satisfied. 
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    ....Trip Report: Tenerife and La Palma, April 1992 - by Harry Lehto. I 
      recently made a business trip to La Palma, the westernmost of the Canary Islands. My connection flights were though Tenerife, enabling me to have one day of birding on the island. I hope this summary gives you an idea what can be seen in 1 day of birding on Tenerife, 3.5 hours of birding on LaPalma and from hotel windows and taxis. See also Harry Lehto's 1998 trip report and 2000/2001 trip report.
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    ....Trip Report: Canary Islands, April 19-26, 1998 - by Remco Hofland and
      Teus Luijendijk. This is a report of our visit to Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Gomera and ElHierro. It includes a list of bird species recorded, notes on the islands' (sub)species and lists of sighted mammals, butterflies and dragonflies. 
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    ....Trip Report: Azores, July 21-31, 1997 - Ricard Gutierrez. 
      Here are the highlights of my trip with my family (Ricard Gutierrez, Helena Arbones, Ariadna Gutierrez) to the Azores islands this last July.
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    ....Trip Report: Azores, October 2nd-17th 2003, by Steve Lister and 
      Megan Hall. We decided on this trip to try and boost our Western Palearctic lists by seeing the endemic Azores Bullfinch and hopefully finding some American vagrants, plus we were keen to visit this Atlantic outpost of Europe to savour some of the different islands.
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    ....Madeira Trip Report - by David B. Collinge. - 23 - 30 December 1998.
      Madeira is not a place where you can expect to see many species of bird - we saw a total of 29. However, these are of high quality as they include two endemics (Long-toed Pigeon and Freira), and a further 3 species confined to Madeira and the Canaries (not surprisingly Canary as well as Plain Swift and Berthelot's Pipit). See also Jonathon Dean's report on Madeira.
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    ....Trip Report: Madeira - by Gerard Joannes. This trip was made during
      the Easter holidays of 1998. In this page, you'll find touristic information and a few ornithological comments about the species I saw on this very beautiful island.Madeira is a mountainous island lying off the western coast of Morocco which is worth a visit for those who take an interest in birds but also in botany. You can find numerous exotic flowers there which, by the way, often replace the original flora. As to birds, as is often the case for islands, the number of species is far more reduced. I thought I would be seeing a lot of gulls because the coast is rocky and there are many cliffs, but I was wrong.
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    ....Trip Report: Madeira and Porto Santo - 16th to 29th September 2003,
      by Georges and Mireille Olioso. Very few birds ; like other small islands, few species, but also few individuals. No sparrows on Madeira, no Collared Doves! Widespread species are rare: Canaries, Grey Wagtail, Plain Swift, Blackbird, Yellow-legged Gull, Buzzard, Kestrel and Feral Pigeon. Other, like Chaffinch, Berthelot's Pipit and Firecrest are common in right habitat. At sea, there are always some Cory's Shearwater.
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    ....Trip Report: Birding on Madeira, March 2004 - by Stig Lylander. 
      Madeira is located in the Atlantic Ocean off the Moroccan coast. The main purpose of the trip was enjoying the magnificent nature of Madeira by driving and hiking. Birding was only of second priority.      As one would expect from an isolated island, the number of land-bird species is small, and some of the birds found are endemic or near-endemic. Madeira is famous for the "levadas" - irrigation canals found virtually everywhere. Exploring the beautiful nature of the island - and the birds - is easy and convenient by walking along the levadas. 
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    ....More Canary Island Trip Reports  - from John Girdley's birdtours
      website.
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    ....More Atlantic Island Trip Reports from Uri Geiser - 18 more trip
      reports on the Atlantic Islands, including the Canary Islands, the Azores, and the Madeira Islands. 


    Factoids taken from Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley.

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Tours and Guides


Eurasian Thick-knee - Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort
Photo copyright Sjaak Schilperoort

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Eco-Lodges


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Endemics and Specialities

in the Canary Islands, the Madiera Islands

or the Azores


Laurel Pigeon - ENDANGERED - Photo copyright Cursorius
Photo copyright Cursorius
Information on endemics and specialities is derived from Sibley & Monroe checklists and bird distribution lists in Thayer's Birder's Diary - Version 2.05, supplemented by material found in Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley. African speciality birds, while not endemic, are those that can only be found in three or less countries of Africa. Information on endangered birds is derived from the IUCN Red List, Birdlife International.  The endemic, endangered and speciality birds may be uncommon, extremely rare vagrants, may be extirpated in the country now or may only be present in migration. However, documented sightings of each species noted below have been made in the Canary Islands, the Madiera Islands or the Azores. 
Bolle's Pigeon - Photo copyright Cursorius
Photo copyright Cursorius

 

 

Endemics
Canary Islands only

Canary, Madiera and the Azores

Madiera Islands only

___ Blue Chaffinch
___ Bolle's Pigeon
___ Canary Islands Chat
___ Canary Islands Chiffchaff
___ Canary Islands Kinglet
___ Fuertoventura Blue Tit
___ Hierro Blue Tit
___ Laurel Pigeon
___ Palma Blue Tit
___ Tenerife Blue Tit
___ Berthelot's Pipit
___ Island Canary
___ Trocaz Pigeon
Azores only

___ Azores Bullfinch

Endangered Birds
(endemics are printed in bold italic)

Breeding Birds

Non-Breeding Birds

___ Bolle's Pigeon
___ Blue Chaffinch
___ Fea's Petrel
___ Laurel Pigeon
___ Zino's Petrel


Other Speciality and Spectacular Birds
(adapted from Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley.)

___ Barbary Falcon
___ Barbary Partridge
___ Bulwar's Petrel
___ Cream-Coloured Courser
___ Fea's Petrel
___ Houbara Bustard
___ Lesser Short-toed Lark
___ Plain Swift
___ Zino's Petrel

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