Summary of bird sightings in Doñana during 2019
The year 2019 is gone and it’s time to take a look back to all we saw along the year during our tours to Doñana.
It was a very dry year in Doñana, but that wasn’t a problem to see a long list of species (226).
We can highlight this year, observations of Western Reef Heron, Lesser Flamingo, Richard’s Pipit and increasing observations of Pallid Harrier.
Here is the complete list with some comments for the rare or more interesting species:
Greylag Goose
Common Shelduck
Garganey
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Marbled Duck: Annual maximum of 65 individuals on the 20th of September in Brazo del Este. Concentration due to drought.
Red-crested Pochard
Common Pochard
Ferruginous Duck: Annual maximum of 5 individuals on the 4th of February in northern Doñana.
Tufted Duck: Annual maximum of 20 individuals on the 20th of February in northern Doñana. Scarce wintering bird.
Common Scoter
White-headed Duck: Annual maximum of 40 individuals on the 28th of March in southern Doñana.
Common Quail
Red-legged Partridge
Greater Flamingo
Lesser Flamingo: 2 individuals on the 25th of November in Northern Doñana. Very rare visitor to Doñana.
Lesser Flamingo, 25 November 2019, Northern Doñana
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
Rock Dove
Stock Dove: 1 individual on the 24th of October in northern Doñana. Scarce wintering bird.
Common Wood Pigeon
Laughing Dove: 2 individuals on the 28th of June in Los Palacios. Recently it seems that they have started to breed there.
Laughing Dove, 28 June 2019, Los Palacios
European Turtle Dove
Eurasian Collared Dove
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
Little Bustard: 7 individuals on the 24th of October in northern Doñana. Scarce wintering bird.
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Common Cuckoo
Red-necked Nightjar
Common Swift: 2 individuals on the 30th of December in northern Doñana. Winter record.
Pallid Swift
Little Swift
Water Rail
Spotted Crake
Common Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Red-knobbed Coot: Annual maximum of 5 individuals on the 28th of February in northern Doñana.
Red-Knobbed Coot, 28 February 2019, Northern Doñana
Western Swamphen
Common Crane
Eurasian Stone-curlew
Black-winged Stilt
Pied Avocet
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Grey Plover
European Golden Plover
Northern Lapwing
Kentish Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Whimbrel
Eurasian Curlew
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-tailed Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Ruff
Curlew Sandpiper
Temminck’s Stint: 1 individual on the 29th of March in northern Doñana and 2 on the 4th of September in Brazo del Este. Scarce migrant.
Sanderling
Dunlin
Little Stint
Jack Snipe: 1 individual on the 20th of March in Brazo del Este. Scarce winter visitor.
Common Snipe
Common Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Spotted Redshank
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Collared Pratincole
Slender-billed Gull
Black-headed Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Audouin’s Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull: 1 individual on the 16th of February in Chipiona and 1 indiviual on the 1st of September in Matalascañas. Scarce winter visitor.
Little Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Whiskered Tern
Common Tern
Sandwich/Cabot’s Tern
Black Stork
White Stork
Northern Gannet
Great Cormorant
Eurasian Bittern: Records of 1 individual in different areas of northern Doñana on the 12th of March, 15th of March, 17th of May, 21th of May and 30th of June. Very rare resident in Doñana.
Great Bittern, 21 May 2019, Northern Doñana
Little Bittern
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
Western Reef Heron: 1 individual on the 2nd of May in northern Doñana. It is a vagrant in Spain and its usual range is Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia.
Western Reef Heron, 02 May 2019, Northern Doñana
Western Cattle Egret
Squacco Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Glossy Ibis
Eurasian Spoonbill
Western Osprey
Black-winged Kite
Egyptian Vulture: 1 indiviual on the 5th of May in northern Doñana. Scarce in Doñana.
European Honey Buzzard
Cinereous Vulture: 1 indiviual on the 20th of February in northern Doñana. Scarce visitor to Doñana.
Griffon Vulture
Short-toed Snake Eagle
Booted Eagle
Spanish Imperial Eagle
Bonelli’s Eagle: 1 juvenil on the 25th of October in Brazo del Este and another juvenil on the 28th of October in northern Doñana. Scarce visitor to Doñana.
Western Marsh Harrier
Hen Harrier
Pallid Harrier: 1 male on the 29th of March in northern Doñana, 1 male on the 18th of September migrating over Brazo del Este and another male on the 28th of December in northern Doñana. This last male has been seen repeatedly over the next few weeks. It is a rare visitor to Spain but with increasing numbers. More information about our records during 2018 here.
Pallid Harrier, 02 January 2020, Northern Doñana. Same individual seen on the 28 of December 2019.
Montagu’s Harrier
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Red Kite
Black Kite
Common Buzzard
Western Barn Owl
Little Owl
Tawny Owl
Short-eared Owl
Eurasian Hoopoe
Common Kingfisher
European Bee-eater
Eurasian Wryneck
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Iberian Green Woodpecker
Lesser Kestrel
Common Kestrel
Merlin
Eurasian Hobby
Peregrine/Barbary Falcon
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Iberian Grey Shrike
Woodchat Shrike
Iberian Magpie
Eurasian Magpie
Western Jackdaw
Northern Raven
European Crested Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Eurasian Penduline Tit
Greater Short-toed Lark
Calandra Lark
Lesser Short-toed Lark
Woodlark
Eurasian Skylark
Crested Lark
Zitting Cisticola
Western Olivaceous Warbler
Melodious Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Eurasian Reed Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Savi’s Warbler
Sand Martin
Eurasian Crag Martin
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped/West African Swallow
Common House Martin
Western Bonelli’s Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Iberian Chiffchaff
Cetti’s Warbler
Long-tailed Tit
Eurasian Blackcap
Garden Warbler
Western Orphean Warbler
Subalpine Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Common Whitethroat
Spectacled Warbler
Dartford Warbler
Eurasian Nuthatch: 1 indivual on the 17th of October in western Doñana. Rare visitor to Doñana.
Short-toed Treecreeper
Eurasian Wren
Common Starling
Spotless Starling
Song Thrush
Common Blackbird
Spotted/Mediterranean Flycatcher
Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin: Annual maximum of 15 individuals on the 6th of July in southern Doñana.
European Robin
Common Nightingale
Bluethroat
European Pied Flycatcher
Common Redstart
Black Redstart
Whinchat
European Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Black-eared Wheatear
Black-headed Weaver
Yellow-crowned Bishop
Common Waxbill
Red Avadavat
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Grey Wagtail
Western Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail
Richard’s Pipit: 2 individuals on the 2nd of March in northern Doñana. Scarce visitor to Doñana.
Tawny Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Tree Pipit
Water Pipit
Common Chaffinch
Hawfinch
European Greenfinch
Common Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Eurasian Siskin
Corn Bunting
Cirl Bunting
Ortolan Bunting: 1 indivual on the 1st of May in northern Doñana. Scarce migrant in Doñana.
Ortolan Bunting, 01 May 2019, Northern Doñana. Photo Paul Gnodde.