Diverse species have colonised or may yet do so.
The Iberian Peninsula sees arrivals of wild bird species of African origin with some frequency. Some have so far only appeared as vagrants, from both northern and sub-Saharan Africa. However, a number have gone on to establish breeding populations in the Iberian Peninsula, and further beyond in some cases, and there are others that are potential colonists. A review of occurrences of African species in the Iberian Peninsula has thus seemed timely and can help to identify common factors shared by actual and would-be colonisers alike.
The arrival, establishment and spread within Iberia has been well documented for at least five species: Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus (first arrivals c. 1865), Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica (1920), White-rumped Swift Apus caffer (1966), Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus (1970) and Little Swift Apus affinis (1996). Five other species: Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor, Atlas Buzzard Buteo cirtensis, Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis, Plain Swift Apus unicolor and House Bunting Emberiza sahari have established a foothold in Iberia and have nested successfully there even more recently but still have only a tiny and localised presence. A further 13 species may be regarded, to varying extents, as possible future colonisers: three of these, Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis, Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor and Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus have already nested in Iberia on rare occasions. Finally, some 30 additional species, most of them of Afrotropical origin, have been reported in Iberia as vagrants and none seem likely to establish Iberian breeding populations in the foreseeable future. The aquatic Afrotropical vagrants, notably Allen’s Gallinule Porphyrio alleni, are all to varying extents intra-African rains migrants that breed in seasonal sub-Saharan wetlands: they migrate southwards as these wetlands dry up, but a few disperse northwards instead, some reaching the Western Palearctic.
SEE COMPLETE ON THE BOU BLOG: https://bou.org.uk/blog-garcia-iberian-birds/
LINKED PAPER
African birds in Iberia: recent colonists, potential colonists and vagrants. Garcia, E. 2024. Ardeola, 71: 195-228. (Review). Doi: https://doi.org/10.13157/arla.71.2.2024.rp1
The arrival, establishment and spread within Iberia has been well documented for at least five species: Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus (first arrivals c. 1865), Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica (1920), White-rumped Swift Apus caffer (1966), Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus (1970) and Little Swift Apus affinis (1996). Five other species: Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor, Atlas Buzzard Buteo cirtensis, Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis, Plain Swift Apus unicolor and House Bunting Emberiza sahari have established a foothold in Iberia and have nested successfully there even more recently but still have only a tiny and localised presence. A further 13 species may be regarded, to varying extents, as possible future colonisers: three of these, Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis, Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor and Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus have already nested in Iberia on rare occasions. Finally, some 30 additional species, most of them of Afrotropical origin, have been reported in Iberia as vagrants and none seem likely to establish Iberian breeding populations in the foreseeable future. The aquatic Afrotropical vagrants, notably Allen’s Gallinule Porphyrio alleni, are all to varying extents intra-African rains migrants that breed in seasonal sub-Saharan wetlands: they migrate southwards as these wetlands dry up, but a few disperse northwards instead, some reaching the Western Palearctic.
SEE COMPLETE ON THE BOU BLOG: https://bou.org.uk/blog-garcia-iberian-birds/
LINKED PAPER
African birds in Iberia: recent colonists, potential colonists and vagrants. Garcia, E. 2024. Ardeola, 71: 195-228. (Review). Doi: https://doi.org/10.13157/arla.71.2.2024.rp1