“FERNANDO” THE FLAMINGO AND OTHER LONG-LIVED BIRDS

Fernando, a Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) of French origin seen at Santa Amalia (Badajoz) in March 2013 was over 33 years old, the oldest wild bird ever recorded Extremadura, according to the SEO-Cáceres/GOCE database. Photo by Fernando Yuste

This post has been ready for publication for several weeks. However, just by chance new information about longevity in birds has been arriving, meaning that we have incorporated this to make a post a little longer than usual, and hopefully even more interesting. It is likely that our information is incomplete, representing as it does recently available information gathered by a small group of enthusiasts. If someone has sightings in Extremadura of older birds and would like to share their news, we would be delighted to publish it here. None of this information would have been available at all without the work of bird ringers and those birders who patiently read the codes on rings and send the information through. To all of those, a big thank you.

Ringing does not only help the study of the movements of birds, but also provides information of great value about various aspects of biology. How long a bird can live, in other words its longevity, is one of these. For this we have searched the modest but growing ringing database of GOCE in order to determine the oldest birds that we have seen in Extremadura, and then comparing this with data published at both a European and global scale, some of which may not be wholly reliable (Euring, HAGR).

The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus). Ring Y[HIF]. Named "Fernando". A male ringed in the Camargue (France) on 3rd August 1979 and seen on the rice fields of Santa Amalia (Badajoz) by Fernando Yuste and Isaac Outón on 17th March 2013, in its 35th calendar year and  33 years, 7 months and 14 days since being ringed. It is, by far, the oldest bird that has been seen in Extremadura, as far as we know. During its lifetime, it has been seen many times, so many observations in fact that it could fill four pages of notes. We know that it has bred in its place of origin in the Camargue (1987, 1991, 1992 and 2009) as well as in the colony near Malaga of Fuente de Piedra (1988, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006). It has also been seen in the Ebro Delta, Doñana and the Villacañas lagoon (Toledo). It has only been seen once in Extremadura, as recorded above [see video]. Our data also include a record of a female Greater Flamingo seen at La Albuera in September 2013 in its 18th calendar year (José A. Román). Ringing of flamingos started in France in 1977 and there are still birds alive today from that period, with 35 years of age, although the maximum age given in Euring is 27 years. Flamingos are long-lived birds, with birds in captivity easily exceeding 60 years and the author once saw in Almeria a group of five ringed flamingos with ages of 18, 18, 18, 22 and 23 years.

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). Rings W[D] / W[S]a. This bird was marked as a nestling in Holland on 11th June 1988 and seen at Portaje Reservoir (Cáceres) by Sergio Mayordomo on 25 September 2012 in its 25th calendar year having passed 24 years and 3.5 months since being ringed. It is a male that had lost one of its rings, as can be seen in the photo, and thus could not be identified between 1994 and 2002. During its first two years there were sightings in the United Kingdom (from 12-10 to 18-11-08 and from 26-06 to 20-09-89), Algarve, Portugal (15 and 19-10-89) and Doñana (8 to 15-03-90), and in Holland on 16-07-90. Afterwards it was seen during several years in Huelva on autumn migration, once in December and in Holland during the breeding season. The only sighting in Extremadura is the Portaje Reservoir record. In our region, Spoonbills of 18 and 19 years old have been seen. We have not found information about the oldest wild Spoonbill in Europe, but in captivity one reached 30 years and in America other species of spoonbills have reached 28 years in the wild. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus). Ring B[PC]. Ringed as a nestling in Bristol (UK) on 4th  July 1989. There were no further records until October 2013 when Marc Gálvez and José Guerra saw it on Mérida refuse tip [read more]. Therefore it is a bird in its 25th calendar year, having passed 24 years and three months since being ringed. As can be seen from the photo, the ring is now in poor condition. The maximum age known for this species in the world was one of 34 years and 10 months, also from the UK.

Common Crane (Grus grus). Ring a/NYB. A bird ringed as a juvenile on passage at Gallocanta (Aragón) in 1988 and seen by Manolo Gómez Calzado in Vegas Altas del Guadiana (Extremadura) on several occasions since 2003. In January 2009 and October 2011 it was accompanied by its mate, but without young. It is therefore a bird of its 24th  calendar year  and with more than 22 years of age [read more]. This bird exceeds the record of the oldest according to Euring for Europe, which cites a Swedish bird of 20 years and three months of age, although both are far from the record achieved by a bird of the eastern race (lilfordi) which reached 41 years old in the wild. In Extremadura we have another record of a crane in its 20^th calendar year, hatched in Germany and seen in Oliva de Plasencia (Javier Prieta).

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Ring G[J]. Female called Gabriela hatched in Scotland in 1991 (photo: Roy Dennis), where it has bred since1996, and has wintered, at least since 2000, at the Gabriel y Galán Reservoir (Cáceres), where it is currently present (November 2013; Jesús Montero. César Clemente, S. Mayordomo, J. Prieta). It is therefore a bird in its 23th calendar year and more than 22 years old. This bird perhaps merits its own post, since it has been tracked for three seasons by satellite, as have one of its mates and some of its young (all have wintered in Africa). One of its descendents is also part of an introduction project that has started in Urdaibai (Vizcaya). The oldest Osprey known is one of 32 years old in North America and in Europe one of 26 years and 11 months in Finland.

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia). Ring W[F|FS]. Hatched in a nest in Trujillo (Cáceres), where it was ringed on 6th June 1989, and has been seen twice nesting in a clump of pines at  Monroy (Cáceres), with records almost twenty years apart: on 12th April 1992 (I. Ludwichowst) and on 1st April 2010 (Juan Manuel Domínguez –photo-). Who knows if it is still there (if anyone is encouraged to look for it, the colony is beside the Cáceres -Torrejón el Rubio-Monfragüe road). It was in its 22nd calendar year and 21 years and 10 months since being ringed. It was also seen in January 2002 at a refuse tip at Cádiz and in January 2003 en the rubbish tip at Dos Hermanas (Seville). The oldest ages published for this species are: 39 years for a wild bird in Switzerland and 48 years in captivity. In Extremadura we have two records of birds in their 18th and 16th calendar years.

Black Stork (Ciconia nigra). Ring W[C|HN]. Here we are talking about the dearly loved Choni, subject of one of the most popular posts in this blog [readmore]. Hatched in Oliva de Plasencia (Cáceres) in 1990, it occupied one of the most visible nests in Monfragüe for 18 years, successfully raising 46 young. It was seen for the last time in the summer of 2011, in its 22nd calendar year and with more 21 years and 3 months since being ringed, it could be the longest lived Black Stork in the world. There is a published record of a bird of 18 years and 7 months from Poland and one of 31 years in captivity.  In Extremadura we have records of a 15-year old bird and one in its 11th calendar year.

The seven cases above are the only ones citing birds of more than 20 years old in Extremadura.  Examples of birds of great age, but less than 20 years old we have the following:

- Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). A 17 year old bird in Badajoz (Ismael Galván). The oldest wild bird recorded in the world is 27 years old.

- Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica). In the GOCE database we only have records of four birds, with ages of 11, 11, 13 and 16 calendar years (the last has 14 years and 10 months since ringing; see the blog of Atanasio Fernández). This is a high average, given that the oldest of this species ever recorded is one of 15 years and 9 months from Denmark.

- Greylag Goose (Anser anser). Birds of more than 11 and 13 calendar years (marked as adults) have been seen on the Portaje Reservoir (S. Mayordomo) and Valdesalor Reservoir (Carlos Fernández). The oldest in captivity in the world was 31 years old, although a wild Pink-footed Goose has reached 41 years old.

 A few days ago news came out about a House Martin (Delichon urbicum) ringed in Badajoz city in 2005 and found dead in a pellet of a Tawny Owl, collected just 400 metres from the site of ringing, eight years later. The site could not have been any other since Badajoz is where House Martins have been more closely studied than almost anywhere and it is where more House Martins have been ringed and controlled than anywhere else in Spain (Florentino de Lope’s team/UEX; photo by Carlos de la Cruz). This becomes the longest-lived of this species in Spain (there are two cases of seven-year old birds); although in Sweden there is a record of 15 years. These are all extraordinary results for a species which on average will live for just two or three years.

And since we have embarked on this saga, let’s continue: what are the longest living birds in the wild? At the global level, there is a female Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), called Wisdom, which is still alive and is breeding in Midway (Hawaii, USA), where in 2013 she succeeded to raise a young, despite being 62 years old.  She was marked in 1953 when five years old.  It is said that other albatrosses have lived longer, but that this has not been confirmed with marked birds. Thus there is a female Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) called Grandma also believed to be 62 years old, with an estimated age of ten years when ringed in 1937, and seen for the last time in 1989, 52 years later.

In Europe, the longest-lived bird we have come across is a Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) of more than 50 years and 11 months old (trapped as an adult). The following is a Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) of more than 45 years and three months, a Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) of more than 43 years and 11 months and an Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) of 43 years and 4 months. As one can see, seabirds, waterfowl and waders can reach great age, but also raptors (Golden Eagle 32 years, Eagle Owl 27 years) and even smaller birds like Alpine Swift (26 years) and passerines (Raven 23 years, Common Starling 23 years).

In captivity, it is difficult to find out about  the oldest bird. We have found a scientific publication on longevity in parrots that cites a Salmon-crested Cockatoo  (Cacatua moluccensis) of no less than 92 years old. There is a Greater Flamingo in a zoo in Adelaide (Australia) which is more than 80 years old, having lived there since 1933, when it arrived as an adult. In a zoo in Chicago there is a cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri) 80 years old, called Cookie, which hatched in 1933. These figures are a long way short of the 255 years calculated by radiocarbon dating of a male Aldabran Tortoise (Geochelone gigantea), called Adwaita, captured in the Seychelles and kept in a zoo in India from 1875 to its death in 2006 (a life spanning three centuries!!). The longest-lived mammal appears to be a Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus). In some specimens remains of antique harpoons have been found which date back to the end of the 19th century suggesting ages of between 115-130 years. Additional studies based on the eye structure affirm the possibility that the species could reach 150-200 years old.

SPOONBILL WINTERING IN EXTREMADURA. December 2012

In December 2012, for the seventh year running, the Spanish Spoonbill Monitoring Group (Grupo de Seguimiento de la Espátula Común: GRUSEC) brokered another count of wintering Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) in Spain. Figures were once more given for Extremadura though, as on previous occasions, these were based more on ad hoc wetland visits than a systematic census strictly speaking. 

The December 2012 result came out as 26 Spoonbills seen in eight different spots in Extremadura: 

1- Laguna de Galisteo (Cáceres), 2 birds. 2- Arrocampo Reservoir (Cáceres), 4 birds. 
3- Lugar Nuevo, Peraleda de la Mata (Cáceres), 2 birds. 
4- Charca de Brozas (Cáceres), 1 bird. 
5- Los Barruecos-Lancho-El Majón (Cáceres), 7 birds. 
6- Madrigalejo and Campo Lugar (Cáceres), 2 birds 
7- Los Canchales and Montijo Reservoirs (Badajoz), 7 birds. 
8- Laguna de La Albuera (Badajoz), 1 bird.

Among the 26 sightings there were at least two Spoonbills ringed in Holland. One was seen at Los Canchales, without being able to decipher the exact code. The other was seen on 29.12.12 at Campo Lugar and perhaps at Madrigalejo some days earlier. This bird, born in 2010 (YaYf/RLR), was seen on 30.09.12 at Salburua (Álava), 14.10.12 at Los Canchales reservoir (Badajoz) and on 19.10.12 at Morantes reservoir (Badajoz); these sightings suggest the bird stayed in Extremadura for the whole autumn.

The information from the rest of Spain, pending results from Doñana, adds up to at least 1027 Spoonbills: 

- Basque Country. One bird (Urdaibai, Vizcaya) 
- Cantabria. 44 birds (34 at Santoña and 10 at Bahía de Santander) 
- Asturias. 6 birds. (Villaviciosa) 
- Galicia. 202 birds. (196 at O Grove and 6 at Ribadeo) 
- Extremadura. 26 birds. 
- Cádiz. 445 birds. 
- Huelva. 303 birds.

Collaborators. Antonio Calvo, Godfried Schreur, Rafael Parra, John Muddeman, Francisco Lopo, Javier Briz, Martin Kelsey, Jesús Solana, José Guerra, Sergio Mayordomo, Carlos Fernández, José Tapia, Maribel Jiménez y Javier Prieta.

THE 2012 SPOONBILL BREEDING POPULATION

The Extremadura breeding Spoonbill survey (Platalea leucorodia) continued in 2012. See other Spoonbill posts in this blog.

During the breeding season all Extremadura's spoonbill colonies were visited. Nests occupied by Spoonbills were found in 6 places, adding up to a total of 49 pairs (74 in 2011, 50 in 2010).

 

The colonies were the following:
- Valle del Tiétar I (Cáceres). 18 pairs.
- Valle del Tiétar II (Cáceres). 15 pairs.
- Arrocampo Reservoir (Cáceres). 1 pair.
- Valle del Alagón (Cáceres). 2 pairs with nest, in one fledged 3 chicks.
- Montijo Reservoir (Badajoz). 12 pairs.
- Villanueva del Fresno (Badajoz). 1 pair. New site.
- Alqueva Reservoir (Badajoz). Two colonies empty.
- Borbollón Reservoir (Cáceres). It could not be accessed.
- Llanos de Cáceres (Cáceres). All colonies empty.

Three visits were made to the Valle del Tiétar I colony to monitor breeding success. The 18 detected pairs all began breeding. In 15 nests it was possible to estimate the final number of fledglings: 23. This represents a fledgling rate of 1.92 chicks per successful nest (2.93 in 2011 and 1.86 en 2010) and an estimated productivity and breeding success of 1.28 chicks per pair (1.94 en 2011 and 1.43 en 2010).

Collaborators.
Emilio Costillo (Badajoz province), Javier Prieta (Valle del Tiétar and Arrocampo), Sergio Mayordomo (Valle del Alagón and Llanos de Cáceres) and Alfonso Pérez del Barco (Villanueva del Fresno).

COLOUR-RINGED SPOONBILLS SEEN IN EXTREMADURA. ANALYSIS

Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). Juvenile born in Holland and seen in Esparragalejo, Badajoz from 30.09.10 to 02.10.10. Five days earlier it had been seen in Irún, Gipuzkoa (photo: Ángel Sánchez).

The Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) has been well studied in Extremadura. Witness this blog itself, with regular reports on the monitoring of wintering and breeding birds. A particular feature of this species is the high proportion of colour-ringed birds seen in the field. It is also easy to obtain the complete back-stories of these tagged birds. The local birdwatching group SEO-Cáceres has therefore been systematically recording reports of ringed birds in Extremadura since 2008. Quite a lot of information has been built up by now, so the time seems due to take stock.

The culled information corresponds to 200 sightings of 102 different birds, the bulk dating from 2008 to 2011, together with a few from earlier years, the oldest from 2000. A special mention in dispatches must go to Sergio Mayordomo, responsible for 115 readings, and to a lesser extent Javier Prieta, with 51. A total of 21 collaborators have contributed in all (see final list).

The commonest case is a one-off sighting of a juvenile Spoonbill on autumn passage. Some birds, however, have been seen several times, with a maximum of 25 sightings of a French bird and 18 of a Dutch bird nesting in Cáceres. The Extremadura sightings were made in 23 different wetlands, with the following share-out: Alagón catchment area(102 records), Tiétar catchment area (68), south Cáceres (22) and Badajoz province(8). The sites with most sightings are Laguna de Galisteo (75) and Charco Salado, Casatejada (64). This reflects a clear bias towards the sites most visited by the most active members of SEO-Cáceres, since the Spoonbill's main locality in Extremadura, Los Canchales Reservoir, weighs in with only three records.

Origin of the ringed Spoonbills. Ringed birds seen in Extremadura come from five different countries. Two thirds of them were born in Holland; some way behind come birds from France, Spain (Andalucía) and Germany; with one Danish bird. The observed birds were born in 23 different colonies, 17 in northwest Europe (11 Holland, 3 France, 3 Germany and 1 Denmark), four in Spain and one in the Mediterranean (Camargue, France). The colonies accounting for most birds are Schiermonnikoog (Holland, 34 birds), Lago Grand Lieu (France, 12), Terschelling (Holland, 7) and Onderdijk (Holland, 7). The Andalusian birds were ringed in the saltmarshes of Odiel, Doñana (Pajarera and Casa Neves) and Cádiz Bay.


Age of the ringed Spoonbills. This is expressed in calendar years: i.e., the year of birth is the first calendar year, then clocking up an additional year each 1 January. Thus a bird born in 2008 would be in its fifth calendar year by 2012. For birds seen in more than one year their age counts again for each new sighting. In 93 cases the birds were only seen in one season, seven birds in two and two in three. The age-group accounting for most sightings was juveniles in their year of birth; 2nd and 3rd year sightings drop in number (most remain in the African wintering areas) with a slight upturn for 4th-year sightings (returning as adults), records tailing off thereafter. This tallies with this bird's mortality stats, 55% dying in their first year, 75% up to the age of 4 and 1.5% for adults (Luengo, 2011). The oldest bird in our trawl was in its 19th calendar year (18 years old); only 13% of the birds seen were older than 10.


Phenology of the ringed Spoonbills. The dates tend to vary from one colony to another so they have been broken down separately. The most numerous ringed birds are migrants from northern Europe. These birds turn up all year round (with a gap for December), with the heaviest passage from August to October, peaking in September and another smaller peak from February to April. Ringed breeding birds, for their part (six Andalusian and one Dutch), occupy their colonies from March to August, with peak sightings in May. Lastly, other birds born in Andalucía are seen only in summer, from June to August, as occurs in Los Canchales Reservoir, Badajoz (Emilio Costillo, pers. comm.).


Collaborators: Sergio Mayordomo, Javier Prieta, Eva Palacios, Florencio Carrero, Juan Manuel Brías, Rafael Parra, Manuel García del Rey, Dave Langlois, Raúl Guzmán, César Clemente, Javier Mahíllo, Vicente Risco, Javier Briz, Ángel Sánchez, Javier Gayo, Juan Carlos Paniagua, Marc Gálvez, José Guerra, Pedro Holgado, Manuel Iglesias, Mario Arcas and Luis Sanabria. Heartfelt thanks to the unsung Spoonbill ringers and other organisations that helped us fill in the back stories: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Otto Overdijk (Holland) and Loïc Marion (France).

References:
- Luengo, A. 2011. La espátula común (Platalea leucorodia) en las marismas de Txingudi. Gobierno Vasco. Vitoria.

THE SPOONBILL IN EXTREMADURA. 2011

The Extremadura breeding and wintering Spoonbill survey (Platalea leucorodia) continued in 2011. See other Spoonbill posts in this blog.

During the breeding season all Extremadura's heron colonies were visited as part of the national breeding heron survey. Nests occupied by Spoonbills were found in 7 of the heron colonies, adding up to a total of 73 pairs. These are the highest figures recorded to date. The colonies were the following:

- Montijo Reservoir (Badajoz). 25 pairs. Biggest colony ever recorded in Extremadura.
- Valle del Tiétar I (Cáceres). 22 pairs.
- Valle del Tiétar II (Cáceres). 12 pairs (8 certain and up to 15 possible). New site a few kilometres from the former one on private land. Access denied. All the nests are in a big Cork Oak; the size of the nests and the state of the colony suggest that the colony has been occupied for some years.
- Alqueva I Reservoir (Badajoz). 9 pairs.
- Alqueva Reservoir II (Badajoz). 1 pair.
- Valle del Alagón (Cáceres). 3 pairs with nest, no signs of breeding.
- El Borbollón Reservoir (Cáceres). 1 pair of adults in one nest and one juvenile on the only visit made. New site.

Three visits were made to the Valle del Tiétar I colony to monitor breeding success. The 22 detected pairs all began breeding. In 15 nests it was possible to estimate the final number of fledglings: 41. Extrapolated to the whole colony this would give a figure of about 60 fledglings. This represents a fledgling rate of 2.93 chicks per successful nest and an estimated productivity and breeding success of 2.73 chicks per pair. Both parameters are well up on 2010 (1.94 and 1.43 respectively).

As regards wintering birds, in December we took part in the GRUSEC-brokered national Spoonbill count. Several sites were visited in Extremadura, with a total of 28 Spoonbills in six of them:
- Lagunas de La Albuera (Badajoz), 11 birds.
- Los Canchales Reservoir (Badajoz), 2 birds.
- Charcas de Los Arenales (Cáceres), 7 birds.
- Charca de El Ancho (Cáceres), 6 birds.
- Laguna de Galisteo (Cáceres), 1 bird.
- Valdefuentes Gravel Pit, Galisteo (Cáceres), 1 bird.

Collaborators.
Spring count: Emilio Costillo, Javier Prieta, Sergio Mayordomo, Jesús Montero, César Clemente and Javier Mahillo. Breeding monitoring in the Valle del Tiétar: Javier Prieta.
Winter Count: Juan Carlos Paniagua, Antonio Núñez, Jesús Solana, Vanesa de Alba, José Guerra, Rafael Parra, Antonio Cebrián, Sergio Mayordomo, Carlos Fernández, Elvira del Viejo, José Luis Bautista, Pablo Herrador, César Clemente, Javier Mahíllo and Javier Prieta.

BREEDING HERON COUNT IN CÁCERES: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Colony of Grey Herons (Ardea cinerea), 9 nests, and White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), 3 nests. The photograph shows the whole colony, built in a single dead Maritime Pine. The 9 Grey Heron nests break down into 5 nests with chicks of varying ages, two nests with sitting adults and two empty ones. Toril, Cáceres. 19-05-2011 (Javier Prieta). Click on the photo to see it bigger.

Now that summer has come for real, the breeding heron count in Cáceres is pretty much over. With some last-minute information still to come in, with the consequent tweaks and corrections, we can give a foretaste here of the final results, mainly to reward the participants and thank them for their sterling efforts. These thanks are fully deserved because the censusing team achieved practically complete coverage of the whole province. Once all the final results are in, especially from the province of Badajoz, which has bigger populations than Cáceres for most heron species, this blog intends to give a complete account of this final result. To see other entries on herons in Extremadura, click here.

Breeding heron count in the province of Cáceres. Preliminary results, 2011.

- Grey Heron. At least 44 colonies found with about a thousand breeding pairs between them. It is the most widespread heron species in the province, with presence in all the heron colonies found. Sharp upward trend.

- Cattle Egret. Present in only 6 colonies with a total of about 1700 pairs. Although it is still the most numerous of Extremadura's heron species, this is the lowest known figure for the species in Cáceres, with an appreciable downward trend, both in the number of colonies and the number of pairs.

- Little Egret. About 60 pairs found in 5 colonies, all mixed colonies with Cattle Egret. It has always been a scarce species in Cáceres and the present result is similar to previous counts (stable trend).

- Night Heron. One known colony (Arrocampo Reservoir) with about 20 pairs. Slight increase.

- Purple Heron. Estimated 46 pairs in the province's only breeding site (Arrocampo). Stable trend.

- Squacco Heron. At least three pairs, also in Arrocampo Reservoir. Stable trend.

- Great White Heron. After breeding for the first time in Arrocampo in 2010, at least two pairs are now nesting in the same site this year.

- There is no information on two heron species that were not targeted by the count: Little Bittern (common breeder) and Bittern (occasional breeder).

- Interesting spinoff Spoonbill information was also obtained during the heron count, with 4 breeding sites found accounting for a total of about 40 breeding pairs. These are the highest provincial figures, both in terms of colonies and breeding pairs (see 2010 figures). Upward trend.

From here we pass on our thanks to all participants and wish all blog readers a good summer.

WINTERING EURASIAN SPOONBILLS IN EXTREMADURA

The Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) was a very scarce bird in Extremadura until a couple of decades ago. Nowadays it breeds and regularly winters and turns up everywhere on migration, with records from over one hundred different sites. Its breeding in Extremadura has been monitored quite closely from the word go but few studies have been made of wintering Spoonbills; this is quite possibly the first article published.

Spoonbills began to winter in Extremadura fairly recently. Little is known about it because the peak of wintering birds in December falls outside the normal wildfowl count season in January. For this reason the Spanish Spoonbill Monitoring Group (GRUSEC) organise a December Spoonbill count every year. The following graph has been drawn up from these counts plus records from the Ornithological Yearbooks of Extremadura.

The apparent fluctuation is due mainly to varying observer effort from one count to another. Even so the graphs do show a clear upward trend. In fact a complete regional count has never been carried out. The normal procedure is to visit certain areas they are known to be fond of and then feed in other one-off observations. Spoonbills tend to move about widely during the day to feed and then come together in flocks to rest, normally at dusk. Different figures may therefore be obtained for the same site at different times of day. For this reason some counts almost certainly fall well short of the real number.

The most regular wintering site is Los Arenales (Cáceres), with records every winter from 2005 to 2010 and flocks of 5 to 21 birds. These birds also roam over nearby wetlands such as El Ancho (Arroyo de la Luz). The second most important site is Los Canchales reservoir, with records in five winters from 1998 to 2010 and a peak of 10 birds. There are also December records in another six sites: two in the River Alagón catchment area(Portaje reservoir and Guijo de Coria), two from Campo Arañuelo (Lugar Nuevo in Peraleda de la Mata and Arrocampo reservoir), two in Vegas Altas (Sierra Brava and Cubilar reservoirs) and one in Badajoz (Valdesequera). In the six first sites mentioned Spoonbill presence in December is patchy, with records of 1 to 6 birds on some days. December flocks of 18 have been recorded in Valdesequera, where the presence is more continuous and the birds tend to spread out in nearby wetlands during the day, as in Los Arenales. There is no information on previous years from Valdesequera, so wintering birds there might have gone unnoticed beforehand.
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Extremadura's importance on a national scale is very low: 1% in 2009 and 4% in 2010; it is notable, however, as the only inland wintering site. In December 2009 and 2010 856 and 861 Spoonbills were counted in Spain, Andalucía weighing in with 71% and Galicia with 18%. Wintering birds are also regular on the Cantabrian coast, Rías Baixas and Cádiz Bay, with occasional records from the Mediterranean coast. The most important sites are Doñana (peak of 595 birds), El Grove (A Coruña, peak of 157) and Santoña (Cantabria, peak of 62).
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Results of Extremadura's December Spoonbill counts *:
- 2007: 22 birds. Los Arenales (15), Peraleda de la Mata (6), Arrocampo (1).
- 2008: 26 birds. Los Arenales (21), Portaje reservoir(3), Guijo de Coria (1), Galisteo (1).
- 2009: 8 birds. Los Arenales (6), Los Canchales (2).
- 2010: 32 birds. Valdesequera (18), Los Arenales (13), Portaje (1).
* Collaborators: Carlos Fernández, Javier Caballero, Flore Carrero, Rafael Parra, Ángel Sánchez, Ángel Luis Sánchez, Emilio Costillo, Jesús Solana, Javier Briz, Sergio Mayordomo and Javier Prieta.
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Sources:
- GRUSEC. Censos invernales: 2009, 2009, 2010, 2010.
- Extremadura Birds Database. J. Prieta and S. Mayordomo.

THE 2010 SPOONBILL BREEDING POPULATION

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), adults and juvs, and Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), adult and chicks. Mixed breeding colony in the Province of Cáceres. 17-06-2010 (Javier Prieta).

A previous entry of this blog gave a brief account of Spoonbill breeding in Extremadura from 2000, when breeding was first confirmed, to 2009. A best-guess figure was also given for 2010. Now that all the 2010 figures are to hand, we offer the actual info as a worldwide scoop!

The four habitual breeding colonies were visited in 2010. One of them lacked any Spoonbills and the other had succumbed to the rising waters of a reservoir. Happily the birds themselves shifted to a new site, although it was not found until June, when a single count was made. The other two colonies were visited several times. An occupied nest with no clutch was also found in a new locality.

The total 2010 Spoonbill breeding population in Extremadura was 50 pairs, shared out among four colonies: Monfragüe and environs (23), Montijo Reservoir (16), Alqueva Reservoir (10) and Alagón Valley(1). This is the biggest known figure, so the birds are still on an upward trend. Participants: Javier Prieta, Sergio Mayordomo, Emilio Costillo and Agustín Mogena.

Fortnightly monitoring of breeding in the biggest colony showed the following result: 23 nesting pairs, 19 clutches laid and 33 chicks raised by 17 successful pairs. The breeding parameters obtained were: productivity 1.43 chicks per pair, breeding success 1.74 chicks per clutch and fledgling rate 1.94 chicks per successful pair. To our knowledge this is the first time ever that detailed information has been gleaned on Spoonbill breeding in Extremadura. Participants: Javier Prieta and Sergio Mayordomo.
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Graph. Breeding Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). Trend in Extremadura (2000-2010).

BREEDING SPOONBILLS IN EXTREMADURA

The Spoonbill Monitoring Group (Grupo de seguimiento de espátula común: GRUSEC) has published an article on breeding Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) in Spain on their blog. We invite you to drop in and read it here. The map below shows the breeding sites in Extremadura up to 2010, with 14 known sites, some very close to each other so the total number is probably nearer 10.

The graph, taken from GRUSEC, shows the regional trend, with an all-time high in 2009 and a dip in 2010 (provisional figures), partly because of high rainfall flooding out nest sites.