Ornithological routes
SIERRA CABALLERA
Sierra Caballera
ITINERARY
Riglos, Sarsamarcuello, Loarre, Aniés.
SPECIES
RESIDENT: Lammergeier, Griffon Vulture, Golden Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Goshawk, Eagle Owl, Wood Lark, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Rock Sparrow.
SUMMER: Egyptian Vulture, Short-Toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Hobby, Alpine Swift, European Bee-eater, Red-rumped Swallow, Rock Thrush, Woodchat Shrike, Red-backed Shrike, Western Orphean Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, Spectacled Warbler, Ortolan Bunting.
OVERWINTERING: Hen harrier, Merlin, Fieldfare, Redwing, Alpine Accentor, Wallcreeper, Citril Finch, Brambling, Hawfinch, Common Bullfinch.
MIGRANTS: Eupoean Bee-eater, Osprey, Common Crane, Black Stork.
OTHER FAUNA
MAMMALS: Red Deer.
AMPHIBIANS: Pyrenean Brook Salamander.
DESCRIPTION
RECOMMENDED TIME OF YEAR: All year round.
HABITATS: Patchwork of cereal fields with oak woods, Mediterranean scrub and rocky cliffs.
Griffon Vulture. Photo: Manuel Maynar
Alpine Accentor
BIRDS
Ortolan Bunting
Emberiza hortulana ES: Escribano hortelano Description L: 15-17cm; W:22-26cm; Dark-streaked brown back; ocher underparts, with a yellow throat and moustachial stripe; greenish head; brown bill, pinkish. The female is somewhat paler than the...
Eurasian Bullfinch
Pyrrhula pyrrhula ES: Camachuelo común Description L: 14.5-16.5cm; W:22-29cm; Species that presents sexual dimorphism. Both sexes have a black crown and chin, a black short thick bill, a white rump, and dark wings with a white wing bar....
Brambling
Fringilla Montifringilla ES: pinzón real Description L: 14cm; W:24-26cm; This bird presents a marked sexual dimorphism, more striking in winter. Male breeding plumage with black head, bill, and back; in winter with a black-tipped yellowish...
Red Crossbill
Loxia curvirostra ES: Piquituerto común Description L:15-17cm; W:27-30cm; Singular bird due to the peculiarity of its beak. It has a thick head and a low-cut tail; beak with curved and crossed mandibles. Brick-red male; greenish or...
Rock Sparrow
Petronia petronia ES: Gorrión chillón Description L: 15-17cm; W:28-32cm; Bird with a brown back with brown streaks and a white underpart with brown-grey streaks; Thick bill with grey upperparts; head with light supercilium, brown tail, with...
Hawfinch
Coccothraustes coccothraustes ES: Picogordo común Description L: 18cm; W:29-33cm. Striking bird for its colour and size. Both sexes have a similar appearance; if anything, the female with paler plumage than the male. Brown back with ocher...
Woodchat Shrike
Lanius senator ES: Alcaudón común Description L: 18cm; W:26-28cm; Brown-backed bird; white shoulders; white underparts, bushy with reddish-brown crown and black forehead and mask; wing with a white spot. Barred-brown-grey juveniles differ...
Red-backed Shrike
Lanius collurio ES: Alcaudón dorsirrojo Description L: 17cm; W:24-27cm; Bird that presents a significant sexual dimorphism. The adult male with a brown back, grey head and black mask; pale underparts, strong, hooked, black bill; the female...
Wallcreeper
Tichodroma muraria ES: Treparriscos Description L: 15.5-17cm; W:27-32cm; Very beautiful bird of grey colour in the upper part; red coverts feathers in flight and grey underparts, or black when the male is in the breeding phase; Thin and...
Citril Finch
Carduelis citrinella ES: verderón serrano Description L: 12cm; W:12-14cm; Bird of gregarious behaviour that presents sexual dimorphism. Both sexes have a general yellowish-green colour, with grey nape and sides of the neck; two green wing...
Western Orphean Warbler
Sylvia hortensis ES: Curruca mirlona Description L: 15cm; W:20-25 cm; The largest of the Iberian warblers. The male has a black mask, forehead and crown, and a white throat; highlights the whitish iris; back grey-brown, smooth; wings and...
Sardinian Warbler
Sylvia melanocephala ES: Curruca cabecinegra Description L:13-14cm; W:15-18cm; Bird that presents a pronounced sexual dimorphism. The adult male has a black crown that reaches below the eyes with a striking red orbital ring; dark grey back...
Subalpine Warbler
Sylvia cantillan ES: Curruca carrasqueña Description L: 12cm; W:15-19cm; Species of marked sexual dimorphism; the male is very colourful with bluish-grey head and back, coppery throat and chest; red orbital ring and white moustachial...
Spectacled Warbler
Sylvia conspicillata ES: Curruca tomillera Description L: 13-13 cm; W:13-17 cm; Usually unnoticed due to its small size and elusive habits. It shows a marked sexual dimorphism. Male with a grey head and white eyering; brown back and pinkish...
Dartford Warbler
Sylvia undataES: Curruca rabilarga Description L: 12-13cm; W:13-19cm; Species with elusive habits, with similar plumage in both sexes. It has a dark grey back and vinous underparts; vinaceous throat with white flecks; long tail; with...
Redwing
Turdus iliacus ES: zorzal alirrojo Description L: 21cm; W:60-65cm; Brown above, pale underparts with brown streaking, well-marked pale eyebrow, reddish flanks, black flanges, white moustachial stripe, reddish-brown undercovert feathers....
Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris ES: zorzal real Description L: 22-27cm; W:39-42cm; Gray head and back of neck; chestnut-coloured back; grey rear of back; dark tail; white belly; pale flank, black-spotted; undercovert feathers white; yellow bill with ocher...
Blue Rock Thrush
Monticola solitarius ES: roquero solitario Description L: 21-23cm; W: 33-37cm; The male in breeding plumage is bluish-grey; dark wings and tail; in winter with brown rims on the blue feathers. Female has grey-brown upperparts, bluish tinge...
Common Rock Thrush
Monticola saxatilis ES: roquero rojo Description L: 18.5cm; W:33-37cm; Species that presents a marked sexual dimorphism during the breeding season; the rest of the year, both sexes are more similar, with discreet plumage; grey-brown...
Black Wheatear
Oenanthe leucura ES: collalba negra Description L: 18cm; W:26-29cm; Uniformly black body (male) or dark brown (female); white rump and undertail coverts; white tail with a central and terminal black band. Both sexes are similar, the male is...
Alpine Accentor
Prunella collaris ES: Acentor alpino Description L: 15-17cm, W:30-32cm; Larger than the Common, although similar. Gray with brown markings; greyish underparts, with chestnut flanks; white throat with black streaks; wings with dark coverts...
Red-rumped Swallow
Cecropis daurica ES: Golondrina dáurica Description L: 17cm, W: 33cm. Bird with bluish-black areas on upperparts; ocher nape and rump; pale underparts and diffusely striated; with a forked tail and long outer tail feathers. Both sexes with...
Woodlark
Tree lullula ES: Alondra totovía Description L: 15cm W: 27-30cm. Bird with a small crest and large eyebrow that joins the nape, with brown upper parts and dark stripes except for the rump; striated along the throat and chest and whitish...
European Bee-eater
Merops apiaster ES: Abejaruco europeo Description L: 27-29cm W: 44-49cm. Colourful insectivorous bird, with reddish-brown crown and anterior part of the back; golden yellow back; tail and underparts green; yellow throat and eyes covered by...
Alpine Swift
Apus melba ES: Vencejo real Description L: 21-22cm, W:57cm. It shows greyish-brown colouration on the back, white underparts, and pectoral band brownish-grey. Silhouette in the shape of a crossbow, with long and pointed wings, tail more...
Eurasian Eagle-Owl
Bubo bubo ES: Búho real Description L: 57-75cm; W:140-188cm; Large nocturnal bird of prey with an ocher general color, speckled with dark; brown wings with transverse ocher stripes; white throat; bill dark; feet covered in buff feathers;...
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus ES: Halcón peregrino Description L: 38-51cm; W: 89-113cm; The largest of the falcons of the Iberian Peninsula. Adults with bluish gray back; pale underparts, finely barred with dark; dark head with broad mustache; tail...
Eurasian Hobby
Falco subbuteo ES: Alcotán europeo Description L:29-33cm; W: 74-83cm; Adults with slate-colored backs; pale underparts; dark mustache; feathers of the breeches and underbelly reddish; gray tail; pale wings below. Juveniles brown and...
Merlin
Falco columbariusES: Esmerejón Description L: 26-33cm; W: 55-69cm; The smallest of the European falcons. Adult male with slate gray back, finely striated; reddish underparts, streaked with brown; dark gray tail, with thin bands smaller than...
Bonelli’s Eagle
Aquila fasciata ES: Águila perdicera Description L: 60-70cm; W: 150-170cm; Adults with dark upperparts; underparts white, streaked with dark; tail grey-brown, with several dark bars; wings dark above and lighter and shaded dark below;...
Booted Eagle
Aquila pennata ES: Águila calzada Description L: 42-51cm; W:110-135cm; With feathers on the tarsi, covering even the fingers. It has two types of plumagW: a light phase with white underparts; neck and breast often with a tawny band; ocher...
Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos ES: Águila real Description L: 76-96cm; W: 180-230cm; One of the best known birds of prey. The adult has dark brown plumage; head and nape golden; tail with diffuse transverse bands. In adult birds, the male has a darker...
Northern Goshawk
Accipiter gentilis ES: Azor común Description L: 49-56cm; W: 89-122cm; Forest raptor with short, rounded wings and a long tail; yellow or orange eyes; tail with 4-5 brown bands; brown-gray upperparts; pale underparts finely streaked with...
Northern Harrier
Circus cyaneusES: Aguilucho pálido Description L: 44-55cm; W: 97 - 118cm; Adult male with gray head and back; gray underparts on chest and white on rest; wing tips black; gray tail; white rump. Adult female with dark brown back; light brown...
Short-toed Snake Eagle
Circaetus gallicusES: Culebrera europea Description L: 62-69cm; W: 160-175cm; Raptor with brown back and large head; tail with four transverse dark bands, the terminal one wider; dark throat and chest; white underparts streaked with brown;...
Griffon Vulture
Gyps fulvus ES: Buitre leonador Description L: 95-110cm; W: 230-265cm; The most common of the Iberian vultures. Naked head and neck, with whitish down; light feather ruff; tawny plumage, with darker wings and tail; gray beak and claws...
Egyptian Vulture
Neophron perchnopterus ES: Alimoche común Description L: 55-65cm; W: 148-171cm; Adults white except wing feathers; head and throat without feathers, yellow. Both sexes are of similar size and plumage, the male being a little smaller than...
Bearded Vulture
Gypaetus barbatus ES: Quebrantahuesos Description L:100-120cm; W:240-290cm; Unmistakable for its large size and color. Adult with creamy head and neck, with a black spot from the eye to the base of the bill, elongating into a kind of...
Grey Partridge
Perdix perdix Perdiz pardilla Description L:cm; W: cm; 28-30cm. 28-30cm. Back grey, mottled white and brown; brown face; flank grey, with abundant transverse barring; gray breast with a broad horseshoe-shaped spot on male, small or no spot...
