Birds in Bardenas Reales

Birds are, without a doubt, the most prominent class of animals in Bardenas. Given that only the nesting bird community in Bardenas exceeds one hundred species, only the most important or environmentally unique groups, consisting of birds of pray and steppe birds, will be treated here. Both communities that we can place among the richest and most diverse in Europe. There are also other species of great interest, such as the “Avetoro” (botaurus stellaris) or the “chotacabras” (caprimulgus ruficolis)

Steppe birds

Steppe birds are the most unique and representative birds of the Bardenas ecosystem. The most remarkable feature of this group of birds in the Bardena, is that it has a great richness and diversity of species. The steppe landscape and the large open fields require its inhabitants a high specialization, which translates into most species in meadows and ocher colorations to blend in with the terrain, ability to move quickly, adapt to life on the ground given the low vegetation size, etc.

The combination of natural steppe areas with cultivated and fallow land is the most suitable habitat for these species.

Birds of pray

The different ecosystems that exist in Bardenas allow the existence of a great variety of species of raptors, from those most closely linked to the forest such as the black kite (milvus migrans) or the hawk, which inhabit the pine forests, or the raptors residents in the numerous cuts of the flat and heads such as the griffon vulture (gyps fulvus) or the vulture (neophron pernopterus). The Navarre population of Griffon Vulture is one of the largest in the world and it is the easiest raptor to see in our skies. The population of Egyptian vulture  in the Bardenas is also one of the largest in the Iberian Peninsula.