Gyps fulvus Š Javier Milla
BIRDS IN ROCK FACE HABITATS
BIRDS IN ROCK FACE HABITATS Although most birds of prey associated with this environment show positive population trends, they are still threatened.
T
here are many large expanses of rock face in Spain; by way of example, in the latest census of the Griffon Vulture more than 1,500 rock walls were found to be occupied by this species. In this case, the threats from human activities are not as important as they are in farmland and forest habitats, where human influence is permanent. Conservation problems arise from sport and leisure activities which can, however, be regulated in the most important places. Although the availability of rock faces is high, only a few species use them as the habitat in which to complete most of their biological cycle (breeding, feeding, etc.). In general, most of the species within this group use these places to build their nests and to roost, while they usually move to other habitats to feed and spend the rest of their life cycle.When speaking about birds of steep rock faces, what first come to mind are the birds of prey and scavenging species: Golden Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture and Lammergeier.Very up-to-date information exists for all of these species and their conservation status is well known. However, there are other small bird species, which do indeed lead almost their entire life cycle in this habitat.There is currently a lack of two essential pieces of information - population size and trend - to determine the conservation status of these species, such as the Alpine Swift, Eurasian Crag-Martin, Black Redstart, Blue Rock-Thrush and Wallcreeper. Other small birds such as the Stock Dove, Yellow-billed and Red-billed Choughs and Eurasian Jackdaw also breed in these rock faces, but feed in other habitats. In these cases too, we lack the information on their population size and trends required to assess their conservation status with any precision.
40 CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIRD IN SPAIN IN 2010
Osprey Egyptian Vulture (ssp. majorensis) Lammergeier Egyptian Vulture (ssp. percnopterus) Bonelli's Eagle Barbary Falcon (ssp. pelegrinoides) Red-billed Chough (ssp. barbarus) White-rumped Swift Peregrine Falcon (ssp. brookei)
