Bird-watching in Navarre

Wheatfields

There are large regions in the centre and south of Navarre where a great part of the vast plains is devoted to dry-land crops: barley, wheat, oats and, to a lesser extent, other dry-land crops such as rape or legumes.

There are (increasingly fewer) hedgerows, slopes and thickets between the crops lending variety to the landscape and refuge to many birds.

Over recent years, a good proportion of these lands have been transformed into irrigated fields, thereby causing a change in conditions which only encourages the continued presence of the more general species.

These long-cycle crops, which in many cases need to be left fallow for years, allow for the presence of steppe birds, particularly in the southernmost part of the territory. In general, the more varied the landscape (particularly when there is wood vegetation providing shelter and cavities to breed in), the greater the wealth and diversity of species.

The most characteristic species include Montagu?s Harrier, the Little Bustard, Stone-curlew, Common Quail, Red-legged Partridge, Sky Lark, Crested Lark, Calandra Lark, Tawny Pipit, Iberian Yellow Wagtail, Common Stonechat, Southern Grey Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Spotless Starling, Linnet, Cirl Bunting and Corn Bunting. Scarcer are the Lesser Kestrel, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and, quite scarce, the Bustard.