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Life in the port

The docks, islands, breakwaters and esplanades of the port of the Bay of Algeciras and the port of Tarifa are not a blank in the atlas. 45 bird species have been documented in the field there: flamingos in the pools at Campamento after rain, cormorants and gulls on Isla Verde, soaring birds over Isla de las Palomas in September. Here they are ordered by the place from which they are seen.

25 resident14 seasonal6 migrant

Port of Algeciras, Green Strategy. Committed to greenWith field data from the Port of Algeciras Green Strategy
Photo: Greater Flamingo, El Golli Mohamed, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Great Cormorant, Frank Vassen, CC BY · Osprey, froggymum, CC BY · Red Kite, Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA · Lesser Kestrel, Lip Kee, CC BY-SA
45
species documented in the field
7
watchpoints
15
with a threat category
44
with a free photograph
Campamento, 21 speciesCampamento 21Isla Verde, 12 speciesIsla Verde 12Saladillo, 2 speciesSaladillo 2San García, 1 speciesSan García 1Port of Algeciras, 6 speciesPort of Algeciras 6Isla de las Palomas, 14 speciesIsla de las Palomas 14Port of Tarifa, 9 speciesPort of Tarifa 9
Approximate positions of the watchpoints; the number is the number of documented speciesNatural Earth cartography, public domain

What the open data says about the port

The field guide says what is seen from each place. The open GBIF and OBIS observations, licence-filtered in Bioestrecho's own database, say what has been observed around each one: within 1.5 km, from the first record to today.

CC0 and CC BY records within 1.5 km of each place's position, deduplicated across sources. Records measure observation effort as well as presence: Isla de las Palomas and the port of Tarifa concentrate the migration watchers.

September

This month in the port

Of the 45 species in the guide, those most observed in September around the bay and the port of Tarifa, according to open data. A likelihood of seeing them, not a promise.

Campamento port facilities

San Roque

36.17° N, 5.37° W

Listed in the guide
21
Resident
17
Seasonal
4
With open records
65

Two different counts: the species the Port Authority guide lists for this site, and the bird species with at least one open record from GBIF or OBIS within 1.5 km. The second is far larger because it takes in everything recorded nearby, not only what the guide documents.

See the place in the explorer

Isla Verde and Isla Verde Exterior

Algeciras

36.13° N, 5.44° W

Listed in the guide
12
Resident
11
Seasonal
1
With open records
157

Two different counts: the species the Port Authority guide lists for this site, and the bird species with at least one open record from GBIF or OBIS within 1.5 km. The second is far larger because it takes in everything recorded nearby, not only what the guide documents.

See the place in the explorer

Saladillo dock

Algeciras

36.12° N, 5.44° W

Listed in the guide
2
Resident
1
Seasonal
1
With open records
169

Two different counts: the species the Port Authority guide lists for this site, and the bird species with at least one open record from GBIF or OBIS within 1.5 km. The second is far larger because it takes in everything recorded nearby, not only what the guide documents.

See the place in the explorer

Punta de San García

Algeciras

36.11° N, 5.44° W

Listed in the guide
1
Resident
1
With open records
156

Two different counts: the species the Port Authority guide lists for this site, and the bird species with at least one open record from GBIF or OBIS within 1.5 km. The second is far larger because it takes in everything recorded nearby, not only what the guide documents.

See the place in the explorer

Port of Algeciras

Algeciras

36.13° N, 5.45° W

Listed in the guide
6
Resident
2
Seasonal
3
Migrant
1
With open records
161

Two different counts: the species the Port Authority guide lists for this site, and the bird species with at least one open record from GBIF or OBIS within 1.5 km. The second is far larger because it takes in everything recorded nearby, not only what the guide documents.

See the place in the explorer

Isla de las Palomas

Tarifa

36.00° N, 5.61° W

Listed in the guide
14
Resident
6
Seasonal
5
Migrant
3
With open records
257

Two different counts: the species the Port Authority guide lists for this site, and the bird species with at least one open record from GBIF or OBIS within 1.5 km. The second is far larger because it takes in everything recorded nearby, not only what the guide documents.

See the place in the explorer

Port of Tarifa

Tarifa

36.01° N, 5.60° W

Listed in the guide
9
Resident
3
Seasonal
3
Migrant
3
With open records
282

Two different counts: the species the Port Authority guide lists for this site, and the bird species with at least one open record from GBIF or OBIS within 1.5 km. The second is far larger because it takes in everything recorded nearby, not only what the guide documents.

See the place in the explorer

Across the whole port area

Species documented across the facilities as a whole, with no specific place.

The ones that matter most

Species in the guide catalogued as threatened in Andalusia or in Spain, or threatened or near threatened in the Red Book of the Birds of Spain or on the global Red List. That they can be seen from a port is a fact worth telling.

Each species with the most severe category given to it by the Andalusian Catalogue, the Spanish Catalogue, the Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021 or the global IUCN Red List, in that order of priority. Sources and dates on each species page.

Beneath the waters of the bay

Open data barely reaches below the surface of the port: in the waters of the bay birds are well observed, but only 2 cetacean species are on record. The APBA cetacean guide documents twelve species in the Strait. That gap between what is known in the field and what is openly published is the first that Bioestrecho wants to close with the port area's own data.

Cetaceans with open records in the bay

Watching from the port

  • 1Port facilities have restricted areas: watch from promenades, viewpoints and public accesses, never from working quays.
  • 2The colonies on Isla Verde and Isla de las Palomas are watched from a distance. Binoculars and telescope, no approach.
  • 3No drones over islands, breakwaters or docks: they flush the birds and are forbidden in the port domain without authorisation.
  • 4Uploading your sighting to an open platform (CC0 or CC BY licence) is how it ends up in this atlas.

Places and status documented in the field by the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras. Presence expressed in Bioestrecho's vocabulary; our own text. Photographs from iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons, with the licence checked file by file (44 of 45 species with a reusable image). The threat category is the most severe assigned by the Andalusian Catalogue, the Spanish Catalogue, the Red Book of the Birds of Spain or the global IUCN Red List: none of these species is threatened on the global list, and several are in the catalogues.