Species › Birds

Eurasian Stone Curlew

Burhinus oedicnemus

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Burhinidae
Presence in the Strait: Resident
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Vulnerable (Canarias Centrales y Occidentales) · Spanish Catalogue
In Spanish: Alcaraván común

Marine taxonomy: validated in WoRMS, AphiaID 416696

Photograph: Kudaibergen Amirekul, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 40–44 cm
Wingspan: 77–85 cm
Weight: 475 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce resident of pastures (3-6 pairs), more common during the winter (>70).

Identification

Extremely difficult to see when standing still thanks to its cryptic plumage and habit of remaining completely still in the dry, stony terrain in which it lives. When alarmed, flies off low with powerful wingbeats, displaying white patches on wings.

Movements

Outside of breeding grounds, dispersal birds may be seen all year round, except in June, with peaks in 1st hf. March and 2nd hf. October.

Ring recoveries

Spain (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

14 %

Peak in April. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 2 May 1972
Latest record: 5 March 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Vulnerable (Canarias Centrales y Occidentales) · Special protection (List) (Canarias Orientales) · Special protection (List) (Península y Baleares)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NT · Near threatened · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

1 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Spain1

See the journey on the map

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Burhinidae
GBIF taxon key: 2482100

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Kudaibergen Amirekul, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Eurasian Stone Curlew

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery