Preliminary assessment of nocturnal bird migration at the Bay of Biscay as observed by moon-watching

Abstract

The East-Atlantic flyway represents one of the main bird migration routes worldwide, in which the Bay of Biscay acts as a geographic barrier. So far, the significance of the Bay of Biscay for migrants and its impact on their routes has not received a great deal of attention. The main goal of this study is to characterize the composition of nocturnal bird migration along the coast of the Bay of Biscay in northern Iberia. For this purpose, moon-watching was carried out at two study sites (Punta Galea, Cape Higuer) during spring and autumn 2014. The vast majority of observed migrants consisted of singly flying passerines, with a number of interspersed groups of non-passerines such as waterfowl, waders and swifts.

Keywords

• East-Atlantic flyway; Basque coast; passerines; spring and autumn migration