Fuerteventura

01 October 2022 – 13 October 2022

Michel Kilcher

First thing to say, this was a familly holiday and not birding was not the first activity. We were located at the Playitas Resort at the eastern coast. This resort with its central location is very recommendable! They value the sustainability with local food and a well developed recycling system. The hotel complex and the golfcourt are perfect birdingsites.

The island offers planty activitis and has many natural and cultural attractions.

Some higlights from our holidays were the vulcan Calderón Hondo, the "popcorn-bay" Playa El Mejillón and the desert Corralejo in the north. We made on a dolphin tour in Morro Jable, went surffing at La Pared and much more. I could connect every trip with birdwachting. If you want to see lagre numbers of birds, you are wrong on this island. One never see many bird at one point, sometimes I only saw three or four species a day, especially in the desert. But the birds you find are even more special.

The high density of Egyptian Vultures or high quantity endemic species make Fuerteventura to a unique birdingparadise.

Visited Sites

General Travelling Information

A rental car is recommendable and for many places the only possibility. The streets are in good condition and you can reach almost every place by car. The FV-2 is the main road which alows you to drive from the very southern Morro Jable up to the northernmost city Corralejo in less than two hours.

Las Playitas

The best birding spot is at the hotel complex. It has many greenfields, bushes, palms and gravelled pitches. In the night, there are North African Hedgehog serching for food near the restaurants. The Atlantic Lizard and East Canary Gecko are aslo easy to find at the hotel complex. They are endemic to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.

The mountains south of the hotel are recommendable for hiking. The invasive Barbary Ground Squirrel such as Berthelot's pipit are numerous there. 

The beach is suitable for snorkling, but the tides are very strong! The water is very murky but snorkling it is nevertheless worthwhile. It has many species which are endemic to the canaries such as: Macaronesian Toby (Canthigaster capistrata), Madeira Goby (Mauligobius maderensis), Canary Damsel (Similiparma lurida) or Emerald Wrasse (Symphodus trutta). All of these species were very numerous.

More Bird photos at  the specieslist!

Target species

  • African Collared-Dove Streptopelia roseogrisea

  • Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

  • Spectacled Warbler Curruca conspicillata

  • Fuerteventura Stonechat Saxicola dacotiae

  • Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis

  • Berthelot's Pipit Anthus berthelotii

Other wildlife observed

Reptiles:

East Canary Gecko (Tarentola angustimentalis)

Atlantic Lizard (Gallotia atlantica atlantica)

Marmals:

North African Hedgehog

Barbary Ground Squirrel

Fish:

Emerald Wrasse (Symphodus trutta)

Canary Damsel (Similiparma lurida)

Macaronesian Toby (Canthigaster capistrata)

Madeira Goby (Mauligobius maderensis)

European Parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense)

African White Bream (Diplodus cadenati)

Butterfly-winged Comber (Serranus papilionaceus)

Pompano (Trachinotus ovatus)

Red Stripped Mullet (Mullus surmuletus)

Zebra Bream (Diplodus cervinus)

Butterflys:

Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous)

Plain Tiger Butterfly (Danaus chrysippus)

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Parque Natural de Corralejo

We just stopped at 28°41'56.5"N 13°50'27.7"W for about an hour. The countryside is amazing, it's the second largest sand desert on Fuereventura. I was facinated by the view and walked straight in the desert. I saw many footprints in the sand, which I guess are from Barbary Patrigan. According to eBird, they have the status "naturalized". They were brought on the island by human hands and a large wild population has established over the years.

The higtlight and only seen bird was a Canary Islands Grey Shrike, which should be the only one on the holidays. 

The desert isn't flat and you really must remeber the way back in the endlessly dunes!

Target species

  • Great Gray Shrike Lanius excubitor

Other wildlife observed

Tyde's Sand Wasp (Podalonia tydei)

La Pared

I first was in La Part for surfing but I returned another day for birdwatching. One can park on Playa del Viejo Reyes. North of La Pared is a smal river which flows into the sea at 28°13'02.7"N 14°13'16.5"W. The river might be dried out but the vegetation in the riverbed is birdhotspot. I saw there the only Fuerteventura Stonechat outside the hotel complex.

But the main reason why I came again was the desert. I walked up to a group of houses called Pueblo del Mar. And from there I walked straight into the dersert. There are many paths which leed you criss-cross through the desert. I don't recommend to plan a exact route one should rather decide in the field were to walk.

It's very important to search the surroundings precisely with the binocular or if available with the scope. The bird won't show up by them self.

I didn't cover as much distance as I expected because I checked every dune. But I was successful and found several Black-bellied Sandgrouses and also some Trumpeter Finches.

It's a very special feeling to be in a desert, which borders the ocean!

Target species

  • Black-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis

  • Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus

Leuchtturm Entallada

The Lighthouse is located at the point nearest to Africa and the view is incredible! With a scope it might be a good place for seawatching. At the lighthouse is a board with the profile of Egyptian Vultures and no minute later, I discovert two ind. sitting on top of a mountain.

While driving back, we found a road junction at 28°14'08.6"N 13°57'37.9"W which leads to a dried out riverbed (Barranco del Roque) we followed the riverbed by foot and ended up at a beautiful beach. In the vally, I found a group of about five Trumpeter Finches.

Target species

  • Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus

  • Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus

Morro Jable

I didn't see much of Morro Jable itself, only the harbour. I never saw so much fish as in this basin including a gigant Stingray, Eastern Atlantic Trumpetfish and Yellowmouth Barracuda (28°02'56.6"N 14°21'33.0"W). We booked a delphine tour on a catamaran. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't get seasick. There were hundreds of Cory's Shearwaters hunting not far from the port. They got very near to the boat. After long waiting, we found a group of Bottlenose Dolphins. Whil that was the higlight of the whole boat, I was more fascinated by the flying fish. They were massiv and flew several meters in the air. The photos were not enough good to indentify them but they probably belong to the genus Cheilopogon.

Target species

  • Cory's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea

Other wildlife observed

Bottlenose Dolphins

Round Fantail Ray (Taeniurops grabatus)

Yellowmouth Barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis)

Eastern Atlantic Trumpetfish (Aulostomus strigosus)

European Parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense)

East Atlantic Redlip Blenny (Ophioblennius atlanticus)

Thick-lipped mullet (Chelon labrosus)

Species List

Order: systematic | alphabetic | highlights first
Published: 02 January 2024
Last updated: 02 January 2024
Fuerteventura - Orniverse