Southern Portugal in Winter

Tufted Duck © Andrew Whittaker

A brand-new tour to tradition-rich Portugal promises marvelous wintertime birding with touches of cultural highlights.

Charming Portugal is a country beloved for its cultural riches and enticing year-round climate. Not known to many, Portugal is also a premier country for winter birding, where resident specialties are joined by thousands of birds from farther north. Like our popular spring and fall tours, this is a birding trip garnished with cultural highlights. Our itinerary includes visits to Portugal’s most important birding areas and forays to several famous historical sites.

The Mediterranean climate that people find so irresistible in the summer months is equally agreeable to birds during the winter. While songbirds are in a more limited supply at this season, January is a time for avian spectacles when coastal wetlands and interior grasslands host thousands of waterfowl, cranes, raptors, shorebirds, pipits, larks, and buntings. Consequently, we anticipate encounters with a wonderful assemblage of birds. Graylag Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Garganey, Common and Red-crested pochards, and Tufted Duck are waterfowl highlights while wading birds are represented by White Stork, Greater Flamingo, Eurasian Spoonbill, and Squacco Heron. Other high profile species we’ll seek are Golden, Spanish, Bonelli’s, and Booted eagles; Red and Black-winged kites; Common Crane; Great and Little bustards; Pied Avocet; European Golden-Plover; Northern Lapwing; Black-tailed and Bar-tailed godwits; Audouin’s, Slender-billed, and Mediterranean gulls; Black-bellied Sandgrouse; Common Kingfisher; Bluethroat; Blue Rock-Thrush; Dartford Warbler; Southern Gray Shrike; Iberian Magpie; Black Redstart; Spanish Sparrow; Reed Bunting; and more.

Around Lisbon we’ll visit the famous Tagus Estuary and Sado Estuary nature reserves, Portugal’s top birding sites for waterfowl and shorebirds. We’ll explore the Castro Verde rolling plains and the Guadiana Valley Nature Park; the hills, escarpments, and Holm Oak and Umbrella Pine forests in the Alentejo region—the domains of bustards, vultures, eagles, and many passerines; and we’ll journey to the coastal Algarve, a scenic region of bluffs, hills, lagoons, and beaches, home to protected wetlands, nature parks, and reserves where some of the most localized European species are found.

The country’s rich cultural heritage is on display at different points along our route. At various times we’ll be joined by licensed historians who will guide us through the historic districts of Lisbon, Evora and Mértola, where we’ll wander serpentine streets through historic plazas and squares en route to an array of castles, cathedrals, museums, Roman ruins, and promenades.

Complementing our days in the field will be numerous opportunities to sample Portugal’s many culinary delights including its famous wines. With its multifaceted approach, this program is designed to satisfy the needs of the serious birder while offering a look at a culturally rich European country.

Very good accommodations and food; light physical demands; mild winter conditions expected.

Booted Eagle © Brian Gibbons