A REVIEW OF THE BIRDS OF GIBRALTAR AND ITS SURROUNDING WATERS

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Abstract
Summary: In compiling this new list, which is based on Howard Irby's ‘Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar’ (1895) but is confined to the area of Gibraltar itself and its surrounding waters, the results of three years' observations from 1965 to 1968 together with other recent records and literature have been used. Of the 198 species listed 118 are passage migrants and a further 36 winter visitors. The introductory sections of the paper contain a short description of the climate and topography of Gibraltar showing why the Rock can support only a small number of breeding species and why so few water birds find a place in the list. A few general observations and tentative conclusions on the migration of soaring birds and passerines in relation to weather conditions, particularly wind direction, are included as a background for the large number of passage migrants which figure in the list.