Portugal Special Protection Area for birds
Ilhéu da Praia - Ilha Graciosa
84 bird species recorded; the most in August.
Jules Verne Times Two · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
25 species in January.23 species in February.5 species in March.28 species in April.35 species in May.33 species in June.33 species in July.41 species in August.32 species in September.33 species in October.31 species in November.32 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
VU
NT
VUNT
VU
NTNTVU
VU
VUNTNTVUVU
NTVUNTVU
NT
NTVU- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
84 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 84Speciesrecorded more than once
- 19Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 5ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 15,718Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 3Raptors
- 1Owls
- 16Waders
- 29Gulls & seabirds
- 7Ducks & geese
- 7Herons, ibises & grebes
- 12Songbirds
- 9Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 84 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common BuzzardButeo buteo
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
Waders16 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Eurasian WoodcockScolopax rusticola
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Bar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaNT
- Kentish PloverCharadrius alexandrinus
- Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
- White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollisVU
- Red KnotCalidris canutusNT
- Hudsonian WhimbrelNumenius hudsonicus
- Grey (Red) PhalaropePhalaropus fulicarius
Gulls & seabirds29 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Band-rumped Storm PetrelOceanodroma castro
- Scopoli's ShearwaterCalonectris diomedea
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Roseate TernSterna dougallii
- Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellis
- Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
- Monteiro's Storm PetrelOceanodroma monteiroi
- Little ShearwaterPuffinus assimilis
- Hydrobates monteiroiHydrobates monteiroiVU
- Barolo ShearwaterPuffinus baroli
- Laughing GullLeucophaeus atricilla
- Bulwer’s petrelBulweria bulwerii
- Bridled TernOnychoprion anaethetus
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Manx ShearwaterPuffinus puffinus
- Great shearwaterPuffinus gravis
- Iceland GullLarus glaucoides
- Northern gannetMorus bassanus
- Sooty shearwaterPuffinus griseus
- Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
- Arctic SkuaStercorarius parasiticus
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Great skuaStercorarius skua
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- FreiraPterodroma madeira
- Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreus
- Pomarine SkuaStercorarius pomarinus
- Leach's Storm PetrelOceanodroma leucorhoaVU
- Wilson's Storm-PetrelOceanites oceanicus
Ducks & geese7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Emperor GooseAnser canagicus
- GoosanderMergus merganser
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Mandarin DuckAix galericulata
- Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
- Cairina moschataCairina moschata
Herons, ibises & grebes7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
Songbirds12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Atlantic CanarySerinus canaria
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- BlackcapSylvia atricapilla
- Eurasian BlackbirdTurdus merula
- Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
- Fringilla morelettiFringilla moreletti
- Eurasian ChaffinchFringilla coelebs
- European RobinErithacus rubecula
- European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis
- European GreenfinchChloris chloris
- Common ChiffchaffPhylloscopus collybita
Other birds9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Common Wood PigeonColumba palumbus
- Common QuailCoturnix coturnix
- Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- European SwiftApus apus
- Red-legged PartridgeAlectoris rufaNT
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- American CootFulica americana
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in August.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan16°/15°80 mm
- Feb16°/14°78 mm
- Mar16°/14°69 mm
- Apr16°/15°57 mm
- May18°/16°54 mm
- Jun20°/18°43 mm
- Jul22°/21°24 mm
- Aug23°/22°28 mm
- Sep23°/21°56 mm
- Oct20°/19°83 mm
- Nov18°/17°67 mm
- Dec17°/16°105 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Ilhéu da Praia - Ilha Graciosa.
Protected area in Portugal
Ilhéu da Praia - Ilha Graciosa is a Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive in Portugal.
84 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 15,718 open records.
The most recorded are the Band-rumped Storm Petrel, the Scopoli's Shearwater and the Common Tern.
13 species come for the summer, 6 for the winter and 0 only pass through.
5 are threatened worldwide, including Hydrobates monteiroi, Grey Plover and Lesser yellowlegs.
The most species are recorded in August.
Get there and watch
- VisitingHours in OpenStreetMap: 24/7Official site↗
- Pinheirocampsite · 2.5 km · 3 within 10 km
- Moinho de Pedraplace to stay · 1.9 km · 6 within 10 km
- Santa Cruz da Graciosanearest town · 6.2 km in a straight line
- Graciosa Airport (GRW)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 8 km in a straight lineCar hire at SJZ airport (Velas)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1observation towers within 6 km
- 6marked trails within 4 kmPR03GRA Baía da Folga, PR01GRA Arquitetura da Água I, PRC02GRA Volta à Caldeira - Furna do Enxofre and 3 more
- 2visitor centres within 6 kmInformation Centre Furna do Enxofre, Posto de Turismo
- 2viewpoints within 5 km
- 9car parks within 3 km
- 4restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 3campsites within 10 kmPinheiro, parque de campismo Carapacho
- 6places to stay within 10 kmMoinho de Pedra, Casa da Madrinha, Quinta do Fragoso and 3 more
- bird hides within 6 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Ilhéu da Praia - Ilha Graciosa.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas3 mountains within 25 kmSerra das Fontes136 m · 4.3 kmFacho294 m · 4.5 kmPico Timão · 5.4 km
Coastya2 beaches within 10 kmPraia da Graciosa · 1.8 kmPortinho da Barra · 5.7 km
Darkskyas4 dark-sky places within 30 kmPraia IsletBortle 1 · 0.9 kmBaixo IsletBortle 1 · 4.7 kmGraciosa IslandBortle 1 · 5.2 km↗Ilhéu da BaleiaBortle 1 · 9.9 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Ilhéu da Praia - Ilha Graciosa
Portugal
- 52Birdyas Score
- 84Species
- 19Migrants
- 5Threatened
Lajes do Pico - Ilha do Pico
Portugal · 78 km
- 65Birdyas Score
- 113Species
- 44Migrants
- 8Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q63378415) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 15,718 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Coastya, Darkskyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit