Portugal Special Protection Area for birds
Ilhéu do topo e Costa Adjacente - Ilha de S. Jorge
48 bird species recorded; the most in December.
Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
16 species in January.18 species in February.25 species in March.16 species in April.18 species in May.20 species in June.17 species in July.12 species in August.10 species in September.1 species in October.10 species in November.29 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.
NT
VUNTVU
VU
VU
VU
NTNTVUVU- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
48 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).
- 48Speciesrecorded more than once
- 13Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 2ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 5,408Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 358 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 2Raptors
- 7Waders
- 18Gulls & seabirds
- 4Ducks & geese
- 2Herons, ibises & grebes
- 11Songbirds
- 4Other 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 48 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common BuzzardButeo buteo
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Waders7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common SnipeGallinago gallinago
- Eurasian WoodcockScolopax rusticola
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- DunlinCalidris alpinaNT
Gulls & seabirds18 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellis
- Scopoli's ShearwaterCalonectris diomedea
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Barolo ShearwaterPuffinus baroli
- Roseate TernSterna dougallii
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- Black-legged kittiwakeRissa tridactylaVU
- Northern gannetMorus bassanus
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Great skuaStercorarius skua
- Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensis
- Iceland GullLarus glaucoides
- Band-rumped Storm PetrelOceanodroma castro
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Audubon's ShearwaterPuffinus lherminieri
- Great shearwaterPuffinus gravis
- Manx ShearwaterPuffinus puffinus
- Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
Ducks & geese4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Snow gooseAnser caerulescens
- Barnacle GooseBranta leucopsis
- Brent GooseBranta bernicla
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
Herons, ibises & grebes2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
Songbirds11 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
- Atlantic CanarySerinus canaria
- Eurasian BlackbirdTurdus merula
- Eurasian ChaffinchFringilla coelebs
- Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- BlackcapSylvia atricapilla
- European RobinErithacus rubecula
- Fringilla morelettiFringilla moreletti
- GoldcrestRegulus regulus
- European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis
Other birds4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Common Wood PigeonColumba palumbus
- Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
- Common QuailCoturnix coturnix
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 December.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan17°/15°79 mm
- Feb16°/15°76 mm
- Mar16°/15°79 mm
- Apr16°/15°62 mm
- May18°/16°56 mm
- Jun20°/18°40 mm
- Jul22°/21°23 mm
- Aug23°/22°27 mm
- Sep23°/21°62 mm
- Oct21°/19°82 mm
- Nov18°/17°70 mm
- Dec17°/16°115 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Ilhéu do topo e Costa Adjacente - Ilha de S. Jorge.
Protected area in Portugal
Ilhéu do topo e Costa Adjacente - Ilha de S. Jorge is a Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive in Portugal, 358 m above the sea.
48 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 5,408 open records.
The most recorded are the Grey Wagtail, the Atlantic Canary and the Eurasian Blackbird.
4 species come for the summer, 8 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
2 are threatened worldwide, including Grey Plover and Black-legged kittiwake.
The most species are recorded in December.
Get there and watch
- VisitingHours in OpenStreetMap: 24/7Official site↗
- Abrigo da Cascataplace to stay · 9.9 km · 1 within 10 km
- Ribeira Secanearest town · 16 km in a straight line
- São Jorge Airport (SJZ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 34 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
- 1marked trails within 4 kmGR01SJO Grande Rota de São Jorge (Etapa 1)
- 4viewpoints within 5 kmFajã de São João, Curral do Concelho and 2 more
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 3restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 1campsites within 10 km
- 1places to stay within 10 kmAbrigo da Cascata
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- visitor centres 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 do topo e Costa Adjacente - Ilha de S. Jorge.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas5 mountains within 25 kmTopo Volcanic Complex · 5.5 kmPedra Vermelha · 9.8 kmCume da Fajã do Belo · 15 kmPico das Brenhas (Calheta) · 21 kmPico do Areeiro (São Jorge)958 m · 24 km
Darkskyas3 dark-sky places within 30 kmTopo IsletBortle 1 · 5.0 kmSão Jorge IslandBortle 1 · 20 kmPico da EsperançaBortle 1 · 26 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Other places nearby.
Ilhéu do topo e Costa Adjacente - Ilha de S. Jorge
Portugal
- 40Birdyas Score
- 48Species
- 13Migrants
- 2Threatened
Lajes do Pico - Ilha do Pico
Portugal · 44 km
- 65Birdyas Score
- 113Species
- 44Migrants
- 8Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q63378414) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 5,408 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, 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