What is your favorite bird species?
My favorite species in Portugal is perhaps the Iberian Imperial Eagle (also known as the Spanish Eagle).
What is your name, and where do you live?
My name is João Jara, and I live in Lisbon, Portugal’s capital.
What are the main regions or locations you cover as a bird guide?
As a bird guide, I cover all of Portugal plus Spain.
How long have you been a bird guide?
I have been a bird guide for the last 25 years.
How did you get into bird guiding?
I was always fascinated by nature and animals; after being kind of obsessed with fish, amphibians, and reptiles, I became a birder (natural evolution!).
What are the aspects of being a bird guide that you like best? Which aspects do you dislike most?
I love to show the birds and the wonders of my country and nature to people. Sharing my experience and knowledge is something I find really great.
Perhaps organizing the logistics, for instance, for a group, is the less interesting part, but I still like to do it.
What are the top 5-10 birds in your region that are the most interesting for visiting birders?
I would say the Iberian specialties and endemics: Iberian Imperial Eagle, Iberian Magpie, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Iberian Chiffchaff, Cinereous Vulture, Bonelli’s Eagle, Great Bustard, Black-bellied sandgrouse, Red-necked Nightjar, White-rumped Swift.
Black-tailed and Iceland Godwit
Can you outline at least one typical birdwatching trip in your area? Please briefly describe the locations, the key birds and the approximate duration of such a trip
A Day Tour to the Tagus Estuary (from Lisbon):
Lisbon is the only European capital located near such a rich Birds & Nature hotspot – the Tagus Estuary. This estuary is the most important Portuguese wetland area and one of the most important in Europe.
The Tagus Estuary, a Ramsar wetland site of international importance, includes a wide Special Protection Zone (ZPE) and a Natural Reserve (RNET), extending over 14,000 hectares, specifically created to protect wintering, passage and breeding populations of aquatic birds.
Because of the specific geography of the area, it abounds with a remarkable variety of non-wetland biotopes as well, including wooded slopes and extensive pastures. Put together, the greater Tagus Estuary contains a quite extraordinary range of birds, from Greater Flamingo to Black-winged Kite and Squacco Heron to Little Bustard. Other charismatic species regularly seen on our tours include Little Bittern, Bonelli’s Eagle, Western Swamphen, Collared Pratincole, European Bee-eater, Eurasian Hoopoe, Iberian Grey Shrike, Iberian Magpie, Iberian Chiffchaff and Bluethroat. The area bird list comprises more than 250 species.
Visiting the Tagus Estuary is a fantastic experience at all times of the year. In winter, it holds over 150.000 waders, waterfowl and other aquatic birds; during migratory periods, the bird diversity is at its maximum, and it is not unusual to observe more than 100 bird species in a single day; during the summer, the estuary is alive with breeding species more usually associated with the Mediterranean.
Nature seems especially close here, because of the unique age-old relationship between agriculture and the land. Enormous, powerful black bulls abound, lazing under Cork Oaks, while the ecological balance created over the centuries has ensured a wide biodiversity.
Many wild mammals are common, especially the Egyptian Mongoose, which is regularly seen, moving in family groups.
The places visited include a wide variety of special habitats: open water, inter-tidal mudflats, salt marshes, salt pans, rice fields, reedbeds, small lagoons, Cork Oak and Stone Pine woodlands, eucalypt plantations, poplars and willows, and steppe-like pasture.
What other suggestions can you give to birders interested in your area?
For visiting Portugal, Spring and Fall are, of course, a great time to visit, as it is the peak of diversity, with the birds migrating through. But winter is also great, with the wetlands packed with birds, bustards and eagles starting to display, etc. (all this with mild weather).
If any readers of 10,000 Birds are interested in birding with you, how can they best contact you?
- João Jara
- Email: joao.jara@birds.pt
- Website: www.birds.pt
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