Crossbill Guide: Southern Morocco

This is the first Crossbill Guide to cover any part of mainland Africa, and the area considered is that which lies west of Marrakech to Essouira, south to Guelmim and east to Erfoud. This is roughly a rectangle measuring 500 km by 300 km and includes some of the best birding habitat in Morocco with the High Atlas in the north, the Anti-Atlas in the south, and the high steppes and desert plains in between. The author has visited the area regularly for the last 20 years and leads several tours to the region annually.

Morocco is a relatively safe country and around 700,000 British tourists visit every year, although relatively few of those visiting Marrakech venture out from the city because it has an amazing medina and a souk that contains over 3000 stalls! For the birder, there are better reasons to visit the area. For a start, it’s the only place in the world to have totally wild Northern Bald Ibises Geronticus eremita. There are also a number of specialities that are shared with other North African countries. These include the highly elusive Maghreb Owl Strix mauritanica while most of the other species can be relied upon to show up relatively easily. These include old favourites such as Barbary Partridge Alectoris barbara, Levaillant’s Woodpecker Picus vaillantii, African Desert Warbler Sylvia deserti, Tristram’s Warbler Sylvia deserticola and Moussier’s Redstart Phoenicurus moussieri and African Crimson-winged Finch Rhodopechys alienus. While thanks to some fairly recent splits you can now add Maghreb Lark Galerida macrorhyncha, Maghreb Wheatear Oenanthe halophila, Atlas Wheatear Oenanthe seebohmi and Maghreb Magpie Pica mauritanica. In addition, Southern Morocco has around 300 endemic plant species, plus a fascinating range of dragonflies, butterflies and reptiles.

All Crossbill Guides follow the same basic layout with three sections. Firstly, the landscape and local history are described, including the impacts on nature conservation. Each of the main ecosystems are explored, along with geological features that affect wildlife. The second section describes the range of species that can be encountered – flora, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. The third section describes 25 routes that can be explored – mostly by car. These are grouped by zone: High Atlas (5), High Arid Steppe (4), Sahara (5), the Souss Valley (4), Anti-Atlas (3) and the coast (4). Several additional sites are also covered briefly. For all of these locations, there are basic maps showing the route and suggested stopping points. Rather than focus solely on the bird interest, the Crossbill Guides are always quick to point out all wildlife in the area.

This book is clearly designed for the independent traveller although a number of local specialities such as Egyptian Nightjar Caprimulgus aegyptius and Pharaoh Eagle-Owl Bubo ascalaphus are best found using local guides and details of locations are not given in this book. Indeed some species are found in places where you really don’t want to get lost or suffer from car trouble. There is plenty of advice on how to visit, with the spring and autumn offering the greatest variety of birds and pleasant weather – although there can still be snow in April.