Desert Sparrow
Passer simplex
Pale, clean-cut and confiding. The signature bird of the Merzouga sand sea.
Merzouga, Rissani
Birds of Morocco
What You Can Expect to See
Morocco holds the richest birdlife in north-west Africa — Maghreb endemics, Saharan specialists and huge numbers of migrants. Here are 30 of the species we look for, grouped by the habitat where you will find them.
Desert & Sahara
The dunes, hammada and palm groves of the south-east hold Morocco’s most sought-after desert species. Early morning and late afternoon are everything here.
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Greater Hoopoe-Lark
Alaemon alaudipes
Long-billed and long-legged, with a striking song flight over open hammada.
Merzouga, Guelmim
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Pharaoh Eagle-Owl
Bubo ascalaphus
Roosts on rock ledges and in gorges. We know several reliable sites.
Desert gorges and escarpments
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Egyptian Nightjar
Caprimulgus aegyptius
Almost invisible at its daytime roost on open ground — one to be shown, not searched for.
Merzouga
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African Desert Warbler
Curruca deserti
Sandy and slight, working low scrub on the hammada.
Merzouga, Guelmim
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Fulvous Babbler
Argya fulva
Travels in noisy parties through palm groves and tamarisk.
Merzouga, Rissani
Atlas Mountains
From the cultivated valleys above Marrakech to the snowline at Oukaimeden, the Atlas holds most of Morocco’s high-altitude endemics.
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African Crimson-winged Finch
Rhodopechys alienus
The prize of the High Atlas. Check the snowline and boulder fields at Oukaimeden.
Oukaimeden
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Atlas Horned Lark
Eremophila alpestris atlas
The distinctive North African form, on short turf and stony ground at altitude.
Oukaimeden, high plateaux
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Moussier’s Redstart
Phoenicurus moussieri
A North African endemic, and one of the most striking birds in the country.
Atlas foothills and valleys
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Black Wheatear
Oenanthe leucura
Large and sooty, on rocky slopes and around gorges.
Atlas gorges, Dades
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Tristram’s Warbler
Curruca deserticola
A Maghreb endemic of open scrub on mountain slopes.
Atlas and Anti-Atlas
- Photograph coming soon
Levaillant’s Woodpecker
Picus vaillantii
The North African green woodpecker, in cedar and oak woodland.
Middle Atlas, Azrou cedar forest
Steppe & Stony Plains
The Tagdilt Track and the high plains at Zaida are flat, open and deceptively rich — the larks and wheatears here are the reason many birders come to Morocco.
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Thick-billed Lark
Ramphocoris clotbey
Heavy-billed and boldly marked. Nomadic, so numbers vary year to year.
Tagdilt Track
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Temminck’s Lark
Eremophila bilopha
A small, crisply patterned desert lark of open stony ground.
Tagdilt Track
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Cream-coloured Courser
Cursorius cursor
Runs rather than flies. Easily missed until it moves.
Tagdilt, southern plains
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White-crowned Wheatear
Oenanthe leucopyga
Resident and confiding around desert villages and roadsides.
Throughout the south
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Bar-tailed Lark
Ammomanes cinctura
Small, pale and rufous-toned, on the most barren ground.
Hammada and desert edge
- Photograph coming soon
Dupont’s Lark
Chersophilus duponti
Among the hardest birds in the Western Palearctic. Heard at dawn far more often than seen.
Zaida plain
Coast & Wetlands
Morocco’s Atlantic estuaries, lagoons and reservoirs are important for wintering and migrating waterbirds — and hold one of the rarest birds in the world.
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Northern Bald Ibis
Geronticus eremita
The last truly wild population in the world feeds in the coastal fields around Tamri.
Tamri, Souss-Massa
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Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Merops persicus
A spring and summer visitor to oases and river valleys in the south.
Southern oases, Draa Valley
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Scrub Warbler
Scotocerca inquieta
Long-tailed and restless, low in desert scrub near wadis.
Wadis and desert edge
- Photograph coming soon
Marbled Duck
Marmaronetta angustirostris
A globally threatened duck, regular on Moroccan wetlands.
Oued Massa, Sidi Bourhaba
- Photograph coming soon
Audouin’s Gull
Ichthyaetus audouinii
Elegant, red-billed and a Mediterranean speciality, regular on the Atlantic beaches.
Atlantic beaches and estuaries
- Photograph coming soon
African Marsh Owl
Asio capensis
The Merdja Zerga birds are the classic Western Palearctic site for this species.
Merdja Zerga
Western Sahara Specialities
Dakhla and the desert inland at Aousserd sit at the southern edge of the Western Palearctic, and hold species found nowhere else in the region.
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Golden Nightjar
Caprimulgus eximius
A true Sahelian species at the very northern edge of its range.
Oued Jenna, Aousserd
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Cricket Warbler
Spiloptila clamans
Also called Cricket Longtail. Restless parties in acacia scrub.
Oued Jenna
- Photograph coming soon
Sudan Golden Sparrow
Passer luteus
Flocks move north into the Aousserd area in some years.
Aousserd
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Fennec Fox
Vulpes zerda
Not a bird, but regularly seen on our night excursions.
Oued Jenna, Aousserd
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Sand Cat
Felis margarita
The most wanted mammal in the Sahara, and a genuine possibility on night drives.
Aousserd
- Photograph coming soon
African Dunn’s Lark
Eremalauda dunni
Scarce and nomadic on the open desert plains.
Aousserd
Looking for a particular species?
Tell us your target list and we will build an itinerary and a season around it.