Luscinia svecica
Luscinia svecica
The bluethroat extends across the Palearctic from the Iberian Peninsula to eastern Asia (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe it is distributed throughout the continent except in its southernmost third, with its largest populations in temperate and boreal zones, reaching as far as the Urals (Keller et al., 2020). In Spain, during the breeding season it is found in the northwestern quadrant of the peninsula, with two main breeding areas: the northwestern mountains and the Central System (Juan and García in SEO/BirdLife, 2022). As a breeding species, it is absent from the rest of Spain, including both archipelagos and Ceuta and Melilla.
In Madrid it is restricted to the highest areas and summits of the western and northern zones, in Guadarrama and Somosierra, above 1,600–1,700 meters. It inhabits mountainous shrublands of broom and heath near moist meadows (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the national park it is found at the highest elevations, along the Cuerda Larga and around the mountain passes and cols north of the Peñalara massif, extending to the northeastern end, including the Reventón pass and the Navafría pass.
The bluethroat is associated with shrub habitats in mountainous and foothill areas at elevations between 1,400 and 2,000 meters, although it may exceptionally breed in flat areas from 700 m a.s.l. (García, 2020). It is typical of the supra- and oromediterranean bioclimatic zones, occurring most abundantly in broomlands, thorny scrub, and heathlands, always interspersed with grassland areas or bare soils of the subalpine environment (Arizaga et al., 2016).
In the National Park its greatest abundances occur along the summits and around habitats dominated by shrubland, specifically in broomlands situated above the forested areas and interspersed with high-mountain grasslands.
At a global scale it is considered a Least Concern species (LC; 2019). In Europe it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2021). In Spain it is listed as Near Threatened in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) places the species in the threat category “Of Special Interest”.
Arizaga, J., García, J. y Suárez-Seoane, S. 2016. Ruiseñor Pechiazul–Luscinia svecica. En Salvador, A. y Morales, M. B. (eds.): Enciclopedia Virtual de los Vertebrados Españoles. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Madrid.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
García, J. 2020. Aplicación de los conceptos de la genética del paisaje a la conservación de las aves de montaña. Tesis doctoral. Universidad de León. León.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C., eds.). 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.