Linaria cannabina
Linaria cannabina
It is a species with a wide distribution across the western Palearctic, extending eastward into Asia, occupying the European continent continuously and being absent only from northern Fennoscandia (Clement, 2020; Keller et al., 2020; BirdLife International, 2024). In Spain it is widely distributed, both on the mainland and in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, and Ceuta and Melilla (Lorenzo, 2007; Romay and Álvarez in SEO/BirdLife, 2022).
In Madrid it is a very abundant species throughout the territory, although less common in the southeastern area. It mainly occupies shrub formations, especially rockrose scrub and kermes oak thickets. Secondarily, it uses very open woodlands as well as herbaceous environments (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the park it is abundant in shrub-dominated areas across the protected space, with particularly high concentrations at the mountain passes of La Morcuera, Reventón, Malagosto, and Navafría, and along all the slopes connecting these passes, avoiding both forest and open grasslands.
This species prefers open habitats, being common in cereal plains, woody crops such as olive groves or vineyards, and also in areas with scattered trees such as juniper woodlands or dehesas. It is likewise common in ecotone areas such as rockrose scrub, broomlands, or gorse thickets, combined with open herbaceous or grassland areas. It also breeds in high-altitude mountain zones, in heathlands and broomlands.
It clearly prefers shrub-dominated environments, with a certain presence of grassland and meadow habitats.
At a global scale it is considered a Least Concern species (LC; 2018). In Europe it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2020). In Spain it is listed as Least Concern in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not place the species in any threat category.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Clement, P. 2020. Eurasian Linnet (Linaria cannabina), version 1.0. En: Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.eurlin1.01
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.
Lorenzo, J. A. (ed.) 2007. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en el archipiélago canario (1997-2003). Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza-Sociedad Española de Ornitología. Madrid.
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.
Shirihai, H. y Svensson, L. 2018. Handbook of Western palearctic birds, Volume 2: Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury Publishing. London