Accipiter nisus
Accipiter nisus
It is widely distributed across Eurasia (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe, it is only absent from the far north of Russia (Keller et al., 202). In Spain, it is more frequent in the northern half (Piñeiro and Epifanio in SEO/BirdLife, 2022) and scarcer in the southern half of the peninsula, preferably in well-forested mid-mountain areas. In the Canary Islands, where the subspecies Accipiter nisus granti—endemic to the Canary Islands and Madeira—is found, it is common, except on Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (González et al., 2017). It is not present as a breeder in the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, or Melilla.
In Madrid, it is mainly found in the north, center, and west, but it is not abundant. It inhabits pine and oak forests of the Guadarrama mountains, while in the upper Manzanares basin and Monte de El Pardo, it occurs in groves of ash, holm oak, and sessile oak (Díaz et al., 1994).
During the fieldwork for this atlas, observations within the national park were scarce, likely due to its low detectability, but it probably occupies slightly more territory within the forested areas of the protected space. Observations were very scattered and showed no clear distribution pattern.
This species is associated with the availability of forest cover and can inhabit various types of forests. Its preferred habitats are usually stands with a young and dense structure, including some tall and well-developed trees suitable for nesting. It is found in humid forests such as oakwoods and beechwoods, but also uses pine forests. It can occupy extensive forests, small forest patches, or even isolated groves in plain areas (Balbás and González-Vélez in Martí and Del Moral, 2003). Croplands or pastures are favored as hunting grounds (Zuberogoitia and Martínez, 2011).
Within the national park, it has been detected almost exclusively within forested areas and only occasionally in open habitats.
At the global level, it is classified as Least Concern (LC; 2021). In Europe, it is also classified as Least Concern (LC; 2021). In Spain, it is considered Least Concern for the peninsular and Balearic populations according to the 2021 Red List, and Near Threatened for the Canary Islands population of A. n. granti.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not list the species under any threat category.
Arizaga, J., Laso, M., Rodríguez-Pérez, J., Aizpurua, O., García-Serna, I., González, H., Olano, M., Webster, B., Belamendia, G., Zuberogoitia, Í. y Carrascal, L. M. (eds.). 2023. Euskadi. Atlas de aves nidificantes. Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi. San Sebastián.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Díaz, M., Asensio, B. y Tellería, J. L. 1996a. Aves ibéricas I. No paseriformes. J. M. Reyero Editor. Madrid.
González, C., Lorenzo, J. A., Rodríguez, B., Trujillo, D. y González-Melián, E. 2017. Estudio de la distribución y la abundancia del gavilán común (Accipiter nisus granti) en las islas Canarias. Informe para LIFE12 NAT/PT/000402.
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.
Martí, R. y Del Moral, J. C. (eds.). 2003. Atlas de las aves reproductoras de España. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. 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.