Motacilla alba
Motacilla alba
It is a species with a Eurasian distribution that also occupies the northern half of Africa (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe it occupies the central and northern parts of the continent during the breeding season (Keller et al., 2020). In Spain, its largest area of occupancy lies in the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula, becoming more irregular in the southern half; records from the Balearic and Canary Islands usually correspond to non-breeding individuals (Martín & Lorenzo, 2021). It is absent from Ceuta but does breed in Melilla (SEO/BirdLife, 2022).
In Madrid it is widely distributed, being absent only from the deforested and dry areas in the southeast and from the floodplains of the Tajo and Jarama rivers. It occupies a wide variety of habitats, although it is almost always found near watercourses (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the national park it has been detected only very occasionally, in grasslands at the Puerto de la Morcuera and in open areas with pastures on the northern side of the Peñalara massif.
It is a species adapted to a wide range of habitats, especially in the northern Iberian Peninsula, as long as they are open rural environments close to villages and livestock-grazed grasslands. In the south, it is usually more closely associated with waterways, mountain streams or irrigation ponds (Gordo & Aymí in SEO/BirdLife, 2022).
In the national park it occurs in grasslands and in open shrub areas with grassland, environments clearly influenced by livestock grazing.
Globally, it is considered in the category of Least Concern (LC; 2018). In Europe it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2020). In Spain it is considered 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.
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.
Martín, A. y Lorenzo, J. A. 2001. Aves del archipiélago canario. Francisco Lemus Editor. Arafo, Tenerife.
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.