I recently returned from a pleasant vacation to Barcelona, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal. Our travel style is very unstructured and involves lots of on-foot exploration with visits to historical landmarks.
Birding isn’t our main reason for travel but we looked for birds everywhere we went and visited a few spots specifically to see them.
Quick links
Birdwatching around Barcelona
Many kinds of great birds can be seen around the city and with great public transit, getting around was easy.
Barcelona Port
Our hotel was located in the Barcelona Port. Yellow-legged Gulls called out nonstop from the skies and the roofs of buildings. Keep your eyes to the sky and you may spot a Great Cormorant or Western Cattle Egret.
Two birds we really we wanted to see were the Eurasian Hoopoe and Peregrine Falcon.
This wish was immediately granted as we left the hotel and walked past the Jaume I Tower. A Peregrine Falcon flew into view and perched on the tower.
Great Cormorant
We then walked north along the coast past Rambla de Mar and the marina. A few Great Cormorants watched from their perches out on the water.
Noisy urban parakeets
You will see and hear many Monk Parakeets and Rose-ringed Parakeets all over Barcelona. Their screeches, squawks, and vibrant green feathers are unmissable in the city.
Walking to Sagrada Familia
We walked three miles from Barceloneta to the amazing Sagrada Familia Basilica primarily along Carrer de la Marina. This city street gave us sightings of several cool birds.
A robin-sized gray and yellow bird was walking in a shallow stream of water flowing near a park. It repeatedly wagged its tail up and down which gave a clue that it was a Gray Wagtail.
This pigeon is peculiar
We noticed a peculiar pigeon with white patches on its neck strutting on the ground nearby. You can find the Common Wood-Pigeon throughout the city, often perched in trees or in their own small flocks separately from everyday Rock Pigeons.
Europe’s travel-sized falcon
A Eurasian Kestrel zipped through the air as we walked past a shopping district in the direction of Sagrada. I’ve seen this bird twice before in Bahrain and birding in Greece.
The birds around Sagrada Familia
Sagrada Familia is a massive, beautiful basilica that is forever under construction. It’s intimidating on the outside but from the inside its abstract stained glass windows glow with every color of the rainbow. I was awestruck and highly recommend to get tickets around sunset for the best views.
That being said, there are also a bunch of birds around the basilica to find.
The Falcon Familia
The most notable I found was another Peregrine Falcon. In the twilight, I visited the pond next to Sagrada and heard the unmistakeable cries of a raptor. These calls came from the tall spires of the basilica where I believe a Peregrine Falcon may be nesting or spending time.
Delta del Llobregat
The Llobregat Delta, near Barcelona, is an important wetland area. It has abundant plant life with river, forest, and beach areas so it’s a great spot for birding. The delta’s designation as a Global Important Bird Area recognizes its significance for bird conservation and its key role as a stopover point for migrating birds.
Urban and coastal birds around Lisbon
Visit the Foz do Rio Trancão, i.e. the mouth of the Trancão River. There you’ll see tons of shorebirds and many smaller birds in the trees and grasses. It was really fun to birdwatch here in the morning. I birded the mouth of the river for a while then walked a few miles on the trail along the coast.
It’s possible to see many birds in Spain and Portugal just by paying attention wherever you go. Having binoculars helps!
Check out my Trip Report on eBird to see a detailed breakdown of every bird and location I visited.
