Iberian birds’ free app

This video from Portugal says about itself:

Visit: www.birdwatching-algarve.com

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) feeding in a tidal channel of the Ria Formosa Natural Park near Faro, Algarve, Portugal on the 11th of February 2012.

The bird has been colour-ringed as a nestling in north Germany (Mellum, Niedersachsen) in June 2011 by Olaf Geiter, with whom I caught and ringed Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) near Cologne in 2003 for his dissertation about Neozoa. It’s a small world…

This video is called Safe Haven for Migrating Birds in Andalucía, Spain.

From BirdLife:

Free app puts Iberian IBAs on the map

Tue, Sep 27, 2011

A free app that aims to encourage sustainable tourism in the Important Bird Areas of Spain and Portugal is available for users of Apple’s iPhones and iPads. The app, Iberian Birds, will enable users to find the nearest IBA, based on their geo-location (GPS) data, and learn what birds are to be found there.

Iberian Birds has been funded by the Iberaves project, and is the fruit of collaboration between BirdLife International, SEO/BirdLife (BirdLife in Spain) and SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal). Iberaves is a European Union-funded project which provides training for hoteliers, travel companies, transport professionals and guides to help them meet the needs of birdwatching tourists in Natura 2000 sites, Europe’s system of protected areas. Many of the IBAs in Spain and Portugal are also Natura 2000 sites.

“We want as many people as possible to download Iberian Birds”, said Asunción Ruiz, Excutive Director SEO/BirdLife.“The Iberaves project is based on the belief that birdwatching tourism is an ideal way of bringing sustainable development to Natura 2000 areas, maximising the benefits to local people and biodiversity, while minimising the negative impacts that tourism sometimes provides.”

Iberian Birds provides details of 479 IBAs, including ornithological information, location and boundaries, and land use. The app also contains factsheets on over 170 bird species, with information on their ecology, the threats they face, and their IUCN status.

Using Iberian Birds, you will be able to:

– search for IBAs and bird species based on criteria such as habitat, land use, taxonomy and IUCN status

– find IBAs based on geo-location (the GPS coordinates provided by your phone) or distance from your destination

– display results in list form or as pinpoints on a map

– create lists of must-see IBAs and species

– write and save notes about a particular IBA or species

The App is now online and can be found by one of [two] ways:

1) Searching for ‘Iberian birds’ in the app store on an iPhone

2) Doing the same search in the iTunes Store (through iTunes)