IberiaNature A guide to the natural history of Spain
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Guide to Spain B

badger : tejón ( Meles meles ); teixó (Catalan); teixugo; (Gallego) azkonarra (Euskera)

Badgers are found throughout mainland Spain from the green forests of the Cordillera Cantábrica to the semi-desert scrubs of Almeria , but are absent from the Canaries and the Balearics. Although not generally considered a high-montane animal, they have been detected as high as 2300m in La Cerdanya in the Catalan Pyrenees. Though not uncommon, badger populations are not as dense in Spain as they are, for example, in the UK , which has possibly the highest concentrations in the world, and hence such a strong place in British folklore.. This is partly because of the relative scarcity of protein-rich earthworms. Click here to read complete article.

 

badger's set : tejonera; scratching place/post : escarvadura.

Names for the badger used in different parts of Spain :

  • Castilla - tejón, tejo, careto, tajón, tajubo, tajudo, tajugo, tasugo, tesugo.
  • Catalonia - teixó, texó, teixón, toixó.
  • Galicia - teixugo, porco toixó, porco toixo, porco teixo, teixo, teixón, texugo, teixudo, teixugo, tasugo, tourón.
  • Zamora - tejo, teijo, teixo, teixugo, tijugo, tijón.
  • País Vasco - azkonarra, asconarra, azkonar.
  • Navarra & Teruel ?- azkenarro.
  • Aragón - melón, tachón, tachubo, tachugo, tajugo, tajudo, tejudo, tafugo, tafubo, tafudo, tafú, taxudo, taxugo, teixón, teixo, taixó, taixón, texon.
  • Palencia & Santander - tasugo.
  • Asturias - melandro, melandru, melón, porco, texu, oso enano.
  • Segovia - tasugo, careto.
  • Cuenca & Albacete - tasón.

From . badgers.org.uk. Here .

External links: http://webs.ono.com/usr033/meles/tejon.htm (Sp.)

Baillon's crake : polluela chica (Porzana pusilla)

bait : cebo

baldío : uncultivated land; common land

Balearic shearwater : pardela balear (Puffinus mauretanicus)

bank vole : topillo rojo : Clethrionomys glareolus

Barbary ape (Barbary macaque) : mona* de berbería (Macaca sylvanus). *Colloquially known as mono

The only wild primate in Europe (just). Restricted to Gibraltar were it was Read

Barbary falcon : halcón tagarote (Falco pelegrinoides)

Barbary ground squirrel : ardilla moruna : Atlantoxerus getulus Read

Barbary partridge : perdiz moruna (Alectoris barbara)

Barbary sheep : Arrui (Ammotragus lervia) Read

barbel: barbo

The following barbels are present in Spain. Most are endemic.

  • Barbo cabecicorto

_______ barbel

Barbus microcephalus

  • Barbo comizo

Iberian barbel

Barbus comizo

  • Barbo común

_______ barbel

Barbus bocagei

  • Barbo de cola roja

_______ barbel

Barbus haasi

  • Barbo de Graells

_______ barbel

Barbus graellsii

  • Barbo de montaña

Mediterranean barbel

Barbus meridionalis

  • Barbo europarra

_______ barbel

Barbus sclateri

  • Barbo mediterráneo

_______ barbel

Barbus guiraonis

Complete list of freshwater fish in Spain here

barnacle: percebe

See Barnacles in Spain

bark : corteza

barn : pajar; henil

barn owl : lechuza común (Tyto alba); babieca (Arag.)

barn swallow : golondrina común (Hirundo rustica)

barnacle goose : barnacla cariblanca (Branta leucopsis)

bar-tailed desert lark : terrera colinegra (Ammomanes cincturus)

bar-tailed godwit : aguja colipinta (Limosa lapponica)

barnacle : percebe; barnacle collector : percebeiro (Gal.) :

barraca : Traditional thatched cottage of Valencia , Murcia and El Delta de Ebro in Catalonia

basin (geol.) : cuenca

Basque:

External links: Bird, fish and plant names in Spanish-Basque

  • Abedul = Urki
  • Acebo = Gorosti
  • Aliso = Haltz
  • Arce = Astigar
  • Avellano = Urritz More here

bat : murcíelago; rat penat (Cat.)  Bats in Spain article

Spanish bats

  1. barbastelle : barbastela or murciélago de bosque (Barbastella barbastellus);
  2. Bechstein's bat : murciélago ratonero forestal (Myotis bechsteini);
  3. brown long-eared bat : murciélago orejudo dorado (Plecotus auritus);
  4. common pipistrelle : murciélago enano (or de Cabrera) (Pipistrellus mediterraneus)
  5. Daubenton's bat : murciélago ratonero ribereño (Myotis daubentoni);
  6. European free-tailed bat : murciélago rabudo (Tadarida teniotis)
  7. Geoffroy's bat : murciélago ratonero pardo (Myotis emarginata)
  8. greater horseshoe bat : murciélago grande de herradura (Rhinolophus ferrumequinun);
  9. greater mouse-eared bat : murciélago ratonero grande : (Myotis myotis);
  10. greater noctule : nóctulo grande (Nyctalus lasiopterus);
  11. grey long-eared bat : murciélago orejudo gris ( Plecotus austriacus) ;
  12. Leisler's bat : nóctulo pequeño (Nyctalus leisleri) (1);
  13. lesser horseshoe bat : murciélago pequeño de herradura (Rhinolophus hipposideros);
  14. lesser mouse-eared bat : murciélago ratonero mediano (Myotis blythii);
  15. long-fingered bat : murciélago ratonero patudo (Myotis capaccinii)
  16. Madeira pipistrelle : murciélago de Madeira (Pipistrellus maderensis)
  17. Mediterranean horseshoe bat : murciélago mediterráneo de herradura (Rhinolophus euryale)
  18. Mehely's horseshoe bat : murciélago mediano de herradura (Rhinolophus mehelyi)
  19. Natterer's bat : murciélago ratonero gris (Myotis nattereri)
  20. noctule (or great bat) : nóctulo mediano (Nyctalus noctula)
  21. pipistrelle or common bat : murciélago enano (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)
  22. Schreiber's bat : murciélago de cueva (Miniopterus schreibersi)
  23. serotine bat : murciélago hortelano (Eptesicus serotinus)
  24. Tenerife long-eared bat : murciélago orejudo canario (Plecotus teneriffae)
  25. whiskered bat : murciélago ratonero bigotudo (Myotis mystacinus)

:External links:

bay : bahía; badia (Gal.+Cat.) :

beach : playa; platja (Cat.); praia (Gal.); hondartza (Eus.)

bean goose : ánsar campestre (Anser fabalis)

bear : oso ; brown bear : oso pardo (Ursus arctos); bear cub : osezno; escañeto (Cant.); bear's lair : osera

Bears in Spain

External links:

bearded tit : bigotudo (Panurus biarmicus)

bee : abeja; bees in Spain

  • bubble bee : abejorro
  • honeybee : abeja melera
  • drone: zángano; abellot (Cat.)
  • panel: honeycomb;
  • beehive : colmena : truébanu (Ast.); rusc (Cat.); arna (Cat.)
  • place with beehives : colmenar
  • bee-keeper : apicultor
  • bee-keeping : apicultura
  • cortines (Gal.) : dry stone walls built around beehives to protect them from bears.
  • abella (Cat.) : bee

beech : haya; faig (Cat.); beechnut : hayuco; faja (Cat.); fayueco (Ast.); beechwood : hayada; fageda (Cat.)

bee-eater: European bee-eater : abejaruco común (Merops apiaster)

beehive : colmena; truébanu (Ast.)

bee-keeper : apicultor

bee-keeping : apicultura

beetle : escarabajo; stag beetle : ciervo volante; zapatero (Arag., Rioja and Nav.); dung beetle : escarabajo pelotero

berhelot's pipit : bisbita caminero (Anthus berthelotii)

berry : baya

birch : abedul

bird : ave; pajaro; ocell (Cat.); muixó (Delta de Ebro)

  • birdlife : avifauna
  • flock : bando, bandada
  • passage: paso
  • ringing : anillamiento
  • wintering : invernada
  • shore bird : ave de ribera
  • bird of prey : ave rapaz
  • nesting bird : ave nidificante
  • steppe bird : ave esteparia
  • water bird : ave acuática
  • breeding bird : ave reproductora

Number of regular nesting species in Spain  

Territory

Total No.

Shared species

Endemics

% Endemics

Peninsula

252

143

0

0.0

Balearic Islands

96

2

1

1.0

Canary Islands

69

17

6

8.7

Spain

272

 

7

2.6

Source "La naturaleza en España" Reyero et al. 2004

Species which nest regularly in different countries in Europe  

 

Nesting species

Species/1,000 km2

Spain ( Peninsula and Balearic Islands )

254

0.51

France (continent and Corsica )

259

0.48

Greece

237

1.80

Poland

218

0.70

United Kingdom

193

0.79

Romania

233

0.99

Sweden

237

0.53

Source "La naturaleza en España" Reyero et al. 2004

'Aves de España' by Juana y Varela (Lynx Edicions, 2000) lists these 364 as being "Spanish" birds:

Note: officially there are some 557 species listed for Spain (and rising). However, many of these are occasionals, vagrants or exotics.

  • abejaruco común : european bee-eater (Merops apiaster)
  • abejero europeo : european honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus)
  • abubilla : hoopoe (Upupa epops)
  • acentor alpino : alpine accentor (Prunella collaris)
  • acentor común : hedge accentor (Prunella modularis)
  • agachadiza chica : jack snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus)
  • agachadiza común : common snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

Click here for complete list

External links

bittern

  • great bittern : avetoro común (Botaurus stellaris); vitol (Val.)
  • little bittern : avetorillo común (Ixobrychus minutus)

The legend of El Bruel and the booming of the bittern

black widow : viuda negra (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus)

There are more than 1,700 species of spider in Spain but only three are in way harmful to us. By far, the most dangerous is the black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) which gives a medically-complex and painful bite though it is not fatal. They are commonest in Valencia and Andalucía, and they are a problem in the greenhouse estates of Almeria .

The sting of the black widow, along with hysteria, was often responsible for the condition of tarantism, though at the time the much less-potent but more fearsome-looking true tarantula or wolf spider (Lycosa tarantula) was blamed. Wolf spiders are no relation to the much larger bird spiders of South America which have inherited the name, and their sting is weak. The hysteria began at some time during the Middle ages in Taranto in Southern Italy from where it spread out, reaching Spain in the 15th century. Victims were cured by making them dance to a frenzied music: the tarantela. As late 1875, the Spanish Royal Faculty of Medicine was recommending such antics. Other techniques for expelling the spider demon were less kind to the victim. In Corsica , the victim was placed in a sweltering oven, while on the Island of Hierro in the Canaries sufferers were treated with 'internal doses of human excrement'.

Finally, the Mediterranean recluse spider (Loxosceles rufescens), though less toxic than its African recluse cousins, can give a painful nip.

Much more on things that can bite and sting you here:

External links

blackberry : mora; blackberry bush : zarzamora; mata de mora

black kite : milano negro (Milvus migrans)

black redstart : colirrojo tizón (Phoenicurus ochruros)

black stork : cigüeña negra (Ciconia nigra)

black tern : fumarel común (Chlidonias niger)

black wheatear : collalba negra (Oenanthe leucura)

black woodpecker : pito negro (Dryocopus martius)

black-bellied sandgrouse : ganga ortega (Pterocles orientalis)

blackbird : mirlo común (Turdus merula). Note: in Castilian a dipper is a 'mirlo acuático' and a ring ouzel is a 'mirlo capiblanco'.

blackcap : curruca capirotada (Sylvia atricapilla)

black-eared wheatear : collalba rubia (Oenanthe hispanica)

black-headed gull : gaviota reidora (Larus ridibundus)

black-necked grebe : zampullín cuellinegro (Podiceps nigricollis)

black-shouldered kite : elanio común (Elanus caeruleus)

black-tailed godwit : aguja colinegra (Limosa limosa)

black-throated diver : colimbo ártico (Gavia arctica)

black-winged stilt : cigüeñuela común (Himantopus himantopus)

blizzard : nevasca; ventisca; cellisca

bloom : floración

blow-hole : bufadero (coastal landform and whale)

bluebottle : moscadón

blue chaffinch : pinzón azul : Fringilla teydea

blue rock thrush : roquero solitario (Monticola solitarius)

blue tit : herrerillo común (Parus caeruleus)

bluethroat : pechiazul (Luscinia svecica)

boar : jabalí ; wild boar : jabalí (Sus scrofa) Boars in Spain

  • bermejo: adolescent boar
  • verraco: adult male boar or pig
  • jabalina: female wild boar
  • rayón: young boar. The name is in reference to the stripes (rayas) along its back.
  • jabato: young wild boar
  • porc senglar (Cat.): boar
  • xabalín (Ast.) : boar

bochorno: a humid wind blowing from the south-east along the Ebro Valley from the Delta

bog : almajal; tolla; buhedal; cenagal; aguazal; nava; tabora (Cant.); peat bog : trampal; tremedal;

Bolle's pigeon : paloma turqué (Columba bollii)

bonelli's eagle : águila-azor perdicera ( Hieraaetus fasciatus)

The population of Bonelli's eagle is declining throughout Europe. Just 1000 odd pairs survive in the continent, of which 700-800 are in Spain. The Catalan population has fallen from 80 pairs to just 66 since the 1980's. The strongest populations are in Extremadura, Andalucia and Castilla La Mancha, though the bird appears to be in decline everywhere. In addition to electrocution, Bonelli's eagle, like the Spanish Imperial Eagle, is also endangered because of the lack of its favourite prey: the rabbit, and because of illegal poisoning. The bird gets its name in Spanish ( Águila-azor Perdicera or just Águila Perdicera ) from its taste for partridge (perdiz) which brings it into direct conflict with hunters. In Catalan it is called àliga perdiguera.
Not to be confused (linguistically at least) with the Azor Común (Goshawk).

booted eagle : aguililla calzada (Hieraaetus pennatus)

borreguil : peat bog and marshy grassland in the Sierra Nevada. See borreguiles

External link

brambling : pinzón real  (Fringilla montifringilla)

branch : rama ; branches : ramaje; ramón (either cut from trees by shepherds or resulting from pruning and used to feed livestock)

braña (Ast.+Cant.) : summer pasture; the now permanent summer camps of the vaqueiros de alzada

breeding : reproducción; breeding bird : ave reproductora

breeze : brisa

bristles : cerdas

brood : pollada

broom hare : liebre de piornal : Lepus castroviejoi

broom scrub : piornal

brown bear : oso pardo : Ursus arctos (see bear)

brown hare : liebre europea : Lepus europaeus

brown long-eared bat : murciélago orejudo dorado : Plecotus auritus

brown rat : rata parda : Rattus norvegicus

bubble bee : abejorro

bucardo : (capra pyrenaica)

On 6th January 2000, a knarled old tree crashed down on Laña and killed her. She was the last of the bucados or Pyrenean mountain goat -Pyrenean ibex- that had for millenium grazed the high Pyrenees between France and Spain. A total and utter disaster in terms of conservation management, despite decades of official protection. Also known as an erc.

Note: If you type bucardo into Google most articles are about cloning extinct species back to life. MORE TO COME

bullfinch: common bullfinch : camachuelo común (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

bunting

  • cirl bunting : escribano soteño (Emberiza cirlus)
  • corn bunting : triguero (Miliaria calandra)
  • little bunting : escribano pigmeo (Emberiza pusilla)

burrow : madriguera

bush : arbusto; mata

bustard

  • great bustard : avutarda común (Otis tarda)
  • little bustard : sisón común (Tetrax tetrax)

The great bustard is SEO's bird of the year for 2004.

External links

butterfly : mariposa :

 

 

Rural tourism in Andalucia

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