Where to Watch Birds in France

An introduction to France for anyone visiting with birds in mind, from casual birdwatchers checking a bird that flies over the terrace during a family holiday to addict birders who would sell their souls for a dream species or a record-breaking checklist. Some may have just a few spare hours to get their binoculars out between business meetings or museum visits, others will be out in the field for two weeks or more, from sunrise to sunset. The authors wrote this book for all bird lovers, birdwatchers and birders, whatever the duration of their stay, the number of kilometres they are prepared to travel and how they enjoy birds.

With over 400 regularly occurring species, of which 357 normally breed or winter, France has one of the most diverse avifaunas of the whole of Europe, spanning an incredible range from colourful Mediterranean flagship species such as roller, bee-eater or black-winged kite to secretive cold-climate or mountain specialists like three-toed woodpecker and Tengmalm’s owl. The Birdfinder section provides targeted details for 30 species which often rank in the top wish-list of birders visiting France.

Dividing the country into 14 regions, the authors highlight 312 representative sites, chosen for their bird species composition and ease of access. The selected sites enable the reader to see the widest possible species diversity and largest range of local specialities in a reasonable time, while respecting the basic ethical rules obvious to all birdwatchers. Whenever possible, sites are arranged in clusters or itineraries that can be covered in two to three days without hurrying. To supplement the use of the book in the field, all the sites described are geolocated in a file that can be downloaded from the publisher’s website and loaded onto any GPS device.

Jean-Yves Barnagaud is an associate professor in Montpellier, where he teaches ecology and statistical analysis. His recent work has focused on the analysis of data gathered by volunteers to investigate bird distribution and diversity patterns, with a specific interest in the influence of land-use practices on bird and reptile community dynamics. He has also been involved in several national and regional atlas projects and regularly collaborates with land managers in local conservation initiatives. As a birdwatcher, he has regularly visited France’s major birding sites over the last two decades, focusing on migration stopover places in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Brittany and his current location on the Mediterranean coast between the Camargue and the Pyrenees.

Nidal Issa is a project manager in an environmental consulting office in Champagne. He has been involved in several local nature conservation initiatives and has published over a dozen articles on bird identification, travelling, bird status and birdwatching highlights in national ornithological journals. He coordinated the French bird atlas from 2009 to 2015, and contributed to the national IUCN bird Red List. He also served as a member of the French rarities committee from 2011 to 2015. He usually spends some time on Ushant island in autumn, looking for American and Siberian vagrants among other migrants. He devotes the rest of the year to local birding spots and searching for rare breeding birds, with a specific interest in raptors and black stork.

Sébastien Dalloyau spent his childhood close to the Aiguillon bay, where he developed an early interest in coastal and marine ecosystems. His focus on waterbirds led to a PhD on brent geese at the Chizé research centre. In subsequent years, he worked for the French oceanographic research institute (Ifremer) on benthic seagrass and intertidal habitats. His involvement in ecology allowed him to participate in scientific expeditions to the Taimyr peninsula, sub-Antarctic islands and Kazakhstan. He is currently the national coordinator of the brent goose monitoring network within the Goose Specialist Group (Wetlands International). In parallel, he works as a spatial analyst and expert ecologist for a bird conservation trust. He was recently involved in the French bird atlas and he manages projects on farmland birds, waterbirds and bird programmes in the French overseas territories.