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The house martin or town swallow (Delichon urbicum) was frequently a neighbour in our towns. Their nests of clay clinging to roofs in the eaves formed part of the urban landscape. These days, as has been found from the numbers collected each year by SOM (the Ornitholigcal Society of Menorca), we are getting rid of these house martins from built up areas obliging them to build their nests in industrial estates or in urbanizations. Only Ferreries keeps a significant number of nests, though there is a tendency towards reducing the quota. Continue reading Fauna from Menorca: the house martin →

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The large Scopoli’s shearwater, after crossing the whole of the Atlantic, comes to breed each year in the Mediterranean islands. And, towards the end of October, at the Recuperation Centre for Wild Animals, we receive many calls from people telling us that they have found a baby sea gull on land, at the house, or in the street. When we tell them it is a shearwater and not a sea gull, they are stunned. So what is a shearwater? They are pelagic marine birds, meaning that they live in the open sea and only touch land to breed. In the Balearics there are two species, the Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) and the much more abundant, large, Scopoli’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea). Continue reading Fauna from Menorca: The Scopoli’s Shearwater →

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In Menorca we currently have two species of amphibians: the frog and the green toad. Another species of toad was introduced some fourteen years ago with aquatic plants for the garden. The frog and the green toad, also, are species that were introduced here but in ancient times. The remains of green toads have been found at talayotic sites. Another species which was already living in Menorca before the arrival of humans was the ferret, but it became extinct and is now found just in the Serra de Tramuntana in Mallorca. The habitats of green toads are found only in Corsica, Sardinia, the Italian Peninsula, Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. Continue reading Fauna from Menorca: The Green Toad →

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Hedgehogs are an important part of the ecosystem of Menorca. They are well known animals for their characteristic covering of needles. These spines are nothing more than hairs filled with keratin which stiffens them. The hedgehogs in Menorca are the smallest found in Europe. It is usually called the African hedgehog because it is native to north Africa. From there it spread along the coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Malta, the Canaries and all the Balearic Islands. The oldest hedgehog remains found in Menorca date from the 13^th century (Morales and Rofes, 2008), from which it is surmised that it was the Almohads who introduced them, and it is documented that the hedgehog was appreciated both for food and for being used for medical purposes. Continue reading Fauna from Menorca: the hedgehog →

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The Mediterranean tortoise (Testudo Hermanni), called simply, in Menorca, the land tortoise, is a species which lives only on the continent of Europe, from the north east of the Iberian Peninsular to Turkey and in the principal Mediterranean islands. There are two different subspecies. That which lives in Menorca is exclusive to the western Mediterranean. Wild tortoises are found only in the Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Menorca, where they were introduced by us, it is not known when. Genetic studies have been made that determine two different origins of the Menorcan tortoise. One origin is very old, of some thousands of years, coming from Sicily or Sardinia. The other origin is much more recent coming from the continental tortoises. The tortoises from the south of the island are of the oldest origin on the island, while those in the north originate from the continent. Continue reading Fauna from Menorca: the Mediterranean tortoise →