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• Reference and further resources

The site was identified as important in 2002 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List1	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax	NT	breeding	2002	5-10 breeding pairs	C6
Black Stork Ciconia nigra	LC	breeding	2001	1 breeding pairs	C6
Eurasian Thick-knee Burhinus oedicnemus	LC	breeding	2002	uncommon	C6
Eurasian Eagle-owl Bubo bubo	LC	resident	2001	5-10 breeding pairs	C6
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus	EN	breeding	2001	6-8 breeding pairs	B2, C6
Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus	LC	resident	2001	15-20 breeding pairs	B2, C6
Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos	LC	resident	2001	4 breeding pairs	C6
Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata	LC	resident	2001	2 breeding pairs	B2, C6
Red Kite Milvus milvus	LC	resident	2001	1-5 breeding pairs	C6
Black Kite Milvus migrans	LC	breeding	2001	10-20 breeding pairs	C6
Blue Rock-thrush Monticola solitarius	LC	resident	2002	common	B2
Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucura	LC	resident	2001	frequent	B2, C6

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2002) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2002. The most recent assessment (2005) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Transportation and service corridors	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1990	Vale do Côa	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	87
2010	Faia Brava	Área Protegida Privada	1

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Shrubland	Sclerophyllous scrub, garrigue and maquis	58
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land, Perennial crops, orchards and groves	30
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	Inland cliffs	9
Wetlands (inland)	Rivers and streams	3

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	-
hunting	-
tourism/recreation	-
water management	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Côa valley (Portugal). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/côa-valley-iba-portugal on 22/11/2024.