Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
The area contains beaches, sand-dunes, islands, saltwater lagoons and marshes, mudflats, woodland, maquis and cliffs.
The site holds 20,000 or more waterbirds in winter, on a regular basis (including
Phoenicopterus ruber 3,338;
Anas platyrhynchos 2,520;
Aythya ferina 2,200;
Fulica atra 20,000). The site is a migratory bottleneck, where more than 3,000 raptors regularly pass (including
Pernis apivorus 2,000;
Milvus migrans 3,000). Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria:
Aquila clanga (passage, wintering);
Larus audouinii (passage).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
High hunting pressure, eutrophication and tourism development, including boating, are the main threats to the site.
National Partial
International None2,130 ha of IBA covered by 3 Hunting Reserves (Etangs de Bage et Sigean; Etang de St Paul; Etang de Campignol; total area 2,130 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Etangs Narbonnais (France). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/etangs-narbonnais-iba-france on 13/01/2025.
