Minho and Coura estuaries (Portugal) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

PT001

Minho and Coura estuaries

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

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
Common Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus	LC	breeding	2001	frequent	C6
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea	LC	breeding	2001	1-2 breeding pairs	C6
Western Marsh-harrier Circus aeruginosus	LC	resident	2001	1-2 breeding pairs	C6

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

IBA Conservation

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.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2005	not assessed	low	not assessed
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
no	unset	good

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

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1997	Rio Minho	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	73
1998	Litoral Norte	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	9
2003	Estuários dos Rios Minho e Coura	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	91

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land	-
Forest	Broadleaved deciduous woodland, Mixed woodland, Alluvial and very wet forest	-
Grassland	Humid grasslands	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		-
Marine Intertidal		-
Marine Neritic		-
Shrubland	Scrub	-

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	-
fisheries/aquaculture	-
forestry	-
hunting	-
tourism/recreation	-
urban/industrial/transport	-

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Minho and Coura estuaries (Portugal). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/minho-and-coura-estuaries-iba-portugal on 23/11/2024.