Source: All information that you can read in this page, is from Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y Reto Demográfico del Gobierno de España. www.miteco.gob.es
Gadwall
Anas strepera
Its plumage is greyish-brown in both the female and the male. It is very demanding in terms of water quality, as it cannot live in brackish water. It nests in Spain, although the only important breeding sites are in the Guadalquivir marshes and in Castile-La Mancha. It builds its nests in vegetation tunnels. They lay 12 to 14 eggs. It sometimes happens that young females in their first breeding year take advantage of the nests of other females to lay their eggs and leave them in their care.
Garden dormouse
Eliomys quercinus
A rodent mammal of the glyphidae family, about 30 centimetres long from the snout to the tip of the tail, with white fur on the underside and a brownish back and cinnamon-coloured face, each eye is surrounded by a black band, as well as the sides of the snout from which a large moustache emerges.this mammal has a very varied diet, ranging from vegetables (acorns) to wax and honey, as well as invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. It lives in forests and moves nimbly through the branches of trees. In the winter months it retreats to its den and sleeps until spring. It has two litters a year, the first from the beginning of May to the end of June and the second from the end of August to the beginning of October.
Garden Warbler
Sylvia borin
It is a bird with a hidden habit, always hidden among the branches, it is very difficult to see. For breeding, it needs thickets of tall bushes, with or without trees, and relatively humid places. When it arrives on the Peninsula ready to breed, it consumes large quantities of insects, which it uses to raise its offspring. However, when it prepares to return to the Sahara in autumn, it accumulates a large amount of reserves by eating blackberries, berries and figs.
Glossy Ibis
Plegadis falcinellus
Bird of about 56 cm, black with red and green highlights. In flight it is easy to confuse it with the pygmy cormorant. It lives in mudflats and mudbanks and breeds in colonies, near herons and egrets, in shallow water reeds and although it rarely nests in trees, it likes to perch high up.
Goldcrest
Regulus regulus
It is one of the smallest birds in Europe. It lives in the forest areas of the northern and central mountain ranges. It is abundant in the fir, black pine and Scots pine forests and mixed conifer and broadleaf forests of the Pyrenees. It is 9 centimetres long and feeds on insects, such as coal tits and blue tits, which in autumn and winter complete their diet with berries and seeds. They breed from April to June, in nests almost always hanging from the tip of a conifer branch, and there is the Regulus regulus teneriffae variety on the island of La Palma.
Golden eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
It mainly inhabits mountainous areas and also plains with a good nest site. It usually builds its nest on a rocky outcrop, with or without an overhang, and occasionally in trees. It is the largest of all the Spanish eagles. It measures 76 to 89 centimetres and hunts small mammals such as partridges and hares, which it takes to the nest, generally located in the lowest part of the hunting territory, to make transport as painless as possible.
Great Bustard
Otis tarda
They are very wary and terrestrial birds that need wide, open, cultivated grounds. If they feel threatened, they run away or crouch on the ground where they breed at ground level. They are easy to identify because of their large size and long, thick legs. They move in small flocks on open, treeless plains. They are mainly sedentary.
Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo
It is a very large black seabird with white cheeks and chin. It is about 90 cm long and has a large, strong, hooked beak. There is no difference between the sexes. It inhabits large lakes and coastal waters and feeds on fish. It nests in colonies in trees or rocks.
Great Crested Grebe
Podiceps cristatus
Aquatic bird that lives in reservoirs and freshwater lagoons with sparse vegetation. During the mating season, they are notable for their nuptial stops, with raised buntings and reddish-brown tails with a dark rim. In winter they are seen forming small flocks, with a fast, direct flight and rapid flapping. They nest in colonies or in isolated pairs and build their nest on the water so that the eggs are in contact with the water. When it leaves, it covers them so as to remain unnoticed.
Great Grey Shrike
Lanius excubitor
It inhabits holm oak groves, forest edges and land with scattered trees. It needs clear areas with a perch from which to watch. It is 24 centimetres tall and its diet ranges from small birds to large insects. It usually builds its nest in bushes and sometimes in large trees. Breeds from April to June.
Great Reed Warbler
Acrocephalus arundinaceus
A migratory species that lives in the nest it builds at low altitude in the reeds on the banks of slow-flowing rivers and in marshes and reedbeds, to which it returns every year to breed. It measures 18-19 centimetres, is brownish in colour and has a very strong beak and legs. It feeds on insects and hunts butterflies and dragonflies. In autumn it migrates to Africa and on this journey feeds almost exclusively on blackberries.
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Clamator glandarius
Bird of about 45 cm. It lives near forests and areas of scrubland with scattered trees, although it can also be found in suburban parks. It feeds on insects, caterpillars and small reptiles. The female observes the behaviour of a corvid until she sees the opportunity to steal an egg from the nest and lay her own, from which a chick hatches before its forced half-siblings, and although she does not get rid of the rest of the eggs, her voracious appetite and larger size means that the rest of the chicks grow up malnourished.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos major
It is a climbing bird that inhabits the coniferous forests of the Central and Eastern Pyrenees and the broadleaf forests of the Western Pyrenees and Picos de Europa. It also lives in the coniferous forests of the Central, Iberian and Penibetic systems. It measures 23 centimetres and feeds mainly on ants that it captures with its sticky tongue and the xylophagous larvae it discovers in the galleries it makes with its powerful beak. It completes its diet with the pine nuts it takes from pine cones and with the cinipids from certain gills.
Great Tit
Parus major
Small bird, 14 centimetres long and weighing about 20 grams. It is very confident and has unmistakable plumage: black head with white cheeks, greenish back and yellow belly crossed by a black stripe. It is abundant both in urban areas and in the countryside and seeks nesting cavities in trees, walls or old nests. These adaptive abilities mean that large populations can exist in any kind of environment. Its diet is varied, feeding on caterpillars, aphids, mealybugs, berries and seeds.
Greater Flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber
It is a large bird, very slender with a very long neck and legs. It measures 125-130 centimetres, has pink plumage and a pinkish-red bill, curved at the end with a black tip. It inhabits shallow fresh or salt water lakes and coastal lagoons. It feeds on water insects, larvae, worms and molluscs and nests in colonies that make their nest on the ground.
Greater Short-toed Lark
Calandrella cinerea
It measures about 27 cm. It is a small, brownish bird with no difference between the sexes. It inhabits steppe areas, pre-deserts, dunes, sandbanks and rocky areas. The marsh terrena is characterised by its dark brown colour, instead of the earth tone of the common terrena. It forages on the ground to peck at the seeds and insects that make up its diet and also consumes many weevils from cereal crops.
Grey Heron
Ardea cinerea
It is distinguished from other herons by its larger size. Its bill is yellowish and dagger-shaped, its legs are brownish, its head and neck are white, and it has a strip of colour running from the eye to the tip of its long, graceful plume. In spring its legs and beaks turn reddish. It is found standing motionless for long periods of time, in or near water, with its long neck erect or sunk on its shoulders, or perched in trees. Its flight is, despite its slow flapping wings, powerful. It inhabits flooded meadows, rivers, lakes and coasts. It nests in colonies, usually in tall trees.
Grey Partridge
Perdix perdix
Bird of the order Galliformes, family Phasianidae, reaching a length of 33 cm and a wingspan of 55 cm. It has a greenish-grey bill and legs and dark brown plumage. It feeds on grain and berries.
Grey Wagtail
Motacilla cinerea
It mainly inhabits the middle and upper reaches of our mountain and plain rivers. It is 18 centimetres long and nests among the roots and stones of the riverbank or in holes in masonry in rough stretches of the river. It breeds from March to July and feeds on insects it hunts along the banks. Only if it stays all year round does it supplement its diet with seeds from riparian plants.
Greylag Goose
Anser anser
It measures between 76 and 89 cm. Its plumage is silver-grey, its bill is orange and its legs are pink. It is usually seen forming families, although during the breeding season it forms nesting pairs. During the migration season, they gather in large flocks and fly in the typical V-shape. They inhabit areas of water with thick vegetation on the banks, in meadows, pastures and marshes. It feeds mainly on grasses, cereals and other plants found on the ground.
Griffon vulture
Gyps fulvus
It inhabits all types of mountainous terrain except very dense forests, which it nevertheless flies over. It is a social vulture that breeds in colonies in large caves, gullies or rocky walls with numerous ledges and overhangs. They search for food by gliding in line at high altitude, watching for any activity of corvids and other animals on dead animals. They measure 96 to 104 centimetres and feed on medium and large carcasses. They lay their eggs at the end of December in Andalusia and until February in the rest of the country.
Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon nilotica
Male and female are identical and have a robust black bill. It inhabits lagoons with inland islands and waterlogged marshes. It is a colonial and very supportive bird. In the event of a predator approaching the colony, the adults fly over it, threatening to sting and hit it, and if they do not drive it away, all the adults leave their nests and fly over the intruder, defecating on it. It feeds on small fish, aquatic insects, terrestrial insects, which it occasionally hunts, and small lizards.
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