Is Morocco good for birdwatching (specific species and spots)?

For serious birders, Morocco is a dream because it stacks several distinct avifaunas in one accessible country — Mediterranean, Atlantic, Saharan and Atlas-montane — so a two-week trip can yield a remarkable list. The flagship is the Northern Bald Ibis, one of the rarest birds in the world, whose last truly wild population clings to the cliffs of Souss-Massa National Park near Agadir and the nearby Tamri coast. Standing on those cliffs watching them come in to roost is one of the great birding experiences anywhere, and the park adds the Black-crowned Tchagra, larks and coastal waders.

The wetlands are extraordinary. Merja Zerga, the great lagoon near Moulay Bousselham on the Atlantic, hosts huge numbers of flamingos, waders, terns and wintering wildfowl, and is the most reliable European-side site for the rare Slender-billed Curlew historically; the Oualidia lagoons and the Massa estuary round out a superb coastal-wetland circuit. Inland, the lakes of the Middle Atlas around Ifrane (Aguelmame Sidi Ali, Dayet Aoua) hold crested coot, marbled teal and montane species in cedar forest alive with Levaillant’s Woodpecker and the local race of Barbary macaque overhead.

The desert is where the specialist targets live, and it is what most people fly in for. Around Boumalne Dades and the Tagdilt track, and out toward Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi fringes, you chase the holy grail of larks and chats — Thick-billed, Temminck’s and Greater Hoopoe Larks, Desert and Maghreb Wheatears, Cream-coloured Courser, the dazzling Egyptian Nightjar, sandgrouse coming to drink at dawn, and Pharaoh Eagle-Owl on the rocky jebels. These are subtle, scattered birds in vast terrain; a local birding guide who knows the exact wadis and tracks turns a frustrating search into a rich day.

On timing and logistics: spring, roughly March to May, is prime — residents are displaying, breeding desert birds are present, and migration is in full flow, including the famous raptor and stork bottleneck over the Strait of Gibraltar near Tangier in spring and autumn. Bring a scope for the wetlands and the ibis cliffs, hire a specialist guide for the desert larks, and route yourself Agadir – Souss-Massa – Dades – Merzouga – Middle Atlas for the fullest list. Confirm current access, water levels and the ibis viewing arrangements before you go.