almendralejo

In February 2021 we witnessed the arrival of the first lesser kestrel of this season which was captured on film by the camera mounted on the Church of La Purificación, which keeps a watch on the ZEPA known as “Lesser Kestrel Colonies in Almendralejo”. 

This is an emblematic colony of Extremadura located in the first urban ZEPA established in Europe. As you know it is watched over by the DEMA technicians, beneficiary partners of LIFE-ZEPAURBAN, who for the whole of the season will monitor the nests by means of the video surveillance system in real time.

The Special Protection Area for birds known as "Lesser Kestrel Colonies of Almendralejo" is located within the urban core of said municipality and constitutes a space of unique characteristics since it houses one of the largest colonies of lesser kestrel in Extremadura located in a single building: approximately 98% of the pairs in the municipality nest on the roof and tower of the Nuestra Señora de la Purificación Church.

Within the framework of this Action C2 "Adaptation of nesting sites on buildings managed by the State Office of Libraries, Museums, and Cultural Heritage", part of the roof and the tower of the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Purificación de Almendralejo will be remodelled to avoid filtrations in the building and ensure the permanence of its important colony of lesser kestrels.

One of the key actions of the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN project is action A6, the industrial manufacture of mortar-cork nest boxes for the lesser kestrel. The main objective is to test the efficiency of a new design and materials for the construction of nest boxes for this species with improved technical and ethological conditions that allow the improving of its breeding success.