One Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon and two Penduline Tits Remiz pendulinus at the Loukkos marshes near the new TGV line (35°08’58″N 06°05’15″W) on 14 January (Pedro Fernandes)
Although still on the list of the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee, the Penduline Tit is now considered a rare but regular winter species to the North-West of the country (Amezian, M., Thompson, I., Bensusan, K., Cortes, J., Louah, A. and Qninba, A. 2011. On regular wintering of Eurasian Penduline Tits Remiz pendulinus in northern Morocco. Ostrich 82: 39-42) :
‘The Eurasian Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus was until recently considered to be an accidental winter visitor to Morocco. Regular wintering was suspected in the north-west of the country but had been poorly documented. The ringing data collected in the Smir marshes (north-west Morocco) during the period 2004-2008 indicate that Eurasian Penduline Tits regularly winter in Morocco. During the study period, 50 birds were caught on 68 occasions. The intra-seasonal recapture data, i.e. autumn to the following spring, and winter observations showed that some individuals over-wintered locally at this site. The inter-annual recapture data indicate that wintering birds return regularly to the Smir marshes‘