BAND RECOVERIES OF SPANISH LITTLE EGRETS, EGRETTA-GARZETTA

We identified two distinct populations of Little Egrets (Egretta garze tta) with different dispersal patterns, based on analysis of data from 217 banding recoveries and observations of 172 wing-marked birds. One population occurs in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, and t he other on the eastern coast of Spain. The Western population seems t o be isolated from all other European populations, because its dispers al range was different throughout the year, except during winter, when individuals mixed with members of other populations in north-western Africa. Interchanges between birds from both the Spanish Eastern and F rench Southern (the Camargue) populations are likely to occur during t he breeding season.