Birdwatching
Birdwatching is one area of Nature Tourism that has been registering growth in the Madeira Archipelago. Night or day watching, integrated into walking and sea tours organised by companies, or simply going to the places where you can easily find the different habitats of the endemic species and subspecies of Madeira and Macaronesia, birdwatching on our Island is appropriate and accessible to people with or without experience in the area.
Currently, 46 species of marine and terrestrial birds nesting in the Archipelago are registered, some of them rare. Among these birds that can be found in coastal areas, in the Laurissilva Forest, among other places, the most noteworthy are the pombo-trocaz, the bis-bis, freira da Madeira and freira do Bugio. The endemic of Madeira Island is the cagarra who currently is the rarest and most endangered seabird in the world, as well as being the largest seabird that breeds in the Archipelago of Madeira.
The Ecological Park of Funchal, besides developing nature conservation projects, is also an excellent place to observe some of these species, given the surrounding nature and availability of infrastructure for recreation and leisure of visitors.
