The annual festival is in its third year and takes place in the town of Sagres, in the Western Algarve and it acts as one more incentive to visit the Algarve coast, which already sports plenty of attractive features for tourists, from the year-round warm temperatures, the great beaches and beautiful scenery.

The Festival takes place here because thanks to the geographical position of the Sagres peninsula, it becomes part of the main migratory corridor in Portugal starting with mid-August till November, period in which it’s possible to see thousands of birds crossing the sky, over 190 different species.

This region is ideal for bird watching however there are a number of other fantastic bird watching locations beyond Sagres, as follows:

The Castro Marim Natural Reserve

Located on the western coast is a wetland of international importance, hence why it is protected by law. The landscape is dominated by salt marches and there are several species of aquatic birds that can be seen here including the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber, Little Stint Calidris minuta and the Spotted Redshank Tringa Erythropus.

The Ria Formosa Natural Park

This place consists of a long stretch of coastal dunes, barrier islands, peninsulas, canals, mudflats, and all manner of all sorts of quasy-aquatic and not so aquatic features – the latter category being woods and pine forests.

The very diverse geography means that the bird fauna will be equally varied so you can expect to see Eurasian Wigeon Anas Penelope, Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola and Red Knot Calidris canutus.

These are just two of the places where bird watching can also be done in, rest assured that there are many more, and you can visit as many of them as you wish with the help of some Algarve car hire services.