Birdwatching on Santa Maria: Ilhéu da Vila, the cagarros and the island's own goldcrest

Santa Maria is the Azorean island for seabirds. Most of what makes it special nests on Ilhéu da Vila, a small islet off the south-west coast that you cannot land on, so a birding visit here means picking the right spots on shore and the right time of day. This guide covers where to stand, what you can realistically expect to see, and what to do if a young shearwater lands at your feet in October.

Santa Maria is the oldest island in the archipelago, has no recent volcanic activity and has cliffs that in places rise more than 300 m, with islets and stacks off the coast. A University of the Azores guide to the island's birding sites singles out three things. In its words, Santa Maria is the only Azorean island where Bulwer's petrel (alma-negra) breeds; the Natural Parks service also lists the islets of Graciosa. It holds some of the region's most important colonies of roseate and common terns (garajau-rosado and garajau-comum) and of the Madeiran storm-petrel (angelito). And it has its own goldcrest, Regulus regulus sanctaemariae, a subspecies found nowhere else.

Do not expect a list of rarities from a day on land. Most of the seabirds come and go from their nests at night, and the petrels are hard to see from shore. What you can count on are Cory's shearwaters in the evening from spring to autumn, terns over the coast in summer, herons and waders at the town stream in autumn and winter, and the goldcrest in the hills all year.

Ilhéu da Vila sits about 200 m off the south-west coast, near Ponta da Poção. It covers 7.7 ha, about 380 m by 150 m, and rises to some 75 m. Researchers list six breeding seabirds there: Bulwer's petrel, Cory's shearwater (cagarro), Barolo shearwater (frulho), storm-petrel, common tern and roseate tern. Sooty terns have also nested there. According to the Key Biodiversity Areas factsheet, Ilhéu da Vila and the Selvagens, south of Madeira, are the only two places in Europe where the species has bred.

The islet is a nature reserve within the Santa Maria Natural Park, part of a Natura 2000 Special Protection Area and an Important Bird Area. Goats grazed it until 1993, and native plants have come back since they were removed. Only researchers and conservation staff with prior authorisation go ashore. Do not try to land by kayak or ask a fisherman to drop you off.

You can still see it well from the coast. The Grande Rota, the long-distance trail around the island, passes the mouth of the Ribeira Seca at the end of the airport, where it enters a protected stretch of coast with a clear view of the islet, and then follows the shore to Ponta do Malmerendo and into Vila do Porto. Walk that section in the last two hours of daylight with binoculars. In summer you are likely to see terns fishing between the islet and the shore, and at dusk the cagarros gather on the water before flying in to their burrows.

The easiest birding on the island is at the edge of town. The Ribeira de São Francisco, also called the Ribeira de Vila do Porto, reaches the sea by the old harbour below the Forte de São Brás. Rushes at its mouth form a small coastal lagoon that draws herons and waders, and moorhens live in it. Grey wagtails nest on the rock face above.

The official short trail PR05SMA Costa Sul starts by the 17th-century fort and passes this stream. Its leaflet names the migrants you are most likely to see in autumn and winter: grey heron, little egret, coot and curlew. Nearby, Ponta do Marvão is good for passing seabirds and for the Azores buzzard (milhafre), and the Kentish plover nests there.

If you want one walk that combines birds with the island's scenery, take PR05SMA from Vila do Porto to Praia Formosa. It is a linear route of 7 to 8 km (the leaflet and the trail data differ), graded medium, and takes about three hours. After the stream it passes the fossil beds of Pedreira do Campo, then climbs to Touril, where the leaflet mentions the buzzard, rock doves, the Santa Maria goldcrest and wild rabbits. It drops to the small bay of Prainha and follows the coast to Praia Formosa.

One stretch after Prainha is exposed, with a steel cable fixed to the rock and a warning about vertigo. Plan for a taxi back from Praia Formosa, since the route is one-way.

The high cliffs south of Ponta do Castelo, covered in Azores heather, hold colonies of Cory's shearwaters, Barolo shearwaters and storm-petrels. You will not see the nests, but on a summer evening you may see shearwaters on the water below the Gonçalo Velho lighthouse. Down by the ruins of the old whaling station and its small harbour, waders and herons feed on the rocks. The slopes on the north side, towards Maia, are covered with vineyards behind stone walls, where small birds and rock doves nest.

Pico Alto, the island's high point at 587 m, is also its most wooded area, and the place for land birds. Look and listen for the Santa Maria goldcrest, the robin, the Azorean subspecies of blackbird and chaffinch, the canary and the blackcap, as well as the Azores wood pigeon and the buzzard. The PRC02SMA loop from the summit car park is 6.2 km and takes about two hours.

• February to November: Cory's shearwaters are back on their breeding islands from February, and their evening gatherings on the water are the easiest seabird sighting on Santa Maria.
• Summer: terns are at their colonies and fish along the coast.
• Autumn and winter: herons, egrets and waders on the stream in Vila do Porto.
• All year: the goldcrest and the forest birds on Pico Alto.

Young Cory's shearwaters leave their nests at about three months old, usually between mid-October and mid-November. On their first flight to the sea, many are confused by street lights and car headlights, crash into walls and end up on roads. The Azores government has run the SOS Cagarro campaign every year since 1995 to collect them. In 2025 it ran from 15 October to 15 November, and in 2024 it saved 6,388 birds. About three quarters of the world's Cory's shearwaters nest in the Azores. Check the 2026 dates when you arrive.

If you find a grounded cagarro, place it carefully in a box with a cloth over it and call the SOS Cagarro line or hand it over to the nature wardens. They release the birds by the sea in the morning, so they have the daylight to get well offshore. Drive slowly on coastal roads after dark during these weeks.

The Dalberto Pombo Environmental Interpretation Centre, at Rua Teófilo Braga 10-14 in Vila do Porto, displays the collections of the naturalist after whom it is named, including stuffed migratory birds, and shares the building with the House of Fossils. Opening hours are not published online, so call ahead on +351 296 206 798.

Bring binoculars before a long lens, because most of what you will see is far off and in fading light. Add a windproof layer for evenings on the coast, a head torch for the walk back, and a field guide that covers Atlantic seabirds. Stay on the trails along the south coast, keep away from cliff edges, and never disturb a burrow.

Can you visit Ilhéu da Vila? No. It is a nature reserve, and only researchers and conservation staff with prior authorisation land there. Watch it from the coast near the end of the airport and along the shore towards Vila do Porto.

What is the best time of day for seabirds on Santa Maria? The last hour or two before dark, from spring to autumn, when the Cory's shearwaters gather offshore before flying in to their nests.

Where can I see the Santa Maria goldcrest? In the woods on Pico Alto, for example on the PRC02SMA loop, and along the PR05SMA climb to Touril.

What should I do if I find a young shearwater on the road? In October and November, cover it with a cloth, put it gently in a box and call the SOS Cagarro line or contact the nature wardens. Do not try to release it yourself.