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GreeceAlbaniaNorth Macedonia Greece / Albania / North Macedonia Ramsar wetland

Lake Prespa

91 bird species recorded; the most in July.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec69at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Bomac · CC BY 3.0

This month here

0 species in January.

The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

No records for this month.

  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

91 species, counted.

51out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 91Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 47Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 733Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 843 mAltitudeabove the sea
  • 4Raptors
  • 2Waders
  • 5Gulls & seabirds
  • 5Ducks & geese
  • 13Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 1Storks & cranes
  • 47Songbirds
  • 14Other birds

From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.

The checklist

All 91 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Common BuzzardButeo buteo
  • European Honey-buzzardPernis apivorus
  • Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
  • European HobbyFalco subbuteo
Waders2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
  • Common SnipeGallinago gallinago
Gulls & seabirds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
  • Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellis
  • Black TernChlidonias niger
  • Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
  • Mediterranean GullIchthyaetus melanocephalus
Ducks & geese5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  • Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
  • GoosanderMergus merganser
  • Ferruginous DuckAythya nyrocaNT
  • Mute SwanCygnus olor
Herons, ibises & grebes13 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Dalmatian PelicanPelecanus crispusNT
  • Microcarbo pygmaeusMicrocarbo pygmaeus
  • Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
  • Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
  • Great White PelicanPelecanus onocrotalus
  • Little EgretEgretta garzetta
  • Grey HeronArdea cinerea
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Eared GrebePodiceps nigricollis
  • Purple heronArdea purpurea
  • Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
  • Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
  • Squacco HeronArdeola ralloides
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • White StorkCiconia ciconia
Songbirds47 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Barn swallowHirundo rustica
  • Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
  • Eurasian BlackbirdTurdus merula
  • Hooded CrowCorvus cornix
  • Great titParus major
  • Common House MartinDelichon urbicum
  • Eurasian MagpiePica pica
  • Common NightingaleLuscinia megarhynchos
  • Great Reed WarblerAcrocephalus arundinaceus
  • Eurasian JayGarrulus glandarius
  • WhitethroatSylvia communis
  • European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis
  • House SparrowPasser domesticus
  • Eurasian Penduline TitRemiz pendulinus
  • Eurasian Golden OrioleOriolus oriolus
  • Eastern Olivaceous WarblerIduna pallida
  • Northern RavenCorvus corax
  • Lesser Grey ShrikeLanius minor
  • Cirl BuntingEmberiza cirlus
  • Red-backed ShrikeLanius collurio
  • Corn BuntingEmberiza calandra
  • Mistle ThrushTurdus viscivorus
  • European GreenfinchChloris chloris
  • European RobinErithacus rubecula
  • Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
  • Common LinnetLinaria cannabina
  • Eastern Subalpine WarblerCurruca cantillans
  • Black-headed buntingEmberiza melanocephala
  • White WagtailMotacilla alba
  • Eurasian Blue TitCyanistes caeruleus
  • Sand MartinRiparia riparia
  • BlackcapSylvia atricapilla
  • Common ChiffchaffPhylloscopus collybita
  • European SerinSerinus serinus
  • Eurasian WrenTroglodytes troglodytes
  • Western Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava
  • Sombre TitPoecile lugubris
  • Crested larkGalerida cristata
  • Greater Short-toed LarkCalandrella brachydactyla
  • Spotted FlycatcherMuscicapa striata
  • Woodchat ShrikeLanius senatorNT
  • Cetti's WarblerCettia cetti
  • Bearded ReedlingPanurus biarmicus
  • Eurasian ChaffinchFringilla coelebs
  • Spanish sparrowPasser hispaniolensis
  • Black RedstartPhoenicurus ochruros
  • Sardinian WarblerCurruca melanocephala
Other birds14 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • European Turtle DoveStreptopelia turturVU
  • CootFulica atra
  • Eurasian HoopoeUpupa epops
  • Bee-eaterMerops apiaster
  • Alpine SwiftTachymarptis melba
  • Syrian WoodpeckerDendrocopos syriacus
  • Green WoodpeckerPicus viridis
  • Rock DoveColumba livia
  • Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
  • Common CuckooCuculus canorus
  • WryneckJynx torquilla
  • Common KingfisherAlcedo atthis
  • Common Wood PigeonColumba palumbus
  • European SwiftApus apus

Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.

When to go

The most species in July.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan03°/-4°57 mm
  2. Feb05°/-3°53 mm
  3. Mar2310°/0°54 mm
  4. Apr1414°/4°57 mm
  5. May5919°/9°62 mm
  6. Jun3725°/13°50 mm
  7. Jul6929°/16°36 mm
  8. Aug5229°/16°36 mm
  9. Sep2523°/11°60 mm
  10. Oct617°/6°66 mm
  11. Nov011°/2°69 mm
  12. Dec344°/-3°70 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Lake Prespa.

Lakes in Southeastern Europe

Lake Prespa is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Greece, 843 m above the sea.

91 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 733 open records.

The most recorded are the Dalmatian Pelican, the Microcarbo pygmaeus and the Great Cormorant.

39 species come for the summer, 4 for the winter and 4 only pass through.

1 are threatened worldwide, including European Turtle Dove.

The most species are recorded in July.

Fisherman's cabin (Lake Prespa)
Bomac · CC BY 3.0

Get there and watch

  • Кампувалиште „Крани“campsite · 4.8 km · 2 within 10 km
  • Hotel MVRplace to stay · 4.4 km · 16 within 10 km
  • Kraninearest town · 6.6 km in a straight line
  • Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport (OHD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 40 km in a straight lineCar hire at OHD airport (Ohrid)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The place and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Lake Prespa seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 2campsites within 10 kmКампувалиште „Крани“, Цоца камп
  • 16places to stay within 10 kmHotel MVR, Η Συντροφιά, Φίλιππος and 13 more
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • marked trails within 4 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • viewpoints within 5 km
  • car parks within 3 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Lake Prespa.

The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas66 mountains within 25 km
Dobra Voda2,062 m · 9.9 kmBaltan2,117 m · 13 kmPelister2,601 m · 16 kmVarnous2,334 m · 16 kmIlinden2,540 m · 17 kmPllaja e Pusit2,288 m · 18 kmKota2,242 m · 19 kmMagaro Peak2,255 m · 21 km
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 km
Small Prespa lakeBortle 2 · 16 km
Riveryasthe river nearby
Brajčino RiverKrani RiverŠtrbovo River

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Fishing at Lake Prespa
Bomac · CC BY 3.0
Scale Megaln Prespa Limvn
Pjposullivan · CC BY-SA 3.0
A boat on the shore of Lake Prespa at sunrise in Oteševo
Smihael · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other places nearby.

Lake Prespa

Greece

  • 51Birdyas Score
  • 91Species
  • 47Migrants
  • 1Threatened

Divjakë-Karavasta National Park

Albania · 131 km

  • 73Birdyas Score
  • 182Species
  • 102Migrants
  • 4Threatened

See the guide

Dojran Lake

Greece · 147 km

  • 75Birdyas Score
  • 177Species
  • 91Migrants
  • 6Threatened

See the guide

Ulcinj Saltworks

Montenegro · 186 km

  • 83Birdyas Score
  • 241Species
  • 139Migrants
  • 8Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q204392) · CC0
Birds733 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.