European Shags

As far as we can tell European Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis have been raising their young on the cliffs and ledges around Gorham's Cave for at least 60 thousand years! Here is part of the 2013 generation. 

Horses

Horses were a feature of the Neanderthal landscape outside Gorham's Cave. The habitats in the Coto Donana, where we can find semi-wild horses today, are very similar to those that existed outside these caves; they included seasonal wetlands, shrublands and areas with scattered trees, all of which suited horses well as they still do today.

The Red Kite

The Red Kite Milvus milvus is a tree-nesting raptor that eats a wide variety of small prey, from frogs and mice to birds and small rabbits. It is also a regular scavenger, attending carcasses of large animals. Some birds nest in the Coto Donana but numbers are augmented in winter by birds from the north. At Gorham's Cave the Red Kite features prominently among the raptors and evidence of cut marks on wing bones indicates that the Neanderthals got to them, almost certainly for their superb feathers.