Over 75 species of birds have been recorded within the Gardens or flying overhead on active migration.

One of the most common birds in the gardens, blackbirds are here all year round, nesting in trees and bushes. They feed on insects and other small creatures as well as on berries and other fruit. In autumn and early winter they tend to go around in groups of up to seven or eight. But they later become territorial and from late winter they can be heard singing tunefully from high perches. Fights break out between males usually in February and March The brown youngsters are around from about May. Males are black with orange beaks, females are greyer and streaked.

Two types of blackcaps are found in Gibraltar. These are the darker local birds which nest in the bushes and low trees and the winter visitors from northern Europe with are larger and paler and have longer, more pointed wings. In both types the males have black caps and the females rust-coloured caps. They feed mainly on insects and fruit. In winter especially they take the nectar from the red flowered Aloe plants. Blackcaps have a melodious song delivered from a high perch in late winter and spring. The young appear mainly in May.

The colourful blue tit is a noisy small bird that nests in holes. In the Alameda, which lacks natural tree holes, it tends to use nest boxes, but it also nests in holes in the lampposts along Europa Road just outside the garden's boundaries. Its diet is varied and includes insects, fruit and nectar which it steals by pecking hole with its strong beak through the base of flowers. After the nesting season blue tits often go around in small groups. They are resdient in Gibraltar and can be seen in the gardens throughout the year.

The chaffinch is one of the winter visitors to the Alameda, although it does nest in woodland in nearby Spain. chaffinches arrive in the Gardens around the end of October and remain until the spring. They will often be seen walking along the ground picking their food, especially in the more densely wooded parts near the Grand Parade. Both insects and plants make up their diet. During cold spells the numbers of chaffinches in the Alameda can increase, but usually a population of about ten birds spends the winter here.

Another of the winter visitors, this small warbler is very often seen drinking nectar from the bright red flower tubes of Aloe arborescens. Mainly, however, it is an insect eater and will pick aphids and other small creatures off leaves and twigs and often even from the ground. Chiffchaffs are in the Gardens between October and April Those at the beginning and end of this period are usually migrants. During autumn and spring other similar birds occur on migration, notably the willow warbler and the bonelli's warbler.

The hoopoe is a feature of the Alameda in early spring, especially February and March, when the species migrates through Gibraltar and is attracted by the woodland look of the Gardens. It can occur as early as January, through to May and individuals can turn up on their return journey to Africa in July, August and September. They feed on the ground, probing it with their long, curved beak and will even pick the processionary caterpillars. Their light, buoyant flight on broad black and white wings is reminiscent one of a large butterfly. When nervous, the hoopoe erects its characteristic crest.

These popular "Christmas card birds" are appropriately mainly winter visitors to the Gardens, arriving in large numbers at the end of October and staying until March. On arrival they often sing and fight as they set up winter territories. Robins feed largely on insects, and do so on the ground. The robins that come to Gibraltar are mainly from continental Europe, including Germany and France. Since about 1992 one or two pairs of robins have remained in the Gardens to nest every year, being one of the rarest nesting birds of Gibraltar.

This warbler is resident in the scrub of the Upper Rock but also frequents the Alameda, where a few pairs nest. It is a typical scrub warbler and tends to keep to the shrubs, although it can also be seen in trees and on the ground. It feeds mainly on insects and, in winter, on berries and sometimes nectar. The Sardinian warbler is present in the Gardens throughout the year, but is most commonly seen here in the winter. Look out for the bright red eye-ring and black hood of the male.

Look again if you think you've seen a mouse scurrying up a tree trunk. It was probably a short-toed treecreeper, a bird that feeds on insects it picks with its thin curved beak from crevices in and under tree bark. These birds are common in woodlands near Gibraltar, but on the Rock occur only on passage, mainly in October, and during the winter months. Special nest boxes have been placed to try and encourage them to nest in the Gardens.

Thousands of yellow-legged gulls nest in Gibraltar and stay here all year round, although they are least evident between August and October. They can be seen constantly flying over the Alameda to and from the cliffs above and attempt to nest in the Gardens every year, sometimes successfully raising two or three brown, speckled young which fledge in June and July. These gulls feed on a wide variety of items, including rubbish and berries, often taking the orange fruit of the Osyris and the dragon trees in the Gardens. They will steal frogs and goldfish from the ponds and won't hesitate to take young birds too.

The collared dove only started nesting in Gibraltar in 1995 and some of the first sightings were in the Alameda Gardens. This species began a westward spread from Asia several decades ago and has now made it across the whole of Europe. It nests in the Gardens every year and its call - made up of three syllables repeated softly - is now a feature of spring in the Alameda. Collared doves can be seen perched on a tree or walking and feeding - often in pairs - along paths and on flower beds.

A large bat with, as its name suggests, an almost totally free mouse-like tail which sticks out behind the "web". It is fairly frequent in Gibraltar where it roosts in rock crevices on cliffs and also in suitable spots on buildings. They are most commonly evident in spring and summer, more often heard than seen, as they make an audible sharp "tsick" sound in flight. Like all European bats, it is an insect eater which occurs in the Alameda, but not as frequent as the pipistrelle.

Three very similar species of pipistrelle bat occur in Gibraltar and can be seen in the Gardens. They live in crevices in trees and buildings. Grey bat boxes have been placed in some of the trees of the Alameda and are used by pipistrelles. They are small bats that fly over and through the trees as they feed and descend to drink from ponds. They are often seen in the evening before dark and sometimes even during the day. Pipistrelles can be seen in the Alameda throughout the year.

This terrapin has been introduced into the ponds of the Alameda Gardens and is now naturalised, breeding here every year. Except on the coldest days, the terrapins can be seen basking on the edges of the ponds, and in fact can also turn up wandering almost anywhere in the park, especially in the summer. In the autumn the young hatchlings, just two or three centimetres across, are also around, usually looking for the nearest pond. They are native in rivers, streams and ponds in neighbouring Spain. They feed on a wide range of animal or vegetable matter.

This is the common daytime lizard of the Gardens, active on any sunny day in the year. In warmer weather they forage for insects and other small creatures in low vegetation or along walls and tree trunks, while on cooler days they spend most of their time basking in the sun. Iberian wall lizards will congregate in sunny spots in winter but can be very aggressive with each other in the spring. The females lay eggs which hatch in late June and July when the tiny hatchlings with bight green tails can be seen running across walls and flower beds.

Amphisbaenian Blanus cinereus

This legless scaled reptile is closely related to lizards and snakes.  Its has a pink colouration and ringed arrangement of the scales, and reduced and deeply recessed eyes because it spends much of its time burrowing in the soft soil.   It is ocassionally found in the spring time by the gardeners under rotting logs.

A wide variety of invertebrates, including butterflies, moths and beetles are found in the Gardens.  All these are the subject of cataloguing and research by the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society (GONHS) as part of its Gibraltar Biodiversity Project.  Some species are described below.

Caterpillars of the pine processionary moth form long processions in February and March as they descend from their rough silken nests among the pine needles to look for soft soil where they dig themselves in to pupate. The moths emerge in the late summer but are rarely seen as they fly at night.

And beware: the hairs on the caterpillars are very irritant and can cause severe rashes. On some years the caterpillars can cause serious loss of pine needles as they feed and so we try to control them by trapping the male moths in the summer in pheromone traps you can see hanging from some of the trees.

The praying mantis, while not very common, can be seen in the Gardens in the autumn. The tiny young hatch from the large papery egg cases on rocks or tree trunks from late summer and grow quickly. The fully grown mantises can later be seen on leaves, twigs and flowers, sitting in wait of passing prey animals which they catch them by shooting out the front legs and snapping them shut around them. They generally feed on insects, but large mantises can catch and feed on anything up to the size of a baby lizard.