Birds represent an important part of the total biodiversity of the Krka River. With two hundred and twenty-nine bird species recorded, the Krka National Park area is among the richest ornithological areas in Croatia, and is important as a resting place for migratory birds, but also for overwintering ones.
One hundred and forty-two species of birds have been recorded in terrestrial habitats, of which ninety-one are nesting birds. The most common species in these habitats are the cirl bunting (Emberiza cirlus), the black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) and the eastern subalpine warbler (Sylvia cantillans). Rocky grasslands are the habitat of thirty-one species of birds, among which the most abundant is the tawny pipit (Anthus campestris), while in the sections covered with dense stands of juniper bushes and Aleppo pines forty-two species were noted, predominantly warblers (Sylvia sp.). The rock formations and gullies on the edges of the canyons are the habitat of eighteen species, typical among them the rock partridge (Alectoris graeca). The forests of downy oak along the shores of the Visovac Lake are the habitat of thirty-five species, the most common being the Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla), Eurasian bluetit (Cyanistes caeruleus), Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), European serin (Serinus serinus), and others. Rocks and cliffs are inhabited by twenty-two species, while urban areas are home to sixty-five species, forty-nine of them nesting types, of which the most are the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), house martin (Delichon urbicum), and sparrows (Passer sp.). Ninety species of birds were recorded in aquatic habitats: twenty-five species of nesting birds, fifty species of migratory birds, and fifteen species of overwintering birds. The most numerous species is the Eurasian coot (Fulica atra).
Six birds of prey have disappeared from the Park area since the middle of the 20th century: the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Bonelli’s eagle (Aquila fasciata), the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), and the peregrine falcon (Falco pelegrinus).
