Southern Smooth Snake

Southern Smooth Snake

Coronella girondica

Silhouette: PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Barcelona

In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%

7 Verified sightings at Barcelona
69 In all 4 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️🌙 Day & Night When it's spotted

About the Southern Smooth Snake

Coronella girondica, commonly known as the southern smooth snake or Riccioli's snake, is a species of harmless snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to southern Europe and northern Africa. No subspecies are recognized as being valid.

C. girondica is found in Spain, Portugal, southern France, Monaco, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The type locality given is Bordeaux, France. C. girondica is brown, grayish, or reddish dorsally, with dark brown or blackish transverse bars or spots. On the nape there is a dark U-shaped mark, or a pair of dark elongate spots. There is a dark streak from the eye to the corner of the mouth, a dark band from eye to eye across the prefrontals, and a black line below the eye. Ventrally it is yellowish or red with black markings. The dorsal scales, which are smooth, are in 21 rows (rarely 19). Adults may attain a total length of 62 cm (2 feet), of which 12.5 cm (5 inches) is tail.

The natural habitats of C. girondica are temperate forests, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rocky areas, pastureland, and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss. This... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~20%
2 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~20%
3 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
4 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Barcelona 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Southern Smooth Snake in Barcelona?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Smooth Snake sighting in Barcelona on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 9th most-seen of the 11 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Southern Smooth Snake in Barcelona?

May–August and December

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Smooth Snake in Barcelona on a given day, against under 5% in January–April and September–November, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Southern Smooth Snake?

Between 8 and 11 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Smooth Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.

Where else can you see a Southern Smooth Snake?

Only Barcelona, in our data

Barcelona is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Southern Smooth Snake sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Which relatives of the Southern Smooth Snake live in Barcelona?

Same family: Colubridae

The closest relatives of the Southern Smooth Snake that you can see in Barcelona (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Ladder Snake (about 10%) and Viperine Snake (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Southern Smooth Snake sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Southern Smooth Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Barcelona (7 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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