Page 6 - Agostini_2005

186 — Letters VoL. 39, No. 2

Table 1. Counts and estimates of raptors crossing the Channel of Sicily in the central Mediterranean area during
three decades.

Thiollay’ s Strait of Messina Strait of Messina
Estimates Counts 1986-90 Counts 1996-2000
1970s“ (Min-Max)*’ (Min-Max)'^

European Honey-buzzard {Pernis apivorus) >16.000 6.032-8.516 16.700-27.297
Black Kite {Milvus migrans) >15.000 155-397 546-1.008
Western Marsh Harrier {Circus aeruginosus) >700 125-978 1.621-3.074
Montagu’s Harrier (C. pygargus) >220 5-273 155-866
Pallid Harrier (C. macrourus) >50 4-15 25-83
Montagu’s/Pallid Harrier (C. pygargus X macrourus) — 0-29 33-159
Northern Harrier (C. cyaneus) >15 11-59 3-84
Common Buzzard {Buteo buteo) >2.800 15-42 30-103
Long-legged Buzzard {B. rufinus) >200 0-4 6-12
Short-toed Eagle ( Circaetus gallicus) >400 0-3 1-4
Egyptian Vulture {Neophron percnopterus) >620 4-8 3-12
Booted Eagle {Hieraaetus pennatus) >450 5-22 5-19
Lesser Spotted Eagle {Aquila pomarina) >150 0-5 0-4
Eurasian Sparrowhawk {Accipiter nisus) >70 0-7 2-14
Osprey {Pandion haliaetus) >20 2-20 10-25
••Thiollay (1975, Nos 0iseaux3S: 109-121; 1977, Alauda 43: 115-121).
^
Giordano (1991, Birds Prey Bull. 4:239-249).
Corso (2001, Br. Birds 94: 196-202).

Lees and Christie (2001, Raptors of the world, Helm Edition, London): “Italian population (380-415 pairs) presum-
ably crosses by Sicilian Channel to and from Tunisia’s Cap Bon, whence total of ca. 200 travelled northward on spring
migration during 2-18 May 1975.” However, recent studies in Italy showed that nearly all the Italian population of
this species crosses the Mediterranean Sea at the Strait of Gibraltar (14 km wide), with hundreds of birds breeding
m central Italy using a circuitous migratory route both during spring and autumn migration (Agostini et al. 2002a,
Raptor Res. 36:111-114; Agostini et al. 2002b, Ardeola 49:287—291; Agostini et al. 2004, Avocetta 28:37—40; Baghino
J.
2003, Avocetta 27:67; Premuda 2004, Riv. Ital. Ornitol. 74:119-124). The number recorded at Cap Bon by Thiollay
during the first half of May was relatively late for the spring migration of this species (Cramp and Simmons 1980,
The birds of the western Palearctic, Vol. 2, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, U.K.). I suggest that perhaps the relatively
large number of Short-toed Eagles reported by Thiollay was the result of recounting immature birds in northern
Tunisia. In agreement with this conclusion, recent observations by some colleagues and I made over Marettimo

showed a late autumn passage ofjuvenile Short-toed Eagles across the Sicilian Channel (Agostini et al. 2004, Avocetta
28:37-40).
I wish to thank M. Gonzalez Forero, M. Sara, Bednarz, A. Green, F. Sergio, and one anonymous referee for their
J.
useful comments on this manuscript. Nicolantonio Agostini (e-mail address: nicolantonioa@tiscalinet.it), Via Carlo
Alberto n°4, 89046 Marina di Gioiosa Jonica (RC), Italy.

Received 10 October 2003; accepted 10 March 2005

Raptor Res. 39 (2): 186—187
J.
© 2005 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc.

Ground Nesting by Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus) in the Canary Islands

Ground nesting is a relatively rare occurrence in raptors, except for areas lacking any elevated nesting substrates
(e.g., tundra habitats), or islands devoid of mammalian predators (Newton 1979, Population ecology of raptors, Buteo
Books, Vermillion, SD U.S.A.). Moreover, this behavior has not been described for large diurnal raptors with long