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Migration ecology of raptors in the Mediterranean

(Circus pyargus). All these species are capable of few species of raptors attempt. Unlike the central
undertaking long powered flights over the sea Mediterranean area where raptor migration has
(Spaar and Bruderer 1997, Agostini and Panuccio been studied since the late 1980s, information
2005, Meyburg et al. 2010, Panuccio and Agostini concerning flyways used by migrating raptors in
2010). In both spring and autumn, raptors carry the Eastern Mediterranean remains patchy. On
out ‘island hopping’ migration, using the islands the island of Antikythira (30 km northwest of
of Marettimo, Pantelleria, Malta (to name but the Crete) the Hellenic Ornithological Society has an
most important) as stop-over sites where they can observatory with a ringing station. Its preliminary
roost and exploit thermal currents to limit the use observations have led me and my colleagues
of powered flight. The highest concentration of to initiate fieldwork in Greece. The findings at
migrating raptors in the area is between Sicily and the watchpoint on Mount Olympus were more
southern continental Italy, namely over the Strait complicated; indeed I went there on the basis of
of Messina and along the Calabrian Apennines. In a mere hypothesis and some Google Earth images.
spring in particular, tens of thousands of raptors Nonetheless the research has yielded good results,
concentrate on the first site where they can be seen in particular thanks to observations of hundreds
on both sides of the Strait while in the autumn of eagles moving in a direction contrary to usual
raptors migrate along the mountain chains of (northwards in autumn and southwards in spring).
southern continental Italy where their migration Methods and their limits
can be observed thanks to the narrowness of the “The human eye is one of the best tools for studying
peninsula, just a few dozen kilometres wide. migration” (Kerlinger 2009).
The Eastern Mediterranean Most of the papers included in this dissertation
At the southernmost point of the Balkans present and discuss data collected by visual
Peninsula, south of the Peloponnesus (Greece), are observation. For this reason they shall be considered
found some small islands as well as the huge island as research made on the visible migration of raptors.
of Crete (Fig. 1). Crossing the Mediterranean in Since raptors mostly fly during daylight and
this area involves flying over the sea for about 300 migrate at lower altitudes compared to other birds
km, which implies a long powered flight that only (i.e. waders), this method is useful (Alerstam 1990,

Figure 1 - The study area. The black dots indicate the fieldwork sites: 1) Marettimo island; 2) Strait of
Messina; 3) Calabrian Apennines; 4) Apuan Alps; 5) Antikhitira island; 6) Mount Olympus.

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