Report migration of birds of prey over Kythira
Along with the two major migratory corridors of large raptors over the Mediterranean Sea during the two migration periods, i.e. the Bosporus Straits on eastern Mediterranean and the Straits of Gibraltar on the west, a large number of birds – of medium and/or smaller size – use also other migratory routes. The geographical position of the island of Kythera, in SW Greece, at the southernmost tip of the Balkan Peninsula, is a very important “migration bottleneck” in the Central-Eastern Mediterranean for millions of birds during their annual migration in the spring from their wintering grounds on the African continent towards Eurasia and vice versa during the autumn.
The first observations in Kythera, that highlighted the importance of the region on the migration of birds of prey during both migration periods, were made in the early ‘90s. So far, 35 raptor species have been recorded over Kythera, during both migration periods, out of the 45 species recorded in Europe. The total number of raptors counted during the 21 years of monitoring of the migration over that area amounts up to 286.595 individuals. During the spring migration 94.141 birds of prey have been counted and 192.454 individuals during the autumn one. The two most common species recorded in both migration periods, is the Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus and the European Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus.