Logo-BRC
painted by Johanna Yourstone 2012
painted by Jenny Eikestam 2012

Count Results & Prospects

Long-term monitoring by the Batumi Raptor Count

The results of BRC 2008 and 2009 are further discussed in an international context of breeding populations and bottleneck areas in the Black Sea basin in an upcoming publication. A link to this article will be submitted upon publication.  In summary the Batumi bottleneck is a key component in the flyways of many of the Eurasian migratory raptor species. Average recorded numbers for 10 of these exceed 1% of the estimated world population.

Considerations in some particular cases of species exclusion/inclusion

At Batumi the exclusion of some species for monitoring appears very strange from a birdwatchers perspective because some may constitute an important portion of the total migration. We repeat here that it is important to realize that monitoring is all about long-term effort and that data on migratory species must always be regarded in an international context! This means that some species will not be eligible to ´monitor´ because of practical difficulties or the value of localized counts relative to breeding numbers or numbers of migrants at other watch-sites.

The Western Palearctic’s most important bottleneck for autumn raptor migration

The autumn migration consists mainly of Honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus, ca. 400,000 each autumn) and Steppe Buzzard (Buteo buteo vulpinus, 250,000+), both with daily totals peaking at 60,000 - 80,000 ind. Other numerous species include Black Kite (50,000+), [...] , Montagu´s (C. pygargus, 3,000+) and Pallid Harrier (C. macrourus, 1,000+ ) ...
© Batumi Raptor Count  2008 - 2013