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J RaptorRes. 29(2):127-134 ¸ 1995 The Raptor ResearchFoundation, Inc.

SPRING 1994 RAPTOR MIGRATION AT ElLAT, ISRAEL

REUVEN YOSEF International Birding Center, P.O. Box 774, Eilat 88000, Israel

ABSTRACT.--Inthe Old World, most raptors and other soaring breed north of 35øN latitude and winter between30øN and 30øS.An estimated3 000 000 raptors from Europe and Asia migrate through the Middle East. Israel is the only land bridge for birds migrating south between Europe and Asia to in autumn, and north to their breedinggrounds in spring. In spring 1994 a total of 1 031 387 soaringbirds were countedin 92 d of observation.Of these 1 022 098 were raptors of 30 species,for an averageof 11 110 raptors per day. The most abundant specieswere the honey buzzard (Pernisapivorus) and the steppebuzzard (Buteobuteo vulpinus). Levant sparrowhawks(Accipiter brevipes), steppe (Aquilanipalensis), and black kites (Milvus rnigrans)numbers were smallerby an order of magnitude.A total of 1999 raptorswere unidentifiedto species(0.19% of total). KEY WORDS: Eilat; Israel;migration; raptors; spring 1994;survey.

Migraci6n de rapacesen la primaverade 1994 en Eilat, Israel RESUMEN.--Enel viejomundo, la mayorlade las rapacesy otrasaves planeadoras nidifican al norte de los 35øN,yen invierno se encuentranentre los 30øN y 30øS.Se ha estimadoen tres millonesde rapaces de Europa y Asia que migran a travis del Medio Este. Israel es solamenteel puentede tierra para aves que migran a Africa desdeEuropa y Asia durante el otofio, y al norte durante la primavera hacia sus fireasreproductivas. En la primaverade 1994 un total de 1 031 387 de avesfueron contadas en 92 dias de observaci6n.De elias,1 022 098 fueronrapaces de 30 especies,i.e., conun promediode 11 110 rapaces pot dla. Las especiesmils abundantesson Perhis apivorus y Buteobuteo vulpinus. Accipiter brevipes, Aquila nipalensisy Milvus rnigransresultaron set menosabundantes en un ordende magnitud.Un total de 1999 rapacesno ruetonidentificados a nivel de especies(0.19% del total). [Traducci6n de Ivan Lazo]

Since Christensenet al. (1981) publishedtheir grate over this southernpoint of Israel including classicreport on the phenomenonof a bottleneckof ,waterfowl, ,and pelagicspecies. raptors and other soaring birds over the northern These latter speciesare mostlynocturnal migrants tip of the easternarm of the Red Sea,several raptor (Bruderer 1994). migration(Thomson 1953) surveyshave been made Eilat is at the southernend of the Arava Valley in springand autumn (Shirihai 1987, 1988, Shirihai which forms part of the rift valley, a tectonicde- and Yekutiel 1991, Shirihai and Christie 1992). The pressionextending from Anatolia to central Africa most recentsurvey was in the spring of 1988. (Safriel1968). On the Israeliside of thevalley (west) In the Old World, most raptors breed north of the mountainsreach heights of 700 m abovesea level, 35øN latitude and winter between 30øN and 30øS and on the Jordanian side (east) about 1200 m. (Shirihai and Christie 1992). An estimated3 000 000 Eilat is on the northern fringe of the Saharo- raptorsfrom Europe and Asia migratethrough the Arabian desertbelt at the edge of almost 2000 km Middle East.The largestcount achieved in a survey of continuousdesert. Additionally, to the north- was in 1985 wherein 1 193 229 raptorsof 27 species northeastare 650 km of the Syrian Desert, and the (Shirihai and Christie 1992) were countedin 100 Arabian Desertlies to the east(Fig. 1). Hencemany days (for methodsee Thomson 1953). birds land in Eilat to rest before(in autumn) or after Eilat is at the hub of the only land bridgebetween (in spring) crossingthese deserts (Yom-Tov 1988). three continents,and is a junctionfor birdsmigrating The northwardjourney of thosethat have overwin- southbetween Europe and Asia to Africa in autumn tered in Africa is directed north or northeast in the and north to their breedinggrounds in spring(Safriel shortest route to their Palearctic or Holarctic breed- 1968, Yom-Tov 1988). Almost 300 speciesmi- ing grounds.

127 128 REUVEN YOSEF VOL. 29, NO. 2

Until recentlyit was assumedthat the rift valley was a convenientflyway that funneledthe migrants headed north from eastern Africa (Yom-Tov 1988). However, detailed studies (e.g., $afriel 1968, Wimpfheimer et al. 1983, $hirihai and Christie 50 100Kin ß 1992), suggestthat the routes bypassthe Red Sea, cut acrossthe Sinai Peninsula, and convergeover the northern part of its eastern arm, at Eilat or MediterraneanSea slightly further north. A proportion of migrating birds also cuts acrossthe Straits of Jubal toward Ras Muhammad and Sharm-el-Sheikh (Christensen t Isr et el. 1981). These birds then continuenorth along the cliffs of the Gulf of Aqaba coastline.This ex- •, f Jordan plainswhy largeconcentrations of soaringbirds are seenmostly in the spring(February to May) at Eilat in the diurnal hours(Yom-Tov 1988), and why mi- Sinai grating waders, waterfowl, passerines (Bruderer Egypt Eilat 1994) and raptors (Stark and Liechti 1993) can be detectedby radar at night.

METHODS Saudi Arabia Observationswere made at three points for approxi- mately 12 h a day from 15 February to 19 May 1994, except for 2 d of sandstorms;92 d of observationswere carried out. Each raptor observationincluded the exact time of observation,species, exact or estimatednumber seen,estimated height and directionof flight, and pre- Red Sea vailing weather conditions.Counting of small flocks(up to mid-hundreds)was fairly accurateby countingindi- vidual birdsor groupsof ten; and flocksof thousandswere countedto within an accuracyestimated as ñ 10% or better (similar to Shirihai and Christie 1992). Double counts Figure 1. Map of the regionshowing location of Eilat. were eliminated by comparingrecording sheets at the end Curvedline with dotsrepresents international boundaries of the day. All data were summarizedby 5-d periodsfor all species,and comparedto previoussurveys. Observationpoints were closeto those used by Chris- tensenet el. (1981) and were improvedby Hadoram Shi- RESULTS rihai (Shirihai and Christie 1992). The observationpoints A total of 1 022 098 raptors of 30 specieswere were suchthat soaringbirds frequentlyflew within 50 m of the observersin mornings and late evenings.During counted in 92 d of observation(Table 1); i.e., an midday the birds used thermals and could be discerned averageof 11 110 raptorsper day. The most abun- only with binocularsor telescopes.The use of telescopes dant speciesin my surveywere the honeybuzzard considerablyincreased the number of identified individ- (Pernisapivorus) and steppebuzzard (Buteo buteo uals. The extensiveinformation provided by previoussur- veysallowed us to concentrateon the best areas at the best vulpinus;Table 1). Levantsparrowhawks (Accipiter times of the day. However, observerswere at all stations brevipes),steppe eagles (Aquila nipalensis; see Clark at all times,even if no birdswere expectedin the vicinity. 1992) and blackkites (Milvus rnigrans) numbers were I classifiedthe speciesaccording to the schemesuggested smallerby an orderof magnitude.Egyptian vultures by Shirihai and Christie (1992), who separatedthe species into four classes based on their relative abundance in mi- ( Neophronpercnopterus), short-toed eagles ( Circaetus gration at Eilat. The most abundant specieswere further gallicus),booted eagles (Hieraaetuspennatus), subdivided into two levels: level I were those seen in hun- (Pandionhaliaetus), marsh harriers (Circusaerugz- dreds of thousands and level 2 in tens of thousands. Com- nosus),and sparrowhawks(Accipiter nisus) were seen mon specieswere in their hundreds,uncommon species in in hundreds.Griffon vultures(Gypsfulvus), Bonel- tens, and rare were singles.This schemewas chosenfor consistencybecause Shirihai and Christie(1992) analyzed li's eagles (Hieraaetusfasciatus), long-legged buz- the migrationof six (nonconsecutive)springs, and my study zards (Buteorufinus), pallid harriers (Circusrna- representsonly spring 1994. crourus),lesser kestrels (Falco naurnanni), Eurasian JUNE1995 RAPTORMIGRATION IN ISRAlg[ 129 kestrels(Falco tinnunculus), hobbies (Falco subbuteo), on 19 March and the last on 5 May (Fig. 2). Peak and Eleonora'sfalcons (Falco eleonorae)were un- migrationoccurred over 2 d when compactflocks of common species. thousandswere observed.On 25 April 25 522 were A total of 1999 raptors were unidentified(0.19% seenand on 26 April an additional14472; i.e., 90% of total). Of thesethe majority (1685, 0.16%) were of the observationsoccurred within a spanof 48 hr. due to uncertaintyof identificationbetween species This concurswith earlier reports (Phillips 1915, with similar flight or silhouette,or were observed Hollom 1959, Safriel 1968, Shirihai and Christie from a distancethat did not allow a good view. In 1992) that peak migration of this speciesoccurs on this category,1557 (0.15%) remain unclassifiedas 25 or 26 April (Shirihai and Yekutiel 1991). steppe/honeybuzzards, 104 (0.01%) aslesser/Eur- Steppeeagles formed 3.0% of total raptors seen. asian kestrels,and 24 (0.002%) as sparrowhawks. My data concur with those of Safriel (1968) and In addition,others identified to genuswere 37 har- Shirihai and Christie (1992) that the steppeeagle riers (Circusspp.), 29 eagles(Aquila spp.), and 21 migrationbegins in late January with a major peak medium to large falcons (Falco spp.). Only 227 occurringbetween the third week of February and (0.02%) raptors could not be further classified. mid-March and a smaller secondarywave in mid- Abundant Species.Level 7. The honeybuzzard April (Fig. 2). On 4 March the largest number was a verylate migrant and the mostnumerous (Fig. (4292) was counted.Considered to be a speciesthat 2). It comprised52% of the total spring migration. is observedin smallnumbers throughout spring, the The first individualswere seenon 17 April and peak last individualwas observed on 9 May. It constituted migrationwas between 1-5 May (51% of total seen). 99.5% of all Aquila eaglesseen. The largestnumber seenin a singleday was on 2 Black kites were the only speciescounted in con- May when 176 424 honey buzzardswere counted. siderably lower numbers in the 1994 survey com- Small flockswere still passingat the termination of pared to previousstudies. The 15 659 kites seenis the surveyand migration of this speciesin mid-June well below the minimum of 24728 seen in 1986. In has been previously documented(Shirihai and the 1994 survey,they comprisedonly 1.5% of total Christie 1992). raptors observedin comparisonto 2-4.6% in pre- The steppebuzzard was the secondmost numer- viousyears. Peak migration,when 1000-2000 kites ousspecies and comprised36% of the total migration. per day were seen,was spreadover 2 wk--22 March Observedregularly throughout the season,peak mi- to 2 April. Althoughseen throughout late April and gration was on 28 March when 39832 recorded May, appearancewas irregular with many dayshav- (Fig. 2). Our observationsconcur with Clark et al. ing no kites at all. (1986) and Gorney and Yom-Tov (1994) that most, CommonSpecies. The Egyptianvulture comprised if not all, buzzardsobserved belong to the eastern 0.04% (417) of the total raptors observed,and was subspeciesB. buteovulpinus. within the range of previous surveys (263-802). Level 2. Levant sparrowhawksconstituted 4.2% Presentin smallnumbers throughout the surveype- of the total migration. This confirmedthe numbers riod, thesevultures had the samethree peak migra- (40 000-50 000) seenon migrationin previousyears tion periods (>30 per day) describedby Shirihai in autumn (Dovrat 1991) or spring (Shirihai and and Christie (1992). Christie 1992). Recent radar studies (Stark and The short-toedeagle was seenfrom mid-February Liechti 1993) indicate that visual censusesmay be until late April and peak migration (10 per day) deficientfor this speciesbecause it is possiblethat a was spreadfrom 12-31 March. In spring,the species part of the populationmigrates at night. The num- migrated mostly in pairs and mingled with other bers observedin migration are greatly in excessof speciesin thermals. thosereported from the breedingrange (V.M. Gal- Sparrowhawksare solitarymigrants and their size ushin pers. comm.) and warrants further study to and flight at low altitudesmakes it difficult to spot locateunidentified regions where this speciesbreeds, and identify them. So, more may migrate through or to determine if a significantpopulation of non- Eilat than the 122 seen. However, their relative breederscomprises the populationseen in migration. abundancein the migrationcould possibly represent Shirihai and Christie (1992) report that in previous their peak migration period. The maximum num- surveysthe earliestLevant sparrowhawkseen was bers(>3 per day) were seenbetween 6 and 25 April. on 25 March. In the presentstudy the first was seen The first marsh was seen on 11 March 130 REUVEN YOSEF VOL. 29, No. 2

Table 1. Number of raptorscounted at Eilat, Israel, Spring1994. Questionmark denotesspecies not officially accepted to occur in the region.

MEAN ANNUAL 1994 SPRING SPRING SURVEY SPECIES SURVEY (1977-88) a RANGE FOR ALL SPECIES Total all raptors 1 022 098 795 228 474124-1 193229 Honey buzzard (Perhisapivorus) 545 562 363 221 188914-851598 Black (Milvus migrans) 15 735 28 249 24728-31774 White-tailed ( Haliaeetusalbicilla ) 0 0 0-2 Pallas's fish eagle (?) ( Haliaeetusleucoryphus ) 1 0 0 (Neophron percnopterus ) 417 428 263-802 Griffon vulture (Gypsfulvus) 14 10 2-22 (Aegypius monachus ) 0 0 0-1 Short-toed eagle ( Circaetusgallicus) 159 162 59-345 ( Terathopiusecaudatus) 0 0 0-1 Marsh harrier (Circusaeruginosus) 120 179 71-371 (Circuscyaneus ) 0 0 0-1 (Circus macrourus) 57 57 7-113 Montagu's harrier (Circuspygargus ) 7 19 7-55 Circusspp. 37 28 1-3 Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis ) 0 1 1-3 Sparrowhawk (Accipiternisus) 122 163 52-456 (Accipiter badius ) 0 0 0-1 44 524 16 281 905-49 836 Accipiterspp. 24 298 0-1360 Steppe buzzard (Buteobuteo vulpinus) 381 516 326 278 142793-465 827 Long-leggedbuzzard (Buteorufinus) 65 45 28-105 Pernis/Buteospp. 1557 41 260 3757-149 258 Lesserspotted eagle (Aquilapomarina ) 65 54 21-74 Spottedeagle (Aquila clanga) 2 6 4-10 (Aquilanipalensis) 31 198 28 032 10922-75 053 JUNE 1995 RAPTORMIGRATION IN ISRAEL 131

Table 1. Continued.

MEAN ANNUAL 1994 SPRING SPRING SURVEY SPECIES SURVEY (1977-88) a RANGE FOR ALL SPECIES Imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) 52 47 12-95 (Aquila chrysaetos) 10 1 0-7 Aquila spp. 29 2560 17-9083 (Hieraaetuspennatus) 140 138 105-175 Bonelli's eagle ( Hieraaetusfasciatus ) 12 3 O- 6 Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 101 83 49-130 (Falco naurnanni) 83 22 0-55 Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 80 57 11-190 Red-footed falcon (Falcovespertinus) 6 2 0-12 (Falco colurnbarius) 0 0 0-1 Hobby (Falco subbuteo) 22 23 6-54 Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae) 17 10 6-21 Sootyfalcon (Falco concolor) 5 1 0-2 Lanner (Falco biarrnicus) 0 3 0-7 Saker (Falco cherrug) 0 0 0-2 (Falcoperegrinus) 4 1 0-4 (Falcopelegrinoides) 3 1 0-3 Falco spp. 125 28 0-68 Unidentified raptors 227 1824 0-8601 a Shirihai and Christie (1992). and the specieswas present in small numbers April, the firstwas seen on 22 February.It is possible throughoutthe survey.Two peakswere evidentbe- that someindividuals of this specieswere misiden- tween 22 March to 10 April and 21-27 April when titled and countedas steppeeagles, especially when up to five marsh harriers were observedper day. seen from a distance. UncommonSpecies. Imperial eagles were seen Bootedeagles are dispersedand solitarymigrants. throughoutthe survey.Although two main periods Eighty-nine percent of the 130 seen occurred be- of migrationhave been previously described (Chris- tween 22 March and 20 April. Of the two morphs tensenet al. 1981, Shirihai and Christie 1992) that known for this species,53% seenat Eilat were the patternwas not evidentin 1994. light morph and 47% the dark (for descriptionssee Although the lesserspotted eagle was regularly Holmgren 1984, Clark 1987). This ratio is consis- seen in small numbers from mid-March to mid- tent with previousstudies (e.g., Christensenet al. 132 REUVENYOSEF VOI•.29, NO. 2

species,only sevenwere seenduring the surveype- 300000 riod. They are more commonlyseen along valley 25O000 floors, e.g., 33 km north of Eilat. Solitaryhobbies were seenin smallnumbers from

150000• 17 April and on throughoutthe survey.Some may i200000• have beenmissed owing to their low, dodgingflight • 100000Z in the canyonsbelow the observationposts. 50000 Allowing for the localbreeding population of Eur- 0 asian kestrels,only birds that displayedmigratory 55 65 75 85 95 105 115 125 135 JULIAN DAY behavior (e.g., no hunting, no loitering) were in- cluded in final tally. They were observedin small SteppeBuzzard [] LevantSparrowhawk • SteppeEagle numbersthroughout the survey. [] HoneyBuzzard Rare Species.A Pallas'sfish eagle(Haliaeetus leu- II• Others coryphus)sighting is the first for the regionand the Fig. 2. Phenologyof thefour dominant species of raptors observationremains unconfirmed. The crestedhoney in springmigration at Eilat, Israel. Data are presentedin buzzard (Perhis ptilorhynchus),also a first for the 5-d periods.These four speciescomprise 65-98% of the region,was observed by Hadoram Shirihai on Mount raptorsseen during any given period. Yishay in early May, but not by any observersin my survey. Most (9 of 14) griffon vultures were recorded 1981, Shirihai and Christie 1992) and is attributed early in the survey--between 21 February and 4 to the factthat dark-morphbooted eagles are easily March. They were always seenin flocksof steppe overlookedwhen they are part of flocks. eaglesand/or black kites. Christensen et al. (1981) assumedthat the two Spottedeagles were only seenin late February. morphscomprise a 50:50 ratio in the natural pop- Possibly some were misidentified when flying in ulation. thermalswith lesserspotted or steppeeagles. Mi- The ospreyis considereda rather scarcemigrant grating Bonelli'seagles were rare sightings. and was regularlyobserved from 19 March until 8 The lesserkestrel was a rare but regularmigrant. May, duringwhich at leastone bird per day was The peakof 67 (81% of total for survey)occurred on seen. The largest number occurredon 24 March 19 March, but it is possiblethat many were missed when10 wereobserved. Ospreys are mostlysolitary becauseit migratesmostly along coasts and in open migrants,but they can occasionallybe observedin areas. Ninety-one unidentifiedkestrel speciescould thermalswith small flocks.Although there are no have included lesser kestrels. Red-footed falcons breedingpairs in the immediate area, an individual (Falcovespertinus) were rare migrantsand although that loitered at the shore was excluded from all counts. knownto migrategregariously on otherroutes, were Long-leggedbuzzards migrate in small numbers always observedsingly at Eilat. The specieswas fromlate-February to late-April.Numbers may have seenbetween 7 April and 5 May. Eleonora'sfalcon beenunderestimated because of its similarityto and (Falcoeleonorae) was a late migrant, solitary,and tendencyto migratewith the morecommon steppe occurred in small numbers. Observed between 15 buzzard (seeShirihai and Forsman 1992). April and 7 May, singlebirds were reporteduntil Pallid harrierswere seenonly for 3 wk--between late June. The sootyfalcon (Falco concolor) was also 19 March and 11 April. Peak migrationwas on 23 a late migrant, solitary,and occurredin very low March when 14 individuals were recorded. Gender numbers.Shirihai and Christie (1992) considered differencein timingof migrationwas obvious. Males the ones seen in Eilat to be those that breed in the migratedfrom 19 March until 3 April, and females DeadSea or NegevDesert regions. Peregrine falcons from29 March until 11 April. Similarto thereport (Falcoperegrinus) were rare, sporadic,and seensin- of Shirihai and Christie (1992), no juvenileswere gly. The first onewas seen22 February,the second seen in 1994. on 23 March, and two more on 24 and 25 April, Montagu'sharriers (Circuspygargus) migrated respectively.Allowing for the localbreeding popu- abouta week later than pallid harriers,i.e., from 8 lationof abouttwo pairs,only barbary falcons (Falco to 23 April. Although classifiedas an uncommon pelegrinoides)that displayedmigratory behavior were JUNE1995 RAPTORMIGRATION IN ISRAEL 133 xncludedin final tally. Thesefalcons were seensingly on end in the blazing sun: Michael Prince, Mark Lawlor, on 17, 24, and 27 April. James P. Smith, Gerd Wichers, Thomas Engberg, Ajay Shekdar, Simon Hartill, Kevin Johnston,Gordon Ander- DISCUSSION son, Michael Allen, Barak Granit, Kees Breek, Peter Raas, Yariv Dekel, Ya'ara Haas, Froujke Breek, Yoav Pearl- Migration was dominatedin the easternPalearc- man, Ehud Dovrat, Andrew Musgrove, and Itay Shani. tic by two species,honey buzzard and steppe buzzard John H. Morgan helpedwith logisticsand alsocommented (Table 1). At Eilat the three dominantspecies com- on an earlier draft of this paper. Keith Bildstein,Katharine prised between 65-98% of the birds seen on any E. Duffy, and Allen Fish improvedan earlier draft of this paper. Kuki Lahman and Yaakov Langer have regularly givenday (Fig. 2). Most flockswere mixed-species suppliedband recoverydata to IBCE. This is a contri- flockswith black kite, steppeeagle, imperial eagle bution of the International Birding Center in Eilat. (Aquilaheliaca), (Aquila pomar- ma), short-toedeagle, and Egyptian vulture being LITERATURE CITED the speciesmost often observed with honeybuzzards BRUDERER,B. 1994. Research on bird migration by and steppebuzzards. On the other hand, harriers trackingradar over southernIsrael. Torgos23:29-38. and falconswere almostalways seensingly. CHRISTENSEN, $., O. Cou, M. MULLER AND H. Political instability in the Middle East and in WOHLMUTH. 1981. The springmigration of raptors other areas (e.g., former Yugoslavia)that lie in the in southernIsrael and Sinai. Sandgrouse3:1-42. path of major migratory routes make it especially CLARK,W.S. 1987. The rufous morph of the booted eagle.Proc. 4th Internat. IdentificationMeeting, Eilat, importantto periodicallymonitor avian populations. Israel. 1986:21-27. Monitoring migrating raptors is one of the most 1992. The taxonomyof steppeand tawny ea- reliable methods of evaluating their populations. gles,with criteria for separationof museumspecimens Other techniquessuch as banding(e.g., Clark et al. and live eagles.Bull. Br. Ornithol.Club 112:150-157. 1986), understandingparameters influencing flight- •, K. DUFFY, E. GORNEY, M. MCGRADY AND C. distancecapabilities and physiologicalconstraints SCHULTZ. 1986. Raptor ringing at Eilat, Israel. (e.g., Gorney and Yom-Tov 1994), and evaluation Sandgrouse7:21-28. of blood parasitesas markers of the movementsof DOVRAT,E. 1991. The Kefar Kassemraptor migration bird populations(e.g., Earle 1993) shouldalso be survey,autumns 1977-1987. A brief summary. Pages undertaken. 13-30 in D. Yekutiel [ED.], Raptorsin Israel. Internat. Birdwatching Center, Eilat, Israel. The variation in raptor migration amongyears at EARLE,R.A. 1993. Bird bloodparasites--a new dimen- Eilat indicates that results obtained there should be sion to bird ringing. SaltingNews 22:5-9. usedcautiously in representingpopulation trends on GORNEY,E. AND Y. YoM-Tov. 1994. Fat, hydration a specieslevel. Very few specieshave data that might condition, and moult of steppe buzzards, Buteo buteo be reliably usedfor that purpose(e.g., Levant spar- vulpinus,on springmigration. 136:185-192. rowhawk). Most other speciesare known to use HOLLOM, P.A.D. 1959. Notes from Jordan, Lebanon, alternativeroutes if inclementweather prevails (e.g., Syria and Antioch. Ibis 101:183-200. steppeeagles, steppe buzzards). The verylow num- HOLMGREN,V. 1984. Booted eagles in intermediate bersof black kitesobserved during this surveymay, plumage seenat Eilat, Israel. Sandgrouse6:76-79. for example,be explainedif the majority of the pop- PHILLIPS,J.C. 1915. Some birds from Sinai and Pal- estine. 32:273-289. ulation followed routes further north of Eilat. An- SAFRIEL,U. 1968. Bird migration at Eilat, Israel. Ibis nual and seasonalsurveys conducted at regular in- 110:283-320. tervals would allow the evaluation of future trends. SHImHA1,H. 1987. Eilat--an intercontinentalhighway The present political stability in the region may for migrating raptors. International Birding Center, allow ornithologiststo conductsimultaneous surveys Eilat, Israel. at the other well-knownbottlenecks. Only compre- 1988. Raptormigration at Eilat in spring1987. hensiveand coordinatedsurveys will aid in evalu- Torgos13:47-53. ating the existing populationsof raptors in the Pa- • AND D.A. CHRISTIE. 1992. Raptor migration at learctic, and the respectiveproportions that follow Eilat. Br. Birds 85:141-186. the various routes through the Middle East. -- ANDD. FORSMAN.1992. Steppebuzzard plum- agesand identificationproblems with long-leggedbuz- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS zard on migration. Dutch Birding 14:197-209. This surveywould not have been possiblewithout the -- AND D. YEKUTIEL. 1991. Raptor migration at many dedicatedinterns and volunteerswho sat for days Eilat-spring 1988. Pages2-12 in D. Yekutiel [ED.], 134 RlguvigNYosigr VoL. 29, No. 2

Raptors in Israel: passageand wintering populations. prey in the northern Red Sea area: report of the 1982 International Birding Center, Eilat, Israel. Suezstudy. Holy Land ConservationFund, New York, STARK,H. AND F. LIECHTI. 1993. Do levant sparrow- NY U.S.A. hawksAccipiter brevipes also migrate at night. Ibis 135: YOM-TOV,Y. 1988. Bird migration in Israel in Y. Yom- 233-236. Tov and E. Tchernov [EDs.], The zoogeographyof THOMSON,L.A. 1953. The studyof the visiblemigration Israel. Dr. W. Junk Publ., Dordrecht, The Nether- of birds: an introductoryreview. Ibis 95:165-180. lands. WIMPFHEIMER, D., B. BRUUN, S.M. BAHA-EL-DIN AND M.C. JENNINGS. 1983. The migration of birds of Received21 October 1994; accepted28 February 1995