Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle © 28 décembre «Grigore Antipa» Vol. LV (2) pp. 285–290 2012 DOI: 10.2478/v10191-012-0018-6 WINTER PRESENCE OF LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD (BUTEO RUFINUS) IN MOLDOVA (ROMANIA) EMANUEL ȘTEFAN BALTAG, VIOREL POCORA, CONSTANTIN ION, LUCIAN SFÎCĂ Abstract. Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) is a medium sized bird of prey which is known as a breeding species for Romania. In the last years it started to become a common wintering presence in the south-eastern part of Romania (Dobrogea) but it was also recorded in the more northern areas (Moldova) during the cold season. Its presence in Moldova, during the winter period, was recorded in large river valleys, with agricultural lands or grasslands and with trees or timber poles, which are used for perching. Long-legged Buzzard is a new presence for Moldavian winter seasons and it could be observed only in warm periods of winter, when the daily mean temperature is above 0°C. The wintering places are maintained not only for all winter period, but also for the next years. This behaviour could be explained by its territorial fidelity, which was recorded also in other European buzzard species during the winter period. Résumé. Buse féroce (Buteo rufinus) est un oiseau de taille moyenne de proie qui est connu comme une espèce nicheuse pour la Roumanie. Dans les dernières années, il est devenu une présence commune au cours de l’hiver au sud-est de la Roumanie (Dobroudja), mais il était également enregistré dans les régions du Nord (Moldavie) pendant la saison froide. Sa présence en Moldavie, pendant la période hivernale, a été enregistrée dans les vallées des grands fleuves, les terres agricoles et les prairies avec des arbres ou des poteaux en bois ou qui est utilisé pour se percher. Buse féroce est une nouvelle présence pour les saisons d’hiver en Moldavie et il ne peut être observé que dans les périodes chaudes de l’hiver, lorsque la température moyenne quotidienne est supérieure à 0°C. Les lieux d’hivernage sont maintenus non seulement pour toute la période d’hiver, mais aussi pour les années suivantes. Ce comportement peut être expliqué par sa fidélité territoriale, qui a été observé également pour le Buse variable. Key words: Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus), Moldova, winter. INTRODUCTION The Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) is a medium sized bird of prey that nests in the southern Palaearctic region, mostly in warm and dry areas. It forages in open country areas, avoiding dense vegetation where it is apparently unable to locate and pursue its prey (Friedemann et al., 2010). The Long-legged Buzzard is listed in Annex I of Bird Directive as subject of special habitat conservation measures in order to ensure survival and reproduction. For Europe, it is a rare bird which breeds only in few countries: Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Romania, Hungary and Ukraine (Munteanu et al., 1997). Probably the highest population is in Greece and Bulgaria (Munteanu et al., 1997), but we do not have sufficient information about the presence of Long-legged Buzzard in Ukraine. For Romania, the breeding area was limited, until 2007, to south-eastern part (Dobrogea) but, in the last 5 years it started to breed also in Moldova (Baltag, 2010). Its wintering occurrence in Romania, like in all Europe, is insufficiently documented (Baltag & Ajder, 2011). Until 10 years ago, it was known only as a breeding species which did not spend the winter in this area. The literature about its winter presence in Europe is scarce. Even if it starts to spend the cold season in some of the south-eastern 286 EMANUEL ȘTEFAN BALTAG, VIOREL POCORA, CONSTANTIN ION, LUCIAN SFÎCĂ European countries, there is little information about the wintering ecology of this species. The aim of this study is to inform about the presence of Long-legged Buzzard during the cold season in an area unknown until now as a winter territory, and also to analyse the observations made in Moldova, in relation with habitat selection and weather conditions. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study area, Moldova, is situated in the Eastern part of Romania. Our observations are collected during the cold season (November – February), since January 2007 until February 2012. Our data were recorded from direct observation of birds. Each time we set the GPS position and registered the habitat and the behaviour of birds. With date and GPS position we could find the elevation of the area and the climatic variables for that time. These data were used to analyse the climatic characteristics of the period and also the structure of landscape. All spatial data were encountered and analysed in QGIS software, version 1.8. For elevation data, we used SRTM 90 m Digital Elevation Model Dataset (Jarvis et al., 2008). The weather conditions were measured in the weather observation network of the Romanian National Meteorological Agency and were obtained from the OMM international weather data stream (Metar data stream, 2012). For each transect we used the values revealed by the closest weather station for each observation day. Aiming for a high relevance of the weather data, each observation point is situated on a distance below 50 km from the weather station used for describing the meteorological conditions of our survey. RESULTS During the study period we recorded data from 15 observations made in Moldova (Tab. 1). If we take into consideration the fact that we had no data on this species before 2007, we can assert that the number of observations we made during Table 1 Records of Long-legged Buzzard in Moldova during cold seasons, taken from January 2007 until February 2012. Date No. and age Habitat Location 16.02.2007 1, adult grassland close to Sîrca, Iaşi county 22.02.2010 1, adult grassland close to Trifeşti, Iaşi county 09.12.2010 1, adult agricultural field close to Belceşti, Iaşi county 11.12.2010 1, adult grassland close to Spinoasa, Iaşi county 16.12.2010 1, adult agricultural field close to Belceşti, Iaşi county 20.01.2011 1, adult agricultural field close to Belceşti, Iaşi county 24.02.2011 1, adult agricultural field close to Ripiceni, Botoşani county 20.11.2011 1, adult agricultural field close to Otetoaia, Vaslui county 15.12.2011 1, juvenile agricultural field close to Vetrişoaia, Vaslui county 22.12.2011 1, adult agricultural field close to Belceşti, Iaşi county 22.12.2011 1, adult grassland close to Belceşti, Iaşi County 24.01.2012 1, juvenile grassland close to Popricani, Iaşi county 24.01.2012 1, juvenile agricultural field close to Drăduşeni, Botoşani county 23.02.2012 1, juvenile agricultural field close to Iveşti, Galaţi county 24.02.2012 1, juvenile grassland close to Costache Negri, Galaţi county LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD WINTERING IN MOLDOVA (ROMANIA) 287 this study is consistent. Our date revealed that 5 of the individuals observed were juveniles and 10 individuals were adults. Most of the birds were recorded in valleys (mean altitude = 70 m), on agricultural lands, and lurking for prey from different perches (usually trees or timber poles). All observations were recorded in warm weather with daily mean temperature above 0°C (range of daily mean temperature = 0.3°C – 5.2°C, average mean daily temperature = 2.32°C). There was one individual which was monitored during a cold wave that prevailed over the region. It was observed for 5 days in the same place (Belceşti, Iaşi county), but after the daily mean temperature dropped below - 5°C, that bird left the area. In January, after the temperatures started to rise, we observed, in the same place, another Long-legged Buzzard adult. Most of the birds were seen in the same place for longer periods and usually they were recorded each year in the same area. There are less than 25 km between the observation points from different years (Fig. 1). DISCUSSIONS For the time being, relevant data regarding winter ecology of Long-legged Buzzard is almost absent. There are only a few articles (e. g.: Glutz von Blotsheim et al., 1989; Cramp & Simmons, 1980; Domashevsky & Kostyushin, 2001; Mrlik & Landsfeld, 2002), which bring some information about the presence of this species in different parts of Europe, but there are no references to its presence in Romania. There are only a few records of Long-legged Buzzard in Europe during the cold season (less than 30 observations, Mrlik & Landsfeld, 2002). Our date enriches the European observations made on Long-legged Buzzard and brings into attention a new wintering area. Like Common Buzzard (Baltag E., unpublished data), Long-legged Buzzard prefers the same type of habitat: agricultural fields and grasslands. Also, its presence was recorded only in large river valleys with trees or timber poles, used for perching. The presence of Long-legged Buzzards is recorded only in warm periods of the winter season. The recent winter conditions, defined by significant increasing frequency of warm waves (Clima României, 2008) seem to be favourable for this species. Recently, it was recorded as a common presence during the winter in Bulgaria (Klisurov I., pers. comm) but also in Dobrogea (personal observations). Probably, these birds which were observed during our surveys are from Moldavian breeding couples, because there are no other known Long-legged Buzzards further north. Most of the data came each year from almost the same areas (maximum distance between observation points < 25 km). Given the fact that we made observations over the entire Moldova, our data cannot be considered as being influenced by visiting mostly specific places. Territorial fidelity of Buzzards during winter time was well described in literature. In the southern part of Sweden, it was observed that the northern breeding individuals of Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) as well as Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) are returning annually in the same wintering areas (Sylvén, 1978).