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A Preliminary Study of the Raptor Migration
over the island of Antikythera in Southwest
Greece
Theodoros Kominos HELLENIC ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY
The Hellenic Ornithological Society BirdLife
International Partner in Greece- established in
2003 a Bird Observatory on the Island of
Antikythera, a verysmall island situated south
of the Island of Kythira, between the Peloponnese
and Crete, in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Antikythira is a Greek island with anarea of 20
km² and a coastline of 24 km and is surrounded by
4 smaller islets. The population of the island is
around 35 people. The island is characterised
by an important flow of migratory birds in spring
and autumn, including a major migration route of
raptors and by the presenceof one of the largest
colonies of Eleonoras Falcon in the world. The
focus of this observatory is the study of
migration of smaller birds, by mist-netting and
ringing, monitoring of raptor migration, training
ringers and studying and safeguarding the falcon
colony.  
Antikythera Bird Observatory (ABO)
Map of the island of Antikythera
Characteristic habitats of Antikythera
Species that breed on the island include
Hieraaetus fasciatus (1p), Falco peregrinus (3-4
p), Falco biarmicus (1-2 p), Falco tinunnculus
(10-15 p). Based on data from the censuses of
Eleonoras Falcon over the last 2 years, it was
found that the species population on the island
of Antikythera without including the surrounding
islets- was over 800 pairs, that is the largest
population of the species found on an inhabited
island in the world.
The Island of Antikythera is a very important
stop/corridor for the raptors that migrate over
the Mediterranean Sea during both migrating
periods. Twenty eight (28) species have been
recorded up to date. Pernis apivorus is the most
abundant species recoded on the island (highest
daily count, 1800birds), as well as Circus
aeruginosus (highest daily count, 740 birds) and
Falco naumanii (highest daily count, 873 birds).
Buteo buteo, Buteo b. vulpinus, (correspond to
the 20-30 of the total number of migrating Buteo
sp.) Accipiter bravipes, Hieraaetus pennatus
(highest daily count, 47 birds) are also common
during migration. Very important are the numbers
of Circus macrourus, Circus pygargus, Aquila
heliaca, Aquila pomarina, Falco cherrug and Falco
peregrinus. Some impressive counts were recorded
on the 22/4/2004, where 2228 individuals of 17
raptor species were counted, while on the
21/9/2004 2696 individuals of 11 species were
counted.
The main migration routes in Greece
SE Peloponnesse
The migration period of raptors on the Island of
Antikythera
Island of Kythera
Island of Antikythera
Spring
Autumn
The raptor migration routes in the area of
Southeast Peloponnesse and the islands of Kythera
and Antikythera