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Nicolaos I. Kassinis, Iris Charalambidou

Der Adlerbussard Buteo rufinus in Zypern: drei Jahrzehnte Präsenz und Arealausbreitung.

2022

119

382–389

Key words
(von 1994 bis 2006 vergeben)

Brutbestand, Population, Verbreitung, Lebensraumansprüche, Reviere, Landwirtschaft, Klimawandel

Schlagwort_Vogelart
(wissenschaftlich)

Buteo rufinus, Corvus corax, Gyps fulvus

Schlagwort_Vogelart
(deutsch)

Adlerbussard, Kolkrabe, Gänsegeier

Zypern

englisch

Abhandlung

The Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus in Cyprus: three decades of presence and range expansion. – Land-use and climate change result in substantial range shifts of avian species, with dramatic changes to global land cover projected for this century. The Long-legged Buzzard started nesting on Cyprus in the early 1990s. Here, we present data on breeding population size and range expansion from 2005 to 2021. The Long-legged Buzzard population in Cyprus increased from 34 occupied territories (2005) to 63 (2012) and to 115 (2021), representing a threefold increase in the last 17 years. This was accompanied by a breeding range expansion from the western and southwestern parts of the island to the eastern and central mountainous parts. The western and southwestern parts still remain the species’ stronghold, with more than 70% of the nesting territories. The broad diet spectrum of the Long-legged Buzzard and its readiness to use easily available food sources seem to have facilitated its establishment on the island. Agricultural abandonment, apparent from a decline in agricultural land cover from 63% (1949) to 48% (2012), combined with depopulation of the countryside and increased woodland, have favored its main prey species and decreased disturbance and persecution of breeding pairs. Nesting on trees, compared to cliffs, increased from 3% of nesting pairs (2005) to 32% (2021). The near extinction of Common Raven and Griffon Vulture increased available nesting sites and vacant territories over the last three decades. Climate change may have contributed to the colonization of higher mountain areas at elevations > 800 m a.s.l. and increased availability of reptile prey earlier in the season.