THE BIRDS: THE STARS OF MIGRATION

The commonest species by far is Honey Buzzard, followed by Marsh Harrier and Black Kite, but the Strait of Messina is also very important for Pallid Harrier, Lesser Kestrel, and Hobby; other species that can be seen here include Eleonora’s Falcon, Long-legged Buzzard, “Steppe” Buzzard, Montagu’s Harrier, Eurasian Kestrel, Egyptian Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, Booted Eagle, and White and Black Storks.
A total of 40 species have been recorded here so far, including vagrants such as Imperial, Lesser Spotted, and Great Spotted Eagles, Saker, Black-shouldered Kite.

Annual counts can be downloaded in PDF.

Annual raptor counts increased from 3,198 in 1984, the camp’s first year, to 40,000 and more in the last several years, including 35,000 Honey Buzzards.

Passage periods for Honey Buzzard (top) and Marsh Harrier (bottom) – Five-year averages

Of course, each species has its own migration periods: April typically has high species diversity, including some rarities, but low numbers (one day in mid-April, we saw just over 100 raptors, but of 17 different species!).
Harriers are the earliest migrants, peaking as early as the first half of April.
The first two weeks in May have very high overall numbers (up to 3,000/5,000 a day) but fewer species; Honey Buzzards typically account for the overwhelming majority of individuals.

Weather conditions, especially wind speed and direction, influence migration, and can stall it for many days, as is the case with strong south-easterly winds, or create the conditions for spectacular one-day flights (the highest one-day count so far was 9,727 raptors on May 5, 2000).

Thanks to our surveillance camps, year after year an increasing number of birds manage to reach their breeding sites, and their populations are slowly recovering.
And now the hawks are free to safely fly over the very bunkers from which the poachers awaited them just a few years ago.