I try to find information about which Dodecanese Islands (Greece) are important as stopovers for nocturnal autumn migratory birds. I will try to relate this to the diet of the Eleonora's falcon. I'm in particular interested in the region around Patmos, Samos, Ikario and Lipsi. Is there a report or article describing important Island for stopover for migratory birds in this region?
Hi Rony
Unfortunately bird migration studies in Greece is a scare thing and especially during autumn. Some studies have been done but not really for the region you are interested in. As most of the species passing Greece on autumn do so in a wide front I would be surprise if those islands did not have great numbers of migrants. Whether those islands are important stopover sits as Crete for example I could not really tell. Anyhow this is just my feeling and it is not based on published or existing data.
We are far away of you... but thinking about islands I can say that in Colombia (South America) the importance of islands for migratory birds has not been established, but has been shown to be sites of emergency stop. They may also be an option for weak migratory birds not compete for best continental habitat sites. During heavy storms and hurricanes the islands are the opportunity of refuge for migratory birds. These opportunities can be exploited by few raptors who remain on the islands as peregrin falcon.
Hi Ronny
I carried out my degree project on passerine stopover ecology in the central Mediterranean (Malta) using long-term mist-netting data. I can't tell you anything about Greek islands and what I know is mainly based on this part of the Med, but generally, stopover is largely weather dependent in the Med, although in autumn the availability of fruiting shrubs and trees might promote stopover after a desert + sea crossing. In spring, I found higher tendencies for stopover in wetland habitat compared to garrigue/abandoned agricultural land. Hope this helps in identifying promising sites.
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