Status and population trend of eleonora's falcon falco eleonorae in the Canary Islands
Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae Gené, 1839 is a colonial, diurnal raptor whose distribution ranges from the Mediterranean region to the eastern coast of Morocco and the Canary Islands, where it has the westernmost and southernmost breeding colonies (Cramp & Simmons 1998, Snow & Perrins 1998). The species is highly migratory, gathering in breeding areas from midApril to mid-October (Tucker & Heath 1994), its breeding period adapted to coincide with the postnuptial migration of small passerines (Cramp & Simmons 1998, Del Hoyo et al. 1994). After the application of proper census methods, as outlined in the International Action Plan for this species (BirdLife International 1999), its global breeding population has recently been estimated at more than 13,500 pairs (Dimalexis et al. 2008), although it could reach ca. 30,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2008). The Spanish breeding population consists of approximately 1,100 pairs distributed over the Balearic Islands (836 breeding pairs; Viada 2006), the Canary Islands (200; De León et al. 2007), and the Columbretes Islands (45; Viada 2006). The species is included in Annex I and II of the EC Birds Directive 79/409/EEC and constitutes a priority species for conservation. The International Species Action Plan recommended a coordinated international survey as urgent action to conserve the species (BirdLife International 1999), which was accomplished in some countries within the framework of the project “Conservation measures for Falco eleonorae in Greece” LIFE 03NAT/GR/000091. In line with these recommendations, two aims are pursued in this paper: (1) to update census data of the breeding population of Eleonora’s Falcon in the Canary Islands as a contribution to the above mentioned global census project; and (2) to evaluate the population tendency of Eleonora’s Falcon in the Canary Islands by using data from previous studies.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | artículo biblioteca |
| Published: |
Finnish Ornithological Society
2010
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| Subjects: | Eleonora’s Falcon, Canary Islands, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/205375 |
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