289 Acrocephalus 33 (154/155): 289-292, 2012 A preliminary overview of raptor monitoring in Georgia Predhodni pregled monitoringa ptic roparic v Gruziji Alexander Abuladze Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University, Kakutsa Cholokashvili Str. 3/5, GE–Tbilisi 0162, Georgia, e–mail: aleksandre.abuladze@iliauni.edu.ge Monitoring of birds of prey started in Georgia in 1975 (Flint & Galushin 1981). he basic aim of the project was to obtain data on numbers and population trends needed for conservation. 40 raptor species have been recorded in the country; 34 of them are regular, while six are vagrants. Breeding raptors Breeding has been conirmed for 26 species; another 4 species are occasional breeders. Numbers of breeding pairs are the following: Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus (200–450), Black Kite Milvus migrans (500), White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla (2–3), Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus (20– 22), Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus (110), Grifon Vulture Gyps fulvus (40–45), Black Vulture Aegypius monachus (15), Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus (25), Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus (110–130), Montagu’s Harrier C. pygargus (15–20), Goshawk Accipiter gentilis (240), Sparrowhawk A. nisus (750–800), Levant Sparrowhawk A. brevipes (45–60), Buzzard Buteo buteo (1,250–1,500), Long- legged Buzzard B. ruinus (55–60), Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina (60–75), Imperial Eagle A. heliaca (35–40), Golden Eagle A. chrysaetos (up to 35), Bonelli’s Eagle A. fasciata (1–3), Booted Eagle A. pennata (70–100), Kestrel Falco tinnunculus (1,600– 2,100), Red-footed Falcon F. vespertinus (occasional breeder), Hobby F. subbuteo (230–250), Lanner Falcon F. biarmicus (1–2), Saker Falcon F. cherrug (occasional breeder) and Peregrine Falcon F. peregrinus (40) (Abuladze 2013). During the study period (i.e. 1975–2012), monitoring revealed that nine species increased, seven remained stable and ive declined, with unclear trends for the other ive species. Two species which were regular breeders, no longer breed regularly: Osprey Pandion haliaetus in the 1950s and Lesser Kestrel F. naumanni in the 1990s (Abuladze 1996, 2008 & 2013). Passage of raptors Georgia is of special importance for migrating raptors owing to its location between Europe and Asia, located on their path from breeding grounds in Scandinavia, European Russia, the Urals and West Siberia to the Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and African wintering grounds. Monitoring of migrating raptors started in 1976. Counts were carried out in migration corridors in the 1976–1992, 1997–2002 and 2005–2006 periods in spring and autumn from constant stations during 52–67 days in autumn (704–782 hrs, 8–14 hrs/day) and 22–31 days in spring (219–335 hrs, 7–14 hrs/day) (Abuladze et al. 2011a). 34 species are typical transit migrants. Among these, 28 species are regular migrants (Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, White-tailed Eagle, Egyptian Vulture, Short-toed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier C. cyaneus, Pallid Harrier C. macrourus, Montagu’s Harrier, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Levant Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Long- legged Buzzard, Rough-legged Buzzard B. lagopus, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle A. clanga, Imperial Eagle, Steppe Eagle A. nipalensis, Booted Eagle, Osprey, Lesser Kestrel, Kestrel, Red-footed Falcon, Merlin F. columbarius, Hobby, Saker Falcon and Peregrine Falcon), while six species – Crested Honey Buzzard P. ptilorhynchus, Red Kite Milvus milvus, Shikra Accipiter badius, Bonelli’s Eagle, Lanner Falcon and Eleonora’s Falcon F. eleonorae are occasional passage visitors. Lammergeier and Golden Eagle are residents with local altitudinal movements; Grifon Vulture and Black Vulture (Gavashelishvili et al. 2012) are nomadic species with wide movements outside the breeding seasons (V erhelst et al. 2011). Data on species composition, numbers, diurnal activity, light direction, light altitude, correlation with weather conditions, stop-over sites, behaviour and threats were collected. Autumn passage is particularly intensive, with three well-distinguished waves. he most important lyways and bottlenecks are: the Eastern Black Sea Flyway with the “Batumi Bottleneck” (850,000 ind. of 34 species), “Mtkvari Valley Flyway” (250,000+ ind., 26 species), “Alazani Flyway” (200,000+ ind., 24 species) and “Javakheti Flyway” (200,000+ ind., 25 species) (Figure 1). he most important and well-known among them is the Eastern Black Sea Flyway with the Batumi Bottleneck. During the last decade, up to 2 million raptors of 34 species in autumn and up to 700,000 raptors of 32 species in spring have been estimated to migrate across Georgia. Especially numerous are Honey Buzzard (250,000–700,000 ind. in autumn), Buzzards B. b. vulpinus, B. b. buteo (200,000–600,000) and Black Kite (80,000–170,000) (V erhelst et al. 2011, Abuladze et. al. 2011a, Abuladze 2013).