Sergey Dereliev

Small, slender wader adapted to living on the surfaced of water. Circumpolar breeder found on coastal and inland tundra in Arctic, forest and alpine zones, always near lakes, pools or other water, solitary or in loose colonies. Outside the breeding season is in flocks of up to 200 individuals, occasionally more. Eats insects and other small invertebrates during the breeding season, otherwise takes larval brine-flies from saline lakes, and zooplankton when feeding pelagically. Long-distance migrant spending most of winter on the open sea in the northern tropic region.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendUnknown
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		551000-834000,678000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Red-necked Phalarope

Very few encounters are available, nearly all from a handful of breeding locations in N. Fennoscandia with a few from stopovers during autumn passage. The direction of movement from encounters is SSE towards the Black and Caspian Seas and shows part of one of the two distinct migration routes that Red-necked Phalaropes use. Recent use of geolocators revealed a migratory divide between populations in the NE North Atlantic, including Iceland and Shetland that migrate ca. 10,000 km over sea to the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, (so far not recoveries to show this) and the other breeding in Fennoscandia and Russia migrating ca. 6,000 km - largely over land - to the Arabian Sea (van Bemmelen et al. 2019).

Recoveries by Condition for Red-necked Phalarope

All recoveriesare of dead birds, the majority of which were shot.

Annual Movements for Red-necked Phalarope

No records in Dec-Apr, first birds appear May, concentrated in breeding area in N Fennoscandia. There is a scatter of ecounters along the migration route from N Norway SE to Azerbaijan, with stragglers in SW Sweden and Spain. A few brids are still on migrationin Sep, stragglers in Poland, Germany, Spain. Only odd birds in Belgium, France, and Italy in Oct-Nov, one bird still in Ukraine in Nov.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Red-necked Phalarope

Birds on spring passage in May in the Gulf of Bothnia connect to Volgograd, Russia in Jul and to N Norway in Jun. Breeding/post-breeding in Jul-Aug in Fennoscandia all connect to sites during early autumn migration in a large area from Minsk, Belarus to Ufa, Russia, in the east, and from Moscow south to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
van Bemmelen, R.S.A., Kolbeinsson, Y., Ramos, R., Gilg, O., Alves, J.A., Smith, M., Schekkerman, H., Lehikoinen, A., Petersen, I.K,, Þórisson, B., Sokolov A.A., Välimäki, K., van der Meer, T., Okill, J.D., Bolton, M., Moe, B., Hanssen, S.A., et al.2019 . A Migratory Divide Among Red-Necked Phalaropes in the Western Palearctic Reveals Contrasting Migration and Wintering Movement Strategies. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7 article no.: 2019.00086 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00086)

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Michele Mendi

The species occupies various types of open, usually treeless, habitats – short-grass plains, pastures, fallow and stubble fields; there is sexual and seasonal change in habitat use (Collar, Garcia, 2020).

Species’ global range discontinuously extends from SW Europe and Morocco, C & E Europe, C Asia to SE Russia, Mongolia & NE China. Within Europe, population strongholds are located in the Iberian Peninsula (80%) & European Russia (Keller et al. 2020).

Unlike Asian populations (long-distance migrants), those in Europe are resident or short-distance migrants.

Its population trend in Europe is generally declining. Evaluated as “Vulnerable” (BirdLife International 2021).

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		35200-41800,38300
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Great Bustard

C European populations are generally resident but some birds migrate W & SW driven by cold spells and snow cover (Streich et al. 2006). Some birds from the population in N Germany undertake within-country movements to W, some reaching the Netherlands. On rare occasions, some individuals are even found further away SW from their ringing sites – in Belgium and NE France. Couple of birds moved NE & E to Poland. Some birds from the Hungarian population take SW routes to Italy or migrate S to the Balkan Peninsula – encounters in Albania (Csörgo et al. 2009) and Greece (Streich et al. 2006).

Populations from the Iberian Peninsula are also largely resident or dispersive (Equipa Atlas 2018, Collar, Garcia, 2020), juvenile males typically traveling further than females (Morales et al. 2000).

Birds breeding in Lower Volga Region overwinter in S Ukraine (Watzke 2001).

Most encounters come from Germany.

Recoveries by Condition for Great Bustard

Protected species in Europe during the last several decades; game bird in the past. Most encounters are obtained in three major “waves” – in the early 1980s, late 1990s and around 2010. The encounters are generated mainly by juveniles, they are spread year round but nearly a third of them (ca. 31%) come from late summer – Jul-Aug (31% combined). The bulk of encounters come from C Europe (95%), the remainder – from W Europe.

Regarding the recovery condition categories the situation changed little over the years, data after 1960 only. Those based on dead birds (mostly found, sick and wounded) constitute 15-28%, while those based on alive birds (mostly metal ring readings in the field) – 68-85%.

Most distant (>=50 km) recoveries (93%) are less than 400 km away from the ringing site.

Annual Movements for Great Bustard

Natal dispersal occurred in ca. 48% of the birds from populations in Spain (Martín et al. 2008).

Birds breeding in NE Germany are encountered in NW Germany or the neighbouring countries (Netherlands, France) – W and SW from their ringing sites, mostly in Jan, some of them staying until Mar. Couple of individuals are recorded in W & NW Poland in May.

Lower Volga Region breeders reach their wintering grounds close to Crimea as early as late Oct, mostly in Nov; return migration lasts for 5-9 days and takes place in Mar (Watzke 2001).

Four different movement patterns have been found in adult females from NW Spain – from females staying all year round within a relatively small home range area to females migrating between breeding and wintering areas (Alonso et al. 2000).

Human-induced mortality has been found to change species migration patterns (Palacín et al. 2017).

Connectivity by Month by Region for Great Bustard

Most European populations are mostly sedentary or locally dispersive, others (E Europe) undertake short- to medium-distance movements (Watzke 2001). Mean natal dispersal distance has been found to be greater in males than in females (Alonso, Alonso, 1992).

Birds from the N German breeding population are encountered mostly in mid-winter (some – until early spring) W & SW from the ringing sites, covering short to medium distances within the same or neighbouring countries. Some birds are encountered in Poland until late spring.

The species is a differential migrant by sex in C Spain, males being less tolerant to summer heat – they migrate N after the breeding season, then move S in autumn-winter where they share the wintering grounds with migratory females (Alonso et al. 2001, Alonso et al. 2009, Palacín et al. 2009). Migratory behaviour was found to be flexible and culturally transmitted (Palacín et al. 2011). 

Boris Nikolov

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
2020 . European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, BarcelonaEditor(s): Keller, V., S. Herrando, P. Voříšek, et al.
Alonso, J., Palacín, C.J., Alonso, J.A., Martín, C.A. 2009 . Post-breeding migration in male great bustards: low tolerance of the heaviest Palaearctic bird to summer heat. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63: 1705–1715
Alonso, J.A., Martín, C.A., Alonso, J.C., Morales, M.B., Lane, S.J. 2001 . Seasonal movements of male Great Bustards in Central Spain. Journal of Field Ornithology 72: 504–508
Alonso, J.C., Alonso, J.A. 1992 . Male-biased dispersal in the Great Bustard Otis tarda. Ornis Scandinavica 23: 81–88
Alonso, J.C., Morales, M.B., Alonso, J.A. 2000 . Partial migration, and lek and nesting area fidelity in female Great Bustards. Condor 102: 127–136
BirdLife International 2021 . Species factsheet: Otis tarda. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 12/12/2021.
Csörgo, T., Karcza, Zs., Halmos, G., Magya,r G., Gyurácz, J., Szép, T., Bankovics, A., Schmidt, A. & Schmidt, E. 2009 . Magyar madárvonulási atlasz (Hungarian Bird Migration Atlas). Kossuth Kiadó, , Budapest
Equipa Atlas 2018 . Atlas das Aves Invernantes e Migradoras de Portugal 2011-2013. Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, LabOr- Laboratório de Ornitologia – ICAAM - Universidade de Évora, Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza (Madeira) et al., Lisboa
Martín, C.A., Alonso, J.C., Alonso, J.A., Palacín, C.G., Magaña, M., Martín, B. 2008 . Natal dispersal in great bustards: the effect of sex, local population size and spatial isolation. 77The Journal of animal ecology : 326–334
Morales, M.B., Alonso, J.C., Alonso, J.A., Martin, E. 2000 . Migration Patterns in Male Great Bustards (Otis tarda). 117Auk: 493–498
Palacín, C., Alonso, J.C., Alonso, J.A., Magaña, M., Martín, C.A. 2011 . Cultural transmission and flexibility of partial migration patterns in a long-lived bird, the great bustard Otis tarda. 42Journal Avian Biology : 301–308
Palacín, C., Alonso, J.C., Alonso, J.A., Martín, C.A., Magaña, M., Martin, B. 2009 . Differential Migration by Sex in the Great Bustard: Possible Consequences of an Extreme Sexual Size Dimorphism. 115Ethology: 617–626
Palacín, C., Alonso, J.C., Martín, C.A., Alonso, J.A. 2017 . Changes in bird-migration patterns associated with human-induced mortality. 31Conserv Biol. : 106–115
Streich, W.J., Litzbarski, H., Ludwig, B., Ludwig, S. 2006 . What triggers facultative winter migration of Great Bustard (Otis tarda) in Central Europe?. 52European Journal of Wildlife Research. : 48–53
Watzke, H. 2001 . Results from satellite telemetry of Great Bustards in the Saratov region of Russia. 6Bustard Studies : 83–98

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Christian Hoefs

Small plover breeding in the tundra from Scotland across Siberia to western Alaska, also on mountain tops in Central Europe, the Urals and southern Siberia. Winters in the rocky plains of North Africa and the Middle East. Uses open farmland and steppe across Europe during migration.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendUnknown
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		21100-43100,31300
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Eurasian Dotterel

Most ring recoveries connect stopover sites to breeding or wintering grounds. Migration has been tracked with geolocators deployed on the breeding grounds (Aarvak et al. 2019), and recently with GPS tags deployed on a Mediterranean migration stopover. The tracking data indicate a straight N-S flyway in autumn. Indeed, birds stopping in Crau, southern France, cross the Mediterranean rather than following the coastline. There are insufficient recovery data to see differences between birds originating from Scotland, Scandinavia or the Alps, although Scottish Dotterel winter on average further west than Fenno‐Scandian birds (Whitfield et al. 1996, Pulliainen & Saari 1993).An eastern-Finnish bird migrated through Ukraine then wintered in Libya, returning via Cyprus then the Caucasus region (Aarvak et al. 2019).

Recoveries by Condition for Eurasian Dotterel

 Overall ~40% of recoveries are of birds found dead, with the percentage reducing over time, although there are very few recoveries up to 1960.  Many of the dead recoveries are shot as Dotterel is potentially a confusion species with other game plovers. From 1991, most recoveries have been of birds recaptured by ringers or seen alive (70%).

Annual Movements for Eurasian Dotterel

GPS-tracked juveniles largley left southern France between mid-Sep and mid-Oct (the latest early Nov), flying directly to the south over the sea, overflying the Balearic Islands to wintering grounds in Algeria or Morocco.  Some stopped-over for a few weeks in Murcia in Spain. A GPS-tracked Finnish bird left the breeding grounds at the end of Aug and reached Libya in early Oct, while the spring migration started early Apr and was more rapid, taking about six weeks.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Eurasian Dotterel

Dotterels are still on their breeding grounds in Jul, start to move south in Aug, with most movements in Sep. Birds are spread across stopover sites in SW, C and S Europe in Oct. Arrivals on African wintering grounds occur as early as the end of Aug, but mostly in Oct, all birds having left Europe by mid-Nov. Spring return migration is rapid, in Apr; there are no recoveries during this period, although a bird was ringed on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Most recoveries occur in Jun and Jul in the N.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Aarvak, T., Timonen, S., Gjerstad, D., Väisänen, R., Pasanen, E.2019 . Light-logger mapping of migratory connectivity of Dotterels breeding in alpine Fennoscandia. https://www.birdlife.no/innhold/bilder/2019/10/07/6399/nofs_poster_om_boltit_pa_iswg.pdf
Pulliainen, E., Saari, L.1993 . Ring recoveries of Finnish Dotterels Charadrius morinellus. Wader Study Group Bulletin 67
Whitfield, D.P., Duncan, K., Pullan, D., Smith, R.D.1996 . Recoveries of Scottish‐ringed Dotterel Charadrius morinellus in the non‐breeding season: Evidence for seasonal shifts in wintering distribution. Ringing & Migration 17 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03078698.1996.9674125) : 105–110

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Aron Tanti

A long-distance migrant secretive crake, frequenting wetlands and reedbeds, breeding across Europe from Spain to northern Russia, east to North-West Mongolia. Winters in India and Africa, from Sudan to the austral region, and a few local wintering sites in West Africa.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		200000-289000,235000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Spotted Crake

There are not many recoveries, for which the overall direction of migration is NE to SW, so birds from the Baltic states and Finland use mainly a western flyway to reach West Africa. There is a migration divide between the Netherlands and the Balkans, with birds moving either to the SW or to the SE to pass by Italy and the Balkans, probably using a central flyway to Africa. Most remains to be discovered, but the western flyway used by European birds would indicate either a wintering range in West Africa, or a loop migration as observed for other species wintering down to Austral Africa.

Recoveries by Condition for Spotted Crake

There are very few old recoveries, mostly of birds found dead, while post-1990 recoveries are mostly of live birds retrapped by ringers (95%), mostly obtained in summer during the post-breeding period and during the 2000s.

Annual Movements for Spotted Crake

The spring migration starts with recoveries in southern France and northern Italy in March, with birds moving to central latitudes in April, and recoveries up to northern breeding grounds in May, in a SW to NE direction in spring. In August and September, there are more numerous recoveries of juveniles in lower countries, from Poland to France, shifting slowly southwards until October.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Spotted Crake

The very few African recoveries are from November and from the Mediterranean coast of the Maghreb. As a consequence, there is no ringing data to document the connectivity beyond what happens during the migration within Europe, and beyond a general pattern of annual movements, described below. There are some casual winter recoveries in southern European countries, from November to February.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries

Michele Mendi

The smallest grebe in Europe, breeding in various types of shallow (mostly lowland) wetlands rich in vegetation – exclusively freshwater but sometimes coastal brackish lagoons. Outside breeding season occurs on more open waters, occasionally along the coast. Its breeding range covers most of Europe (excl. N parts), Africa, C, S & E Asia. Intra-Eurasian partial migrant. The species is resident or locally dispersive in S & W Europe and fully migratory in E Europe (BirdLife International 2021, Limona et al. 2020). Its population trend in Europe is generally stable but fluctuating depending on the winters’ severity. Evaluated as “Least Concern” (Keller et al. 2020).

Season of assessment

B

Population trendStable
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		209000-390000,275000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Little Grebe

General movement pattern in migratory populations follows NE – SW direction.

Populations around Baltic Sea tend to move W & SW during the winter – reaching the Low Countries, France and UK, while those in E Europe move to C Europe. Population in W & NW Europe largely sedentary or performing short-distance dispersal towards the Atlantic coast. C European birds are resident or migrate W, S and even SE (reaching the Balkans and Asia Minor). Population in S Europe largely resident (short-distance movement from Spain to Morocco has been recorded).

A difficult species to trap, the majority of birds are ringed at very few locations. Limited data from E Europe due to reduced effort in that region.

Recoveries by Condition for Little Grebe

Protected species in Europe. For the period 1961-1990 the recoveries coming from birds found dead and the alive recaptures had almost equal share. For more than a half of those recovered dead the cause of death is unknown. Direct shooting/ hunting played little role, mainly before 1960 – it accounts for about 7% of all cases over the years (large decrease from 13% pre-1960 to less than 1% after 1990). Currently about 86% of the recoveries from the last three decades (after 1990) come from alive birds, mostly ringing recoveries.

The main part of the ringing recoveries come from birds originating in C Europe due to the special efforts applied in that region.

Annual Movements for Little Grebe

Dispersive and migratory movements largely dependent on the winter temperatures, the suitable ice-free wetlands being of importance for the birds. Resident birds predominate in about half of the species’ European breeding range. Most birds are back to their breeding grounds in Mar and early Apr. The species undergoes a flightless wing-moulting period in late summer and autumn. Post-breeding dispersal and start of autumn migration is evident as early as Aug (C European breeders), mostly in Sep. Those W European birds prone to move reach the wetlands along the Atlantic coast in Oct-Nov. N European birds (Denmark) have been encountered in W Europe (the Low Countries, France) in Nov-Dec, and in UK – in Jan.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Little Grebe

Breeding birds from NW Europe and coastal zones of W Europe are encountered in late summer, autumn and winter either dispersed locally or along the Atlantic coast having covered short distances, while some of those inland W Europe migrate E to adjacent countries. C European breeders are mainly found W, SW & S from their breeding grounds during migration and winter – dispersed locally or having covered generally longer distances, reaching the Mediterranean region. Recoveries in Bulgaria (Aug) and Turkey (Mar) of birds ringed in Germany indicate migration to SE. Birds breeding in E Europe move generally W & SW (possibly S), being encountered on their wintering grounds in C & W Europe in Dec-Jan. There is an exceptional record of a bird ringed in Germany (Feb) and found in SW Siberia (Aug).

Boris Nikolov

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
2020 . European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, BarcelonaEditor(s): Keller, V., S. Herrando, P. Voříšek, et al.
BirdLife International2021 . Species factsheet: Tachybaptus ruficollis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 13/02/2021
Llimona, F., J. del Hoyo, D. A. Christie, F. Jutglar, E. F. J. Garcia, and G. M. Kirwan2020 . Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.litgre1.01) Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USAEditor(s): J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana

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Gunther Zieger

A small, colourful goose species that breeds on the Yamal and Taymyr peninsulas in northern Russia. The population has decreased and may be as small as 44,000 individuals. Winters along the Black Sea coasts of Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, and near Debrecen in Eastern Hungary. They are regular and increasing in winter in the Low Countries, but numbers are still low.

Season of assessment

W

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		10000-49400,18800
Red List categoryVU
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Red-breasted Goose

The lack of ringing data from wintering sites in E Europe and staging and breeding sites in Russia hampers interpretation. All current connections are oriented E-W, and recoveries during passage are in S Russia and Kazakhstan suggesting a migration route due E from wintering grounds and then N from Kazakhstan. There has only been one direct connection between a breeding site on Yamal and wintering site in Netherlands. There are a few winter connections between the main Bulgarian and Hungarian wintering sites. Patterns from existing ringing data are biased towards relatively unimportant wintering sites in the Netherlands and aberrant individuals.

Recoveries by Condition for Red-breasted Goose

Nearly 70% of recoveries are of live birds, although 20% were shot. In recent decades fewer than 10% of recoveries are of shot birds.

Annual Movements for Red-breasted Goose

Recoveries during autumn passage in Kazakhstan and Russia occur in Oct. Some birds reach the wintering grounds in Oct (Netherlands), but the majority of winter recoveries are in Dec and Feb (Hungary, Bulgaria). Spring passage encounters occur in mid-Mar (Germany) and the end of Apr (Russia). The only encounter in the breeding area is at the beginning of Jun.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Red-breasted Goose

Only scant information is available. A bird ringed in Feb in the Netherlands and shot on Yamal in early Jun is the only connection between wintering and breeding grounds. A bird on passage in Kazakhstan in Oct was found on a main wintering site in Bulgaria in Feb. Two birds ringed in Moscow at the end of Oct and recovered in the Netherlands are of dubious origin. A bird breeding on a small islet in the Finnish Gulf, far outside the normal range, has been recorded in Helsinki city park in Sep and Oct. Finally, a bird on passage outside range in Germany in Mar was recovered west of Ufa, southern Russia, in Apr.

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries

Hans Joachim Fünfstück

A large falcon mainly distributed in Central Asia, from Mongolia to Central Europe. Northern populations are migratory (including those of Central and East Europe), those from Turkey and Iran are resident. The Sahelian winter distribution of migratory birds range from Senegambia to Sudan.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		860-1300,1100
Red List categoryEN
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Saker Falcon

Migratory movements from Central Europe are directed to the South, here mostly to Libya, with some variation around the main flow. Direction of observed movements. In Europe, ringing effort mostly concentrated on breeding sites in Hungary and Slovakia, and concern mainly juveniles, that provides most distant recoveries, including those moving to the East (Russia) or to the West (up to France). Recoveries in Africa are from Libya, Egypt, and one from Mauritania.

Recoveries by Condition for Saker Falcon

Very few and only dead recoveries before 1990, and a neat increase in ringing effort and recovery numbers from the late 1980s onwards, leading to half alive ringing recoveries, obtained mainly during May and June so the breeding season.

Annual Movements for Saker Falcon

Tracking of numerous (45) juveniles from Central Europe provides detailed information on annual movements (see Prommer et al. 2012). Juveniles show partial autumn migration starting in October / November. Those moving go in a SW direction. Females travelled further for winter than males. The main wintering areas for migratory birds are in the Central Mediterranean region, with only females reaching the Sahel. First spring migration started late March / early April

Connectivity by Month by Region for Saker Falcon

In Central Europe, birds are present all year on the breeding grounds, and recoveries of migratory individuals in North Africa are concentrated in March and in October, along a direct southward route. There are also post-breeding dispersal recoveries in August and September, mainly of juveniles wandering in Europe.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Prommer, M., Bagyura, J., Chavko, J., Uhrin, J.2012 . Migratory movements of Central and Eastern European Saker Falcons (Falco cherrug) from juvenile dispersal to adulthood. Aquila 119: 111–134

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Michele Mendi

The species occupies for breeding various types of open habitats, with some tree cover: steppe and agricultural, pastures. Outside breeding season it occurs in grassland, savanna and scrubland, roosting colonially. Its breeding range extends from C Europe to NW China & C Siberia (Orta & Kirwan 2020).

In Europe, the species occurs in SE & E Europe, the strongholds being in S Russia (85% of the European population), Ukraine and Romania. Pannonian Plain also holds high abundances (Keller et al. 2020).

Eurasian-African migrant. All populations are migratory and winter in S Africa.

Its population trend is declining. Evaluated as “Vulnerable” (BirdLife International 2022).

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		115000-170000,140000
Red List categoryVU
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Red-footed Falcon

The species is a long-distance migrant, known for its irruptive migrations, all populations from its vast Palearctic breeding range winter in comparatively small region in S Africa (Golawski et al. 2017, Orta & Kirwan 2020). It is often encountered outside its regular breeding grounds.

C European breeders (mainly from Hungary) are encountered during autumn migration mostly in SC & SE Europe, while the recoveries from the W Mediterranean (Balearic Is) and NW Africa (Morocco) are mostly in spring. Recent data suggest a loop migration, the spring return being via W Africa and the C Mediterranean (Palatitz et al. 2018). In some years birds formed in big flocks take N routes in autumn making a pre-migratory loop movement to the Baltic coasts and back (Csörgo et al. 2009).

A clockwise loop migration has also been found in the birds breeding in N Kazakhstan too (Katzner et al. 2016).

Recoveries by Condition for Red-footed Falcon

Most encounters have been accumulated after 2007. They are obtained mainly during the breeding season, peaking in Jul (43% of all records). The bulk of encounters is recorded in C Europe (88%). In general, there are few recoveries before 1990. The encounters based on dead birds as a result of shooting stayed almost unchanged until 1990 (37-40%), then markedly decreased to less than 1% after 1991; those based on alive birds considerably increased over time – from 5% in 1961-1990 (there were none pre-1960) to 89% after 1991. The latter is mostly due to ringing recoveries, and especially to colour ring resightings – primarily in the countries with existing projects (Hungary, Italy).

Long-distance ring recoveries from African winter quarters S of Sahara apparently lacking.

Annual Movements for Red-footed Falcon

Post-breeding movements occur in the Baltic region, C & E Europe mostly in Aug-Sep.

Across the Mediterranean region, autumn migration takes place from mid-Sep to early Oct peaking in late Sep, while in spring, migration occurs from late Apr to mid-May with a peak in early May (Bounas et al. 2020). This is supported by encounters from Morocco and Spain to the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey.

Tracking data from birds breeding in N Kazakhstan show that autumn migration begins in early Sep with a westward trek, followed by S routes W of the Caspian Sea via the Middle East and NE Africa reaching their wintering grounds in S Africa in early Oct. Return migration starts in late Mar and follows more W routes, requiring crossing the Sahara and the C Mediterranean, the breeding sites in N Kazakhstan are reached in early May (Katzner et al. 2016).

Connectivity by Month by Region for Red-footed Falcon

Post-nuptial migration of Hungarian breeders has been tracked as far as S Ukraine (Fehérvári et al. 2014). Such movements (performed mainly by juveniles) irregularly take place also NW and N, reaching Germany, Denmark, SE Sweden and Poland, with encounters in late summer and early autumn. The same has been documented for the N Italian population as well (Kunze & Nennstiel 2020).

Birds breeding in C Europe take SW, S & SE routes during autumn migration, encounters from mid- to late autumn are available from the whole Mediterranean (a single African record from Morocco). Autumn migration could last – in the case of N Kazakhstan population – about a month, the S African wintering grounds are inhabited about six months (Katzner et al. 2016).

Breeding sites are reached mainly in mid- to late spring, sometimes early summer.

Boris Nikolov

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
2020 . European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, BarcelonaEditor(s): Keller, V., S. Herrando, P. Voříšek, et al.
BirdLife International 2020 . Species factsheet: Falco vespertinus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 26/01/2022.
Bounas, A., Solanou, M., Panuccio, M., Barišić, S., Bino, T., Erciyas-Yavuz, K., Iankov, P., Ieronymidou, C., Barboutis, C. 2020 . Mining citizen science data to explore stopover sites and spatiotemporal variation in migration patterns of the red-footed falcon. Current Zoology 66: 467–475
Csörgo, T., Karcza, Zs., Halmos, G., Magya,r G., Gyurácz, J., Szép, T., Bankovics, A., Schmidt, A. & Schmidt, E. 2009 . Magyar madárvonulási atlasz (Hungarian Bird Migration Atlas). Kossuth Kiadó, , Budapest
Fehérvári, P., Lázár, B., Palatitz, P., Solt,S., Nagy, A., Prommer, M., Nagy, K., Harnos, A. 2014 . Pre-migration roost site use and timing of post-nuptial migration of Red-footed Falcons (Falco vespertinus) revealed by satellite tracking. Ornis Hungarica 22: 36–47
Golawski, A., Kupryjanowicz, J., Szczypinski, P., Dombrowski, A., Mroz, E., Twardowski, M., Kielan, S., Antczak, K., Pagorski, P., Murawski, M. 2017 . Autumn Irruptions of Red-Footed Falcons Falco vespertinus in East-Central Poland. Polish Journal of Ecology 65: 423–433
Katzner, T.E., Bragin, E.A., Bragin, A.E., McGrady, M., Miller, T.A., Bildstein, K.L. 2016 . Unusual clockwise loop migration lengthens travel distances and increases potential risks for a central Asian, long distance, transequatorial migrant, the Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus. Bird Study 63: 406–412
Kunze, D., Nennstiel, L. 2020 . Recoveries of Ringed Red-Footed Falcons (Falco vespertinus) in Germany - An update documentation. AVES Braunschweig (11).
Orta, J. and G. M. Kirwan 2020 . Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.reffal1.01 ) Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA
Palatitz, P., Solt, S., Fehérvári, P. 2018 . The blue vesper. Ecology and Conservation of the Red-Footed Falcon. MME, Budapest, Hungary

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