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Vol. 49 No. 5, 2010
Local Weather Conditions Affect Migration Strategies of Adult
Western Honey Buzzards Pernis
apivorus through an Isthmus Area
Michele
Panuccio1,2, Nicolantonio Agostini1,2,*, Giuseppe
Lucia1, Ugo Mellone1,3,
Stephen Wilson1, Jack Ashton-Booth1,
Gianpasquale Chiatante1,
and Simone Todisco1
1Mediterranean
Raptor Migration Network (MEDRAPTORS), Via Mario Fioretti, Rome 18-
00152, Italy
2Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Univ. of Pavia, Via
Ferrata 1, Pavia 27100, Italy
3Current address: Grupo de Zoologia de
Vertebrados/CIBIO, Univ. de Alicante, Apdo. correos 99, Alicante
E-03080, Spain
Michele
Panuccio, Nicolantonio Agostini, Giuseppe Lucia, Ugo Mellone, Stephen
Wilson, Jack Ashton-Booth, Gianpasquale Chiatante, and Simone Todisco
(2010) We tested
the effect of crosswinds, barometric pressure, and time of day on the
visible migration of adult Western Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus
through an isthmus area in southern continental Italy.
Simultaneous observations from 3 posts were made in autumn 2005 and
2006, and birds were assigned to one of 3 local migration corridors:
western, central, and eastern. During our observations,
prevailing winds were perpendicular to the direction of
migration. The peak of migration occurred during the afternoon
and with westerly winds. Ideal weather conditions for soaring
flight occurred during weak winds and high barometric pressure.
An analysis of migration frequencies among the 3 corridors suggests
that adult Western Honey Buzzards tend to compensate for deviations in
lateral winds on a small scale when migrating through this isthmus
area. It appears that they do not slow their travel speed during
weather conditions that are unfavorable for soaring flight (strong
lateral winds and low barometric pressure) by increasing the use of
powered flight. On the other hand, migrants will change their
migration strategy in relation to wind drift when migrating through the
Channel of Sicily en route to Africa, thus showing a broad front of
migration over water.
Key words: Western
Honey Buzzard, Raptor migration, Wind drift, Central Mediterranean.
*Correspondence: E-mail:nicolantonioa@tiscalinet.it
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