Spring raptor migration at Ustica, southern Italy

The island of Ustica, lying at 38°42’N 13°12’E in the Tyrrhenian Sea, is approximately 60 km north of western Sicily and 270 km northeast of the Cap Bon promontory in Tunisia (fig.1). Although covering an area of only 7,600 ha, its isolation makes it attractive to migrant birds. In order to establish the importance of Ustica for the spring migration of raptors in the Mediterranean basin, counts of migrating raptors were made from the highest point of the Falconiera promontory, which dominates the northeast coast of the island, between 22nd March and 20th May 2002.Each spring, thousands of raptors cross the Mediterranean Sea between Africa and southern Italy during their northward migration …