Abstract
The winter months are an important part of the year for raptors as survival throughout this period is critical for the succeeding year’s population recruitment. We reveal novel insights into the wintering of kites (Milvus spp.) on the Mediterranean island of Crete, Greece. We use a combination of 1) direct field observations, 2) online photograph searches and 3) analysis of satellite telemetry data from a tagged hybrid Red Kite × Black Kite (Milvus milvus × M. migrans migrans). The number of observations of wintering kites has increased since 1998. The wintering of numerous Black Kites with morphological features of both subspecies (M. migrans migrans and M. migrans lineatus) and a hybrid Red Kite × Black Kite is a new phenomenon on Crete.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 591-596 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | European Zoological Journal |
Volume | 87 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 6 Oct 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Black Kites
- Greece
- Milvus migrans
- Milvus milvus
- raptors
- red kites
- winter