OSME - Raptors passage in Egypt

Spring raptor movements
at Gebel el Zeit, Egypt

ANDREW GRIEVE

BETWEEN ONE and two million raptors migrate through Eilat, Israel each spring. They arrive via south Sinai, Egypt, largely on a south-west to north-east course indicating that they have left Africa by crossing the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, at its southern end. There are only a few observations in Egypt to support this supposition (Christensen et al. 1982, Shirihai 1987, Goodman and Meininger 1989, Shirihai and Christie 1992, Yosef 1995).

Thus far, approximately 130,000 raptors have been counted using the land bridge around the town of Suez at the northern end of the Gulf of Suez in the spring. After passing Suez they apparently take a more easterly or north-easterly route across north Sinai, well to the north of Eilat, and are clearly linked, through species composition, to the onward spring passage of raptors in northern Israel (Simmons 1951, Wimpfheimer et al.1983, Davidovitt and Lesham 1984, Ben Zohar 1986).

The width of the Gulf of Suez appears to be a barrier to migrating raptors, judging from the paucity of reported sightings in Egypt particularly of those using the 'very passive' method (Christensen et al. 1982, Braun 1985, Goodman and Meininger 1989) One of the narrowest parts is at the mouth of the Gulf of Suez between Gebel el Zeit on the west side and Ras Garra on the Sinai side, a distance of about 25 kilometres. Gebel el Zeit at 457 metres is unusual in that it is the only mountain ridge parallel and adjacent to the coast in the southern Gulf of Suez. It provides an excellent 'jumping' off point for raptors using thermals to cross the mouth of the Gulf of Suez. Very large numbers of White Storks Ciconia ciconia are also known to use this crossing in spring (Goodman and Meininger 1989). Gebel el Zeit thus appears to offer the first ideal place for raptors to cross into southern Sinai after their long journey from the south (Fig. 1).

ZEIT MAP Figure 1. Gebel el Zeit area, Red Sea, Egypt, showing sites mentioned in the text, 400 metre contours shown

In order to test this hypotheses, counts of migrating raptors at Gebel el Zeit were carried out on 2nd April 1992, between 27th February and 9th March 1993, on 27th April 1994 and on 6th May 1994 (Table 1). These provide a cross-section of the migration period and indicate migration patterns for most of the commoner species passing through the region. Data for daily numbers at Eilat, Israel, presumably exists for more recent years but published data is only available for 1977 (Christensen et al. 1982) and for Suez, Egypt there have been spring counts in 1982 and 1990 (Wimpfheimer et al.1983, Meininger and Roder 1992).The similarities in species composition between Zeit and Eilat are striking, despite the different years involved (Table 2).

DISCUSSION

A total of 15,781 raptors was counted on 14 dates between 27th February and 6th May spread over the three year period (Table 1). These counts indicate that a major raptor migration bottleneck exists at Gebel el Zeit. It is possible that the majority of the Eilat bound birds cross the southern Gulf of Suez in this vicinity. It is also conceivable that birds moving through central Sinai to northern Israel cross here rather than at Suez particularly in favourable weather. Data was collected on the effects of wind, temperature, timing of movements, etc., but it was insufficient to draw conclusions at present.

Table 1. Numbers of raptors migrating at Gebel el Zeit, Egypt on dates in 1992, 1993 and 1994.


                    1993         1993                                                  1992 1994  1994
                    Feb          Mar                                                   Apr   Apr   May
                    27th  28th   1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   2nd  27th   6th
                                                                       *    **         ***            
Honey Buzzard
Pernis apivorus                                                                               71 1,607
Black Kite
Milvus migrans                           1                 1     2                 3   565    14     3
Red Kite
Milvus milvus                                                                      2                  
Egyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterus 2      3     1           1     2           1           2     4    26     9      
Short-toed Eagle
Circaetus gallicus           1                 1                             1     7    52            
Marsh Harrier
Circus aeruginosus                       1     1                                   1     1     3     1
Pallid Harrier
Circus macrourus                                                                         2     2      
Montagu's Harrier
Circus pygargus                                                                                1     1
Sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisus                                                                          2     3      
Levant Sparrowhawk
Accipiter brevipes                                                                         2,372     1
Steppe Buzzard
Buteo buteo vulpinus        96     6    16     9    12     3    23          68   475 5,854 1,114    98
Long-legged Buzzard
Buteo rufinus                      1                 1                             3     4     5      
Steppe Eagle
Aquila nipalensis 1,158    108    39   130   266    22          58     2   401   655   232    86     2
Imperial Eagle
Aquila heliaca        2      2     1           2                             2     3     6     1      
Booted Eagle
Heiraaetus pennatus          1                                                          18     8     5
Kestrel
Falco tinnunculus     1      1                 1                                                      
Sooty Falcon
Falco concolor                                                                                 1      
Lanner
Falco biarmicus                                1                 1                       2     1      

TOTAL
RAPTORS           1,163    212    48   148   282    37     4    85     2   474 1,153 6,765 3,691 1,717

* Due to transport problems a passage of eagles may have been missed on this day as weather conditions appeared very suitable.
** A better count site discovered at 11.00hrs, some birds may have been missed prior to this time.
*** Only counted between 12.00 and 16.00 hrs, it is likely that much larger numbers of birds had passed through earlier in the day.

Comparing the wider spring migration of raptors through sites in Israel and Egypt, it would appear that Lesser Spotted Eagles Aquila pomarina does not use the Zeit route and this conforms to the findings from Eilat in the spring (Braun 1985). The Suez area is clearly the main route for this species but the numbers counted there in spring and autumn are still far short of the numbers recorded in northern Israel in autumn (Bijlsma 1983, van Diggelen et al 1987, Dovrat 1991).

Table 2. Species comparison of raptors migrating in the spring at three locations in the Red Sea/Sinai region


                    27th Feb to 9th Mar       Early April           Late April             Early May
                    Zeit  Eilat   Suez   Zeit  Eilat   Suez    Zeit   Eilat   Suez    Zeit  Eilat  Suez
                    1993   1977   1982  2/4/92 2/4/77 2/4/90 27/4/94 28/4/77 27/4/82 6/5/94 6/5/77 6/5/82
                                          *                             **                               
Honey Buzzard
Pernis apivorus                                                   71     672          1,607 22,227      2
Black Kite
Milvus migrans         7     76      1     565  1,100     39      14      18      67      3      4    170
Red Kite
Milvus milvus          2                                                                                 
Egyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterus 16     58     74      26     24      8       9       7      17             9     15
Griffon Vulture
Gyps fulvus                         20                     2                                             
Short-toed Eagle
Circaetus gallicus    10      8    386      52      4     17              15                            3
Marsh Harrier
Circus aeruginosus     3                     1      5              3               1      1      2      1
Pallid Harrier
Circus macrourus                             2                     2                                     
Montagu's Harrier
Circus pygargus                              1                     1                      1              
Sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisus               1              2      1      1       3       3       1                     
Levant Sparrowhawk
Accipiter brevipes                                             2,372      40              1             1
Steppe Buzzard
Buteo buteo vulpinus 708    150     53   5,854  7,578    551   1,114     115   2,544     98     39  2,202
Long-legged Buzzard
Buteo rufinus          5            31              4      2       5                                     
Lesser Spotted Eagle
Aquila pomarina                  4,195                                                                  7
Steppe Eagle
Aquila nipalensis  2,837  2,292    791     232    221     21      86       8     510             2    413
Imperial Eagle
Aquila heliaca        12     10              6      5              1                                    4
Booted Eagle
Heiraaetus pennatus    1      1             18      9      2       8       2      14      5      2      3
Kestrel
Falco tinnunculus      3     19                            2                       2                    5
Sooty Falcon
Falco concolor                                                     1                                     
Lanner
Falco biarmicus        2                     2                     1

* Raptors only counted between 12.00 and 16.00 hrs and probably a larger number passed earlier in the day.
** Data taken from 28th April as few birds noted at Eilat on 27th April.

**Plate 1.** Steppe Eagle *Aquila nipalensis (Paul Doherty)*

For Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis the picture is slightly clearer with Zeit now being the main route across the Gulf of Suez to Eilat earlier in the spring, and Suez perhaps used more later in the season. These later birds, mainly comprising of immatures, probably largely bypass Eilat and are recorded at sites such as Beersheba and Ein Gedi (Davidovitt and Lesham 1984, Ben Zohar 1986). These are presumably non-breeders.

Black Kites Milvus migrans, Steppe Buteo buteo vulpinus and Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus and Levant Sparrowhawks Accipiter brevipes cross from Gebel el Zeit to Sinai in large numbers each spring, but the later movements of Black Kites and Steppe Buzzards appear to be stronger at Suez.

Plate 2. Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus (Paul Doherty)
Honey Buzzard picture
Some intriguing questions are raised by the spring migration of birds of prey through the Red Sea mountains of Egypt. To what extent do the migration streams mix further south before they reach their respective crossings and what decides which to cross where? There is evidently some mixing in the Red Sea mountains as observations 4 - 15 km inland from Safaga in late March 1982 showed both Lesser Spotted and Steppe Eagle migrating together with large numbers of Steppe Buzzards (Sørensen 1983) and a short period of observation in the same area on 1st April 1992 produced Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus, a species that exclusively uses the Suez route.

A full survey of raptor movements at Gebel el Zeit and the adjacent areas may demonstrate this area to be one of the most important bottlenecks for migrant spring raptors in the Middle East. It is possible that the majority of the Eilat bound birds cross the Gulf of Suez here, other may subsequently join those passing through the Negev and Dead Sea in Israel. The width of the migration front at Zeit itself, at just 20 - 25 km, would make it relatively easy to monitor, but observers would need to cover possible crossing points up to 50 km to the south as in spring 1983 significant numbers were seen heading towards islands off Ras Gemsa (Parr 1987). Raptor counts here would help fill a major gap in our knowledge of the spring migration of raptors through this part of the Middle East.

Plate 3. Steppe Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus (Paul Doherty)
Steppe Buzzard picture

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am most grateful to Mindy Baha el Din and Stella M. Grieve for assistance with counting raptors at Gebel el Zeit in late April and early May, 1994 and to Sherif Baha el Din who provided valuable comments on raptor migrations in Egypt.

REFERENCES
BEN ZOHAR, E. (1986) Survey of migration of birds of prey at Beersheba, spring 1985. Torgos 5:44-59.
BIJLSMA, R. G. (1983) The migration of raptors near Suez, Egypt, autumn 1981. Sandgrouse 5:19-44.
BRAUN, B. (1985) Spring migration of raptors at Suez compared with Eilat. Dutch Birding 7:6-10.
CHRISTENSEN, S., LOU, O., MUELLER, M. AND WOHLMUTH, H. (1982) The spring migration of raptors in Southern Israel and Sinai. Sandgrouse 3:1-42.
DAVIDOVITT, G. AND LESHAM, Y. (1984) Raptor migration survey in Eilat and Ein Gedi, spring 1981. Torgos 3:9-16.
DOVRAT, E. (1991) The Kefar Kassem raptor migration survey, autumns 1977 -1987. A brief summary. In D. Yekutiel (Ed.): Raptors in Israel: passage and wintering populations. International Birdwatching Center Eilat.
GOODMAN, S.M. AND MEININGER, P.L. (eds) (1989) The Birds of Egypt. Oxford University Press.
MEININGER, P.L. AND DE RODER, F.E. (1992) The migration of birds of prey at Suez, spring 1990. Courser 3:23-34.
PARR, D. (1987) Raptor and stork migration at the southern end of the Gulf of Suez in the spring of 1983 and the autumn of 1984. Sinai Newsletter 5(1):5-6.
SHIRIHAI, H. (1987) Eilat-an intercontinental highway for migrating raptors. In: Eilat: an Intercontinental Highway for Migrating Birds. International Birdwatching Center Eilat.
SHIRIHAI, H. AND CHRISTIE, D.A. (1992) Raptor migration at Eilat. British Birds 85:141-186.
SIMMONS, K.E.L. (1951) Raptor migration in the Suez area. Ibis 93:402-406.
SØRENSEN, U.G. (1983) Raptor migration over the Red Sea Mountains near Port Safaga, Egypt. Orn. Soc. Middle East Bull. 10: 7-9.
VAN DIGGELEN, R., VISSER, J., VAN POELGEEST, R., VAN OS, B.L.J., VALKENBURG, C., OOSTTERVELD, E., AND ESSELINK, H. (1987) Raptor migration over Suez in the autumn of 1984. Unpublished.
WIMPFHEIMER, D., BRUUN, B., BAHA EL DIN, S.M., AND JENNINGS, M.C. (1983) The migration of birds of prey in the northern Red Sea: report of the 1982 Suez Study. Holy Land Conservation Fund, New York.
YOSEF, R. (1995) Spring 1994 raptor migration at Eilat, Israel. Journal of Raptor Research 29(2):127-134.

Andrew Grieve, RSPB Blacktoft Sands Reserve, Hillcrest, Whitgift, Near Goole, East Yorkshire

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