Preliminary data on raptor passage in Jordan

IAN J. ANDREWS

A total of 17,644 migrating raptors was counted in Jordan in 1989-92, as part of a regional reconnaissance study. Details of more intensive counting at Wadi Dana in 1994 and 1995 are also given. In spring, few birds were seen at Aqaba, the majority following the mountains of the rift margin at Petra and Wadi Dana. Further north, some followed tributary wadis to the north-east and east, away from the rift valley. Species composition showed many similarities with that found in Israel with Hone y Buzzard Pernis apivorus, Black Kite Milvus migrans, Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes, Steppe Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus and Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis dominating spring passage. In autumn, raptor passage was less concentrated and exhibited a great attraction to water. Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus, Montagu's Harrier Circus macrourus, Levant Sparrowhawk, and Steppe Buzzard were the most numerous species.

INTRODUCTION

Christensen et al. (1981) first suggested that in spring raptors cross from Eilat into Jordan at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba in a north-easterly direction. Shirihai & Christie (1992) provided additional information and reported that most raptors at Eilat head north-east and, under normal weather conditions, cross onto the eastern side of Wadi Araba north of Aqaba. Only during a period in the afternoon (when birds pass at high altitude) and during strong westerly winds does the main passage over fly the Gulf of Aqaba and Aqaba town. Interestingly, during Israeli observations Levant Sparrowhawks Accipter brevipes were not seen to cross Wadi Araba or the Gulf of Aqaba and it is postulated that this was due to the more westerly breeding range of this species (Shirihai & Yekutiel 1991, Shirihai & Christie 1992). In autumn, observers in Israel have reported large flocks of Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis soaring over the mountains behind Aqaba (Shirihai 1982). These then headed nor th-north-west, 6 km north of the coast, before passing to the north or north-west of Eilat. It was suggested that they were crossing the rift valley into the prevailing wind before continuing on a south-westerly route on the western side of the Gulf of Aqaba (Shirihai 1982, Shirihai & Christie 1992).

PREVIOUS DATA FROM JORDAN

Twenty-five years later Flaxman (1982) recorded passage at new sites: 60 Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus at Mount Nebo on 10 May 1982 and 200-300 probable Honey Buzzards west of Na'ur on 11 May. At Aqaba during 14-18 May he also saw a small number of raptors, mostly Honey Buzzards, moving east or north-east. Few migrating raptors were reported over Petra by early visitors (see Wittenberg 1987), and the first indication that sigificant numbers passed over this site came in spring 1983, when over 1000 w ere recorded (Wittenberg 1983). Most were flying north over Petra and north-north-east over nearby Al Bayda with peaks of 200 Steppe Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus on 21 April and 650 Honey Buzzard in one hour on 10 May. A large north-easterly passage was also noted at Petra on 4 April 1988 including 2000+ Steppe Buzzard, 200 Black Kite Milvus migrans and 10 Steppe Eagle (J. Wittenberg pers. comm.). On 24 March 1989, the same observer reported the following numbers at Fidan in only 30 minutes: 3 0 Black Kite, 2 Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus, 1 Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus, 3 Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, 3 Marsh Harrier, 3 Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus, 800 Steppe Buzzard and 20 Steppe Eagle.

METHODS

SPRING PASSAGE

Table 1. Total numbers of migratory raptors recorded by the author in Jordan during July 1989 to June 1992. [Note: Resident raptors are not included in this list (except where clearly related to passage), for the purposes of this study these are: Griffon Vulture, Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus, Bonelli's Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus, Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos, Verreaux's Eagle Aquila verreauxii, Kestrel Falco tinnunculus, Lanner Falcon Falc o biarmicus and Barbary Falcon Falco pelegrinoides. In addition winter records of Marsh and Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus, Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus, Imperial Eagle and Merlin Falco columbarius are excluded (see Andrews 1995) as are records of Lesser Kestrel, Hobby Falco subbuteo, Short-toed Eagle, Egyptian Vulture and Sooty Falcon Falco concolor in breeding habitat.]

Tabel 2. Sites with more than 100 migrating raptors counted in Jordan, spring 1990-92

	number of raptors				main direction of flight
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.	Azraq Qa' al Hibabiya Kafrayn Na'ur hill Ash Shuna Janubiyya Wadi Shu'ayb west Amman, including the Amman National Park Wadi al Hidan Wadi Dana Petra Ras an Naqab Jabals Rum and Umm Ishrin Aqaba		182 102 281 1805 129 140 268 8191 1205 2257 304 261 159		? NW NE ?NE NE NE E N N N N N N

Few raptors were seen at Aqaba despite the presence of an estimated three million birds using the 'Eilat migration route' which passes nearby. Initially it was thought that birds were being missed, but the relative lack of birds supports the supposition that most passage follows the west side of Wadi Araba until some distance north of Aqaba, except in mid-afternoon and certain weather conditions (Shirihai & Christie 1992). Flaxman (1982) reported small numbers of raptors heading north-east or east at Aq aba, and in April 1992 a few Montagu's Harrier, Steppe Buzzard and Booted Eagle were seen coming in off the sea and heading north. Large numbers have been recorded at Aqaba just once: during light northerly winds on 27-28 March 1994, when passage was recorded between 09.45-12.45 and 10.30-12.15 respectively. Birds crossed the Gulf from the direction of Taba (the Egypt-Israel border), passing high over Aqaba town and continuing north along the rift margin mountains. Between 27 March and 8 April, 22 Black Kit es, 3931 Steppe Buzzards, 21 Spotted Aquila clanga or Lesser Spotted Eagle and 175 Steppe Eagles were counted (Dr R. D. Oades pers. comm.).

North of Aqaba, along the southern part of the rift margin, large numbers of raptors were observed at Fidan, Wadi Dana and Petra, confirming the importance of this area for raptor passage. At Petra, Wittenberg's counts are supplemented by maxima of 200 Steppe Buzzards on 7 April 1990, 50 Honey Buzzards on 10 May 1991 and 1900 Steppe Buzzards on 27-28 March 1992 (pers. obs.).

Figure 1: Counts of migratory raptors by 10 days periods, Jordan 1989-92 (excluding 8000 Levant Sparrowhawks on 24 April and 1680 on 1 May)

Further north at Wadi Dana, large numbers of migrating birds were seen during both days the site was visited during 1989-92. They used the entire escarpment, which is 10-20 km wide, with the lines of flight possibly dependant on the time of day or wind direction. On 13 April 1990, 700 Steppe Buzzards, 35 Steppe Eagles and fewer than five individuals of seven other species were seen. On 10 April 1992, 400 Steppe Buzzards, 21 Steppe Eagles and fewer than five individuals of six other species were seen. Additi onal data from spring 1995 confirm the importance of the rift margin route, with daily maxima at Wadi Dana of 1973 Steppe Buzzards on 1 April, and 490 Honey Buzzards and 500 Levant Sparrowhawks on 28 April (RSCN 1995b, Table 3). Black Kite, Egyptian Vulture, Short-toed Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle and Steppe Eagle were also well represented.

Table 3. Totals of migrating raptors seen at Wadi Dana, Jordan, March-May 1995 (RSCN 1995b; R.F. Porter pers. comm.). Any passage of Short-toed Eagles and Lesser Kestrels was obscured by the presence of local breeding birds; only obvious passage counts are given for the former and bird-day totals for the latter have been omitted.

Further east, a moderate number of raptors were seen flying north over the Rum Desert jabals of Rum and Umm Ishrin and subsequently heading north over the Ras an Naqab escarpment. Birds were seen gaining height over the jabals from early morning having presumably roosted nearby. It seems likely that these birds had crossed the Red Sea south of Eilat, presumably at the Bab al Mandab, before moving north through Arabia. Raptor migration, particularly of Black Kites and harriers Circus sp. occurs on a b road front across north-central Saudi Arabia in spring (S. Newton pers. comm.), and some birds may have arrived in Jordan via this route.

Along the scarp east of the Dead Sea, raptors were seen flying north at several sites, the largest numbers being seen at the mouth of Wadi al Karak and from a vantage point above the confluence of Wadi al Mujib and Wadi al Hidan. At this site, an estimated 8000 Levant Sparrowhawks were seen migrating rapidly north on 24 April 1992, accompanied by smaller numbers of Honey Buzzards and other species.More extensive coverage north of the Dead Sea and in the vicinity of Amman has identified a tendency for birds to veer east and north-east following the tributary wadis of the Jordan Valley. At Kafrayn (at the mouth of the Wadi Na'ur) and a few kilometres further north at Ash Shuna Janubiyya (at the mouth of Wadi Shu'ayb) large numbers of raptors were observed migrating north-east, following valleys. Observations along the length of both these valleys and their tributaries demonstrated that passage was continuing on an east to north-east axis (depending on the orientation of the wadi). Black Kite, Steppe Buzzard and Steppe Eagle used this route early in the season, whilst at dusk on 1 May 1990 a single spiral of 1680 Levant Sparrowhawks and 160 Honey Buzzards was over the wadi west of Na'ur.

On the plateau above these wadis large numbers of raptors were observed at As Suwayfiyya (a western suburb of Amman) confirming that birds were continuing in a north-easterly direction from Wadi Na'ur. At this urban site, a total of 1424 birds followed the course of an eastward draining wadi (Dr M. Griffin and pers. obs.) and the true total was probably much greater.

Further north there are fewer observations, but notable passage was noted at Ajlun and Umm Qays (pers. obs.). Large numbers have also been reported from the Dibbin area (Ornitholidays) but I have no details of the precise site or direction of movement.

At Azraq, relatively small numbers of raptors were recorded in spring. During the three years reviewed here, there were only four days when raptor counts exceeded 10 Steppe Buzzards (on 18 and 19 April) and Honey Buzzards (on 16 and 25 May). A few Levant Sparrowhawks were also seen. To the north-west of Azraq, at Qa' al Hibabiya, 100 Honey Buzzards were seen travelling ahead of a storm on 1 May 1991; their direction of flight was predominantly north-west. At Wadi al Butm, four Lesser Spotted Eagles flew nor th-east on 20 April 1992 the highest count of this species in the period. Larger numbers of birds clearly do pass over Azraq: Nelson (1973) reported very large northward movements of Steppe Buzzards with smaller numbers of Black Kites, Egyptian Vultures, Lesser Spotted Eagles and Lesser Kestrels. In the 1960s, Wallace (1982) also reported a wide variety of raptors, including 18 Red-footed Falcons Falco vespertinus (and a Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus) at Azraq.

Unfortunately, spring coverage in the eastern desert areas was less comprehensive than in autumn and there would appear to be no evidence of broad front migration at this time of the year. Thus fewer raptors were seen from the Amman to Azraq road in spring than in autumn.

AUTUMN PASSAGE

Table 4. Sites with more than 100 migrating raptors counted in Jordan, autumn 1989-91.		Hobby
	number of raptors
1. Amman National Park	570
2. Ghadir Burqu'	102
3. Azraq	563
4. Aqaba	103

The only raptors seen at Aqaba in autumn were 75 Levant Sparrowhawks roosting in palms behind the beach on the night of 30 September/1 October 1990. Passage was also insignificant at Wadi Rum, Petra and Ras an Naqab, compared to that in spring.

In autumn 1994, more intensive raptor watching was undertaken at Wadi Dana by a Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature team (RSCN 1995a). Unfortunately the survey was too late to cover the main autumn passage of Honey Buzzard, Marsh and Montagu's Harriers and Lesser Spotted Eagle, all of which peak in September (Andrews 1995) and it remains to be discovered whether large numbers of these species use this route in autumn. Significant numbers of Steppe Buzzards were recorded in early October 1994 (Table 5), including a peak of 1966 on 7 October 1994 (RSCN 1995a). Dana is relatively well-wooded and undisturbed, and has numerous cliffs and water sources, but although on occasions large numbers of Steppe Buzzards roosted there, they did not appear to specifically select this as a traditional roost site (RSCN 1995a). Relatively low numbers of Steppe Eagles were observed (Table 5), confirming the view that the large numbers which pass through Eilat in autumn cross Wadi Araba further south (Shirihai 1982), havi ng presumably crossed the interior desert. Migrant Lesser Kestrels and Sparrowhawks were also recorded in relatively large numbers during this survey (Table 5).

Table 5.Totals of migrating raptors seen at Wadi Dana, Jordan, October-November 1994 (RSCN 1995a; R.F. Porter pers. comm.). () = presumed resident birds.

Further north light passage of Steppe Buzzards was noted at Mukawir and low numbers were also seen at Wadi ash Shita and As Salt. At the Amman National Park (15 km south-west of Amman) large numbers of Steppe Buzzards were seen at dusk on 30 September 1991 (300 birds) and 22 October 1990 (250, all of the grey-brown morph discussed in Shirihai & Doherty 1990). On both dates the birds appeared from the north-east or east, descending over the pines of the park, before continuing south-west.

In contrast to the pattern of observations in spring, the largest numbers of raptors was seen in the interior desert and in particular at Azraq. In part this reflected a clear attraction to water with birds at Azraq, Ghadir Burqu', Al Khirba as Samra sewage works (Az Zarqa), even gathering around an isolated bedouin water well in the desert south-west of Ar Ruwayshid. At Azraq this habit probably originated when the area was a true oasis, but the marshes were virtually dry during the investigation period an d the majority of birds were seen at a small area of fish pools. Birds often whiffled out of the sky, cautiously alighting to drink. The main passage period was 1-29 September and the more common of the 15 species involved were Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Marsh and Montagu's Harriers, Steppe and Booted Eagles. Most notable were 66 drinking Montagu's Harriers on 8 September 1990 and 14 Honey Buzzards on 15 September 1990 (Andrews 1991). In 1991, this pool was dry and very few raptors were seen that autumn. On only one occasion were spiralling Steppe Buzzards seen at Azraq (300 on 22 September 1989). The direction the birds take from Azraq is unknown, but it is possible that they may follow the topographical trend of Wadi as Sarhan to the south or south-east, rather than cutting across country to Aqaba.

A few raptors were seen in autumn at Al Khirba as Samra sewage works, the only permanent water in much of Jordan at this season: 6 Marsh Harriers, 6 Honey Buzzards, 5 Black Kites, 4 Montagu's Harriers and single Short-toed Eagle, Pallid Harrier, Steppe Buzzard, Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus and Hobby were seen.

Ghadir Burqu' is an isolated and almost permanent spring-fed pool north-west of Ar Ruwayshid (see Andrews 1995). A large number of raptors are known to visit this site to drink (J. Chitham and several archaeologists pers. comm.), and it is also widely known amongst the local bedouin for the raptors it attracts in autumn. Ar Ruwayshid has a thriving local industry selling the necessary paraphernalia for falcon catching, and people travel there from far afield using doves as lures. At times there is also exce ssive shooting at this site (archaeologists pers. comm.). Al Jafr acts as a similar centre for falconers in southern Jordan. Ghadir Burqu' was briefly visited on two occasions (Table 6): in 1991 many raptors were drinking there, whilst in 1994, many were flying over, only descending at dusk ahead of a storm.

Table 6. Numbers of raptors seen at Ghadir Burqu', north-east Jordan in 1991 and 1994.

Elsewhere in the southern and eastern desert, in arid areas, small numbers of birds were seen along broad, north-south trending wadis but away from any prominent geographical features. They were normally seen at dusk as they descended to roost and again as they rose in the morning. For example Steppe Buzzard, Black Kite and three species of harrier were seen at Bani Murra (on the border with Saudi Arabia) on 25/26 September 1989; 35 Steppe Buzzards and a few Marsh and Pallid Harriers were seen at Wadi al Ha sa on 5/6 October 1990 and Honey Buzzard, Steppe Buzzard, Hobby, Black Kite, Egyptian Vulture and all three harriers were seen at Jabal Qattafi (east of Azraq) on 20/21 September 1991. Along the Amman to Azraq road it was normal to see a few raptors perched on the high-tension pylons at dusk. Egyptian Vulture and Short-toed Eagle were the most frequent, but two perched Ospreys and migrating harriers were also seen along this route.

CONCLUSIONS

In spring, a major proportion of the birds using the well-described 'Eilat migration-route' cross into Jordan to the north of Aqaba. These birds continue north along the mountainous rift margin over-flying Petra, Wadi Dana and the mountains east of the Dead Sea. North of the Dead Sea, birds disperse to follow north-east or east-trending wadis, some passing over Amman. Contrary to previous ideas (Shirihai & Yekutiel 1991, Shirihai & Christie 1992), Levant Sparrowhawks do cross the rift and can occur in Jordan in considerable numbers in spring.

In autumn, raptor passage occurs on a broader front than in spring, and (due to the relative slow pace of migration at this season) there is strong reliance on water. This is not apparent in spring. There is an urgent need to preserve and protect the few remaining watering sites.

There is considerable scope for systematic raptor watching in Jordan to advance knowledge of this major Middle Eastern raptor migration route. In spring, further study could contribute data from sites such as Wadi Dana, plus the tributary wadis of the rift valley (e.g. at Kafrayn and Wadi Shu'ayb) and also further north near Umm Qays. In autumn, more extensive data is urgently needed from Ghadir Burqu' and other possible foci in the interior desert. Study of the Steppe Eagle passage through Aqaba in Septemb er would also be of interest.

Ian J. Andrews, 39 Clayknowes Drive, Musselburgh, Midlothian EH21 6UW, UK.