SPRING MIGRATION ECOLOGY OF CRETZSCHMAR'S BUNTING (EMBERIZA CAESIA) THROUGH ELAT, ISRAEL

Abstract

Cretzschmar’s bunting (Emberiza caesia) is a monotypic species with a very restricted distribution. It breeds only in the eastern Mediterranean warm-temperature zone of the western Palaearctic (Gillings and Hallmann, 1997). The species is migratory and winters in the subtropical zone in northeastern Africa and in the southern Arabian Peninsula. Migration is usually nocturnal, on a broad front, and staging stops can also be diurnal (Shirihai, 1996). Cretzschmar’s bunting circumnavigates the Mediterranean Sea by flying along the eastern flyway that passes through the Middle East. In Israel, Cretzschmar’s bunting is classified as a common autumn (mainly September) and very common spring (mainly March) passage migrant in most parts, and is also a fairly common breeding summer visitor in northern and central Israel. Shirihai (1996) reports that flocks of 500–1000 Cretzschmar’s buntings have also been documented in the same areas in the 1980s. Hence, in order to enhance our understanding of the migration ecology of the different age and sex groups of Cretzschmar’s bunting, we analyzed the data 1984–2000 for all individuals ringed at Elat, Israel. Data were obtained from the International Birding and Research Centre in Eilat (IBRCE). Just north of Elat (29°33N, 34°57E), it is the only long-term ringing station in the Middle East. Ringing was initiated in 1984; however, owing to changes in agricultural practices and political pressures, the ringing location has changed three times (Morgan and Shirihai, 1997). A total of 528 (range 3–161) Cretzschmar’s buntings have been ringed at Elat in the past 17 springs and none recovered or controlled elsewhere. We analyzed the data cumulatively for biometrics, and only data of springs 1984, 1990, and 2000 were further analyzed for phenology because only in these seasons was a large enough sample size caught and ringed. Arrival time is presented in Julian dates. Further, not all birds were sexed by the ringer, and data on wing chord length or body mass was not collected (methods Svensson, 1992) for all individuals, which has resulted in a large variation in sample sizes. We classified the birds into four age or sex classes—adult male, first calendar-year male, adult female, and first calendar-year female (cf. Small, 1992). Individuals not ascribed to one of these classes were not included in the biometric analyses. NOTE: