The long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus) in Slovakia in the past and present

Abstract

Abstract In the 1 9th century the long-legged buzzard bred in the Balkan Peninsula only in Greece. From the first half of the 20th century it began to expand to the north, and at the end of 201 2 the northern boundary of its breeding expansion in south-eastern Europe extended to central Hungary, south-western Romania, Romanian Dobruja, the southern half of Ukraine and along the western border of Kazakhstan. In the work are 232 faunistic data on the occurrence of the species on the territory of Slovakia from the year 1 870 to the end of 201 2. In the period from 1 911-1 950 only 7 cases were found here; from the period 1 951-2000 43 observations exist, and for the short period from 2001-201 2 there are as many as 1 80, of which 98 occurred in the year 201 2 alone. The text in particular evaluates the invasive occurrence of the species in 201 2 in Slovakia and its neighbouring countries (Austria, Czech Republic and Poland). Given this increasing trend in the frequency of occurrence of the long-legged buzzard in Slovakia, its breeding on the territory of Slovakia in the near future can be anticipated, though by the end of 201 2 this had not yet to be confirmed.