The occurrence of slender-billed curlews Numenius tenuirostris in Greece

Abstract

The occurrence of slender-billed curlews Numenius tenuirostris in Greece is examined based on 80 records from 1857 to 1988. Up to the mid-20th century, 9 out of 12 records were of shot birds. All the remaining came from the last 30 years. The highest numbers of slender-billed curlew occur in April and early May (spring migration). This picture is largely due to the records from the Evros delta (48% of the total). Apart from the spring months slender-billed curlews were present in greater numbers in September and January than any other month; there are no records in November and December and few in other months. Slender-billed curlews have been recorded in 16 Greek wetlands; 88% of the records come from Northern Greece. These sites lie along well-known migration routes and slender-billed curlews were recorded there more frequently during spring and autumn migration (the latter for Eastern Greece) than at any other season. Most records ( n = 38) were from the Evros delta. The birds mainly used the seaward part of the delta and, in most of the 28 cases for which details are available, salt marshes and coastal flats. For this area both the frequency of records and numbers of birds seen suggest that it may be one of the most important sites for slender-billed curlews in the Western Palaearctic. The evaluation of the patterns of occurrence and distribution of slender-billed curlews in Greece may have been subjected to some errors due to the differences in effort put into surveying various sites over the years, the preference by ornithologists to visit Northern Greece, and the great number of wetlands and other potentially appropriate sites in Greece which have never been surveyed. The most urgent need for the conservation of the slender-billed curlew in Greece is the effective protection of the wetlands where it has been regularly observed. Other measures are also suggested.