Cyprus bird records: request for information
Peter Flint & Colin Richardson are preparing the third edition of The Birds of Cyprus (further details on ResearchGate). It will be a comprehensive and completely revised avifauna of the whole island of Cyprus to be published within the BOC (formerly BOU) checklist series. In the 30 years since the second edition (Flint & Stewart 1992) the island has undergone extensive climate and habitat change resulting in many changes to its breeding bird populations; many new species have also been added to the Cyprus list during that time. In researching the new edition, we have traced several records of breeding and rarities which had not been published before and these will be passed to the Cyprus Rare Birds Committee and the island’s bird societies. If any readers have such records, we would be very grateful for details of them. Lists of the species we are particularly interested in are below, though they are not exclusive. All contributions will be acknowledged and those records published will be credited to the observer.
| Rarities: | ||
| Lesser White-fronted Goose | Arctic Tern | Dusky Warbler |
| Bewick’s Swan | Pomarine Skua | Green Warbler |
| Whooper Swan | Diver sp. (all) | Hume’s Leaf Warbler |
| Egyptian Goose | Petrel sp. (all) | Basra Reed Warbler |
| Common Scoter | Striated Heron | Paddyfield Warbler |
| Velvet Scoter | Dalmatian Pelican | Blyth’s Reed Warbler |
| Common Goldeneye | Lammergeier | Common Grasshopper Warbler |
| Smew | Cinereous Vulture | River Warbler |
| Goosander | Eastern Imperial Eagle | African Desert Warbler |
| Bustard sp. (all) | Crested Honey Buzzard | Ménétries’s Warbler |
| Diederik Cuckoo | Bateleur | Mountain Chiffchaff |
| Pin-tailed Sandgrouse | Greater Spotted Eagle | Firecrest |
| Oriental Turtle Dove | Red Kite | Naumann’s Thrush |
| Grey-headed Swamphen | White-tailed Eagle | Dusky Thrush |
| Allen’s Gallinule | Rough-legged Buzzard | White-winged Snowfinch |
| Red-necked Grebe | Amur Falcon | Blyth’s Pipit |
| Horned Grebe | Sooty Falcon | Long-billed Pipit |
| Lesser Flamingo | Lanner Falcon | Buff-bellied Pipit |
| Sociable Lapwing | Chough sp. (all) | Dead Sea Sparrow |
| Kittlitz’s Plover | Brown-necked Raven | Eurasian Bullfinch |
| Baird’s Sandpiper | Bohemian Waxwing | Eurasian Crimson-winged Finch |
| Pectoral Sandpiper | Hypocolius | Common Rosefinch |
| Red Phalarope | Blue Tit | Desert Finch |
| Oriental Pratincole | Bar-tailed Lark | Common Redpoll |
| Franklin’s Gull | Horned Lark | Red-fronted Serin |
| White-eyed Gull | Temminck’s Lark, | Little Bunting |
| Great Black-backed Gull | (African) Dunn’s Lark | Rustic Bunting |
| European Herring Gull | Arabian Lark | Yellow-breasted Bunting |
| Breeding: | ||
| Gadwall | Grey Heron | Eurasian Penduline Tit |
| Little Swift | Eurasian Sparrowhawk | Eurasian Skylark |
| Common Cuckoo | Pied Kingfisher | Great Reed Warbler |
| Black-bellied Sandgrouse | Eurasian Wryneck | Eurasian Blackcap |
| Black-necked Grebe | Red-backed Shrike | Song Thrush |
| Collared Pratincole | Eurasian Golden Oriole | White Wagtail |
If you can provide us with any new data on the above, please contact us at richar@cytanet.com.cy.
Thank you very much for your help.
Peter Flint & Colin Richardson