Galugah Raptor Count: the story of a bottleneck in Iran

Guest blog by Ali Mousavi

Galugah, it literally means “bottleneck” in Persian. It is a small town in the southeastern region of The Caspian Sea, located in the southern part of The Miankaleh Wildlife Sanctuary and wetland. Once upon a time, it was the territory of Caspian Tiger and witnessed the hunting of Red Deer by these large feline predators. While the Caspian Tiger is now extinct and the Red Deer population declined dramatically, life thrives in the skies above this region. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world. This huge lake is shored up by the Alborz mountain range in the south. This attachment creates a bottleneck for soaring birds migrating from Russia and Central Asia to the Middle East and Africa. In the northern parts of the Alborz range lies an ancient forest known as the Hyrcanian forests. The efforts of these migratory raptors to utilize thermals on these slopes provide us with the opportunity to identify and count them. Interestingly, at our counting station, there is a ridge known locally as “Bazgir,” which translates to “catcher” or “entrapper of hawks.” This naming suggests that local people have been aware of these migration activities for years.

There have been some reports on recorded kettles of soaring raptors such as Steppe buzzard (Buteo buteo vulpinus) and European honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) during the autumn season, and a published report by Rands et al; announcing record of 115 Lesser spotted eagles (Clanga pomarina) in 1978 during two hours of monitoring in the area. However, based on these last four years of GRC counts, we doubt these records since this raptor species only has a small breeding population in the Hyrcanian forests along with few passage migrants through the bottleneck. But, the first systematic effort to count the migrating raptors through the southeastern plains of The Caspian Sea, occurred in spring 2008 for two weeks by Magnus and Mattias Ullman. The next actual effort was conducted in 2017 by Michele Panuccio and two Iranian students in 4 days of exploration and a total number of 428 large eagles. Their research, titled “Is the Slope Between the Alborz Mountains and The Caspian Sea in Northern Iran a Bottleneck for Migrating Raptors”, was published in 2018.

Michele Panuccio’s findings suggest that the mentioned area can serve as a migratory bottleneck for raptors. Besides current monitoring projects in the Eurasia-East Africa flyway such as Batumi Raptor Count (BRC), the Galugah Raptor Count (GRC) can improve our understanding of raptors’ population trends in the region. The number of species and individuals counted during these years, especially of Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) IUCN-listed as Endangered, and Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) listed as Vulnerable, is far beyond the numbers in the western area of The Caspian Sea. For example, we identified over 1,000 Eastern Imperial Eagles in 2022 and even more in 2023, which seems to be the highest number of this species recorded anywhere in the world. Considering unidentified large eagles, the number will even rise noticeably.

Discovering Galugah

It is worth noting that the Galugah Raptor Count is related to Batumi Raptor Count in other ways too:

Ehsan Talebi, one of the founders of the Galugah count, volunteered at BRC in 2019 and later used this experience to monitor raptors in the southeast corners of The Caspian Sea. In 2020, everything began with curiosity, and our small team practically searched for a suitable location based on the area’s topography. After several days of exploration, a hill near the town of Galugah, 200 meters high and with convenient access, was chosen. In the first two years due to the lack of budget and skilled counters, our goal was just an exploration through the skies. The early counts were done without any shelter and under direct sunlight or rain. But in the third year, amazed by the numbers of the two first years, we were curious to run a full season count to discover the start and end of migration along with the timing of each species’ passage. The 2022 count was a turning point for the project and many important works were done. First, the overall budget was secured through crowdfunding and local sponsor support. The landowner where the counting station is located, provided a basic but very interesting shelter and covered the food expenses for all volunteers. In addition to these contributions, many volunteers, mostly Iranian women, joined the project. Their presence not only significantly improved the quality of the count but also led to their training as potentially skilled counters.

From the beginning, we hoped for support from the public, and that hope thankfully became a reality. In the third year, the entire budget needed for 79 days of counting and tallying over 110,000 raptors, was provided by Iranian people. That year, we counted over 60,000 Large eagles, mostly Steppe Eagles. However, considering the good numbers of Black Kites (Milvus migrans) in the early days and witnessing the passage of Eastern Imperial Eagles in the last days, we realized the count duration still needed an increase and consequently, we decided to extend the counting days in the following year.

Our challenges

1.  Second station: Given the vast area of the surrounding foothills and the lack of precise identification for a considerable number of large eagles in the past four years, we need to establish a second station. The new station is planned to be assessed and tested in the coming season. Having two counting stations will increase costs and workloads to manage the count.

2. Increasing the number of skilled counters: Establishing a second station undoubtedly means an increased need for skilled counters. Although over the past 4 years, we have conducted both online and offline training classes before, during, and after each count, it must be acknowledged that participation of skilled counters is vital in all raptor counting activities.

3.  Quality equipment for all counters: In all these years, we managed the counts using a maximum of only three normal spotting scopes, all owned by the counters. Despite significant public support for the project and even acquiring a moderately priced scope through these contributions, securing the budget for purchasing at least 6 mid to high-quality scopes and an equal number of binoculars is highly needed.

Achieving these three objectives leads us to our ultimate goal: conducting standardized and long-term counts. The results of these long-term standardized counts can greatly contribute to a better understanding of the population ecology of large IUCN-listed eagles and other raptors in the region.

How can you help the count

Over the past four years, at least three of GRC’s volunteers have become highly skilled raptor counters, but for standard counting, which requires the establishment of a second station, we need more skilled participants. While we are aware of the political conditions in Iran and the Middle East, the participation of experienced birders from other countries can be constructive.

Our next need, which can likely be addressed more quickly than the first, is having high-quality scopes. Having appropriate equipment can undoubtedly increase the number of identified large eagles.

While having an effective collaboration with The Iranian Department of Environment and considering donations from Iranian people, still covering costs of obtaining quality equipment can be a real challenge.

Finally, we hope this count will attract the attention of international organizations interested in conservation activities in The Middle East. Collaborating with similar projects in the region, both scientifically and through international cooperation such as counters exchange, can create a network for volunteer activities and knowledge transfer, ultimately contributing significantly to the conservation of migratory birds in the involved countries.

Ali Mousavi is an Iranian ornithologist and mountaineer. After being a hiker and climber for a long time, he started birdwatching 7 years ago. Soon he found the whole world of birds too interesting to resist. Now he is a coordinator at the Galugah Raptor Count and tries to spend an increasing time on avian ecology in Iran and the region.