CYPRUS BREEDING BIRDS ATLAS

BirdLife Cyprus members, Judy Dawes and David Whaley, have been collecting breeding bird data for many years and recently published an atlas, complete for the Paphos District and some other areas, but by no means complete for the whole island. The Committee and the Recorder urge members that breeding records submitted to the Society are in a format that can be added to the database.

For most species the breeding season is taken to be from March to June but there are exceptions such as early and late breeding raptors, and adult birds seen feeding juveniles late in the year. Ideally, members are asked to survey one or more 5km squares two or three times during the breeding season recording all the species breeding within it, noting the breeding evidence code (see below). But if this is not possible, all casual breeding records are useful, if the locations and breeding criteria are accurately given.

It is a record of the species breeding in each square, not the total populations, that are being sought at present. It is appreciated that there may be some difficulty in knowing which square one is in! A 1:250,00 "Joint Operations Graphic" map, showing the UTM grid in 10km squares, is available from some bookshops and from the Department of Land and Surveys, Nicosia. GPS is invaluable but not essential.

For the Breeding Atlas, each 5km square is numbered as a quadrant of its 10km square. The quadrants are shown as NW, NE, SE, and SW. For casual records a detailed note of the site is often enough to identify its grid reference.

Breeding records or more details of the survey can be obtained from Colin Richardson  or David Whaley.

BREEDING EVIDENCE CODES

Category M – Seen. Possible breeding

1. Species observed in breeding season in possible nesting habitat.

2. Singing male(s) present (or breeding calls heard) in breeding season.

Category P - Probable breeding

3. Pair observed in suitable nesting habitat in breeding season.

4.Permanent territory presumed because of observed territorial behaviour (song, etc.), at the same site, on at least two occasions at least one week apart.

5. Courtship and display.

6. Species visiting probable nest site.

7. Agitated behaviour or anxiety calls from adults.

8. Brood patch on adult examined in the hand.

9. Nest-building or excavating of nest-hole.

Category C - Confirmed breeding

10. Distraction display or injury feigning.

11. Used nest or eggshells found (occupied or laid within the period of survey).

12. Recently fledged young (nidicolous species) or downy young (nidifugous species).

13. Adults entering or leaving nest-site in circumstances indicating occupied nest (including high nests or nest-holes, the contents of which cannot be seen) or adult seen incubating.

14. Adult carrying faecal sac or food for young

15. Nest containing eggs.

16. Nest with young seen or heard.