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This guide follows two previous editions written by Peter Flint and Peter Stewart in respectively 1983 and 1992 (which was volume 6 in the BOU Checklist series).
There has been annual recording and publication of bird records on Cyprus for more than 65 years, with the effort increasing in both scale and area of the island covered. Though one would expect the number of recorded birds to increase, this has only happened for some species while for many others the reverse is true. The dramatic decline in breeding birds was already established by 1992, but research for this edition uncovered similar decreases in numbers of passage migrants and winter visitors, likely due to a combination of climate and habitat changes affecting the island and the wider world. This matches patterns observed in nearby countries and general population declines of European breeding populations. This edition details the past changes and provides a baseline against which the inevitable future changes can be measured. It contains records up to 10 March 2023, with the addition of a few later significant records.
Of the many sources used, notable are publications of the island's past and present bird societies, and online databases such as eBird, for recent records. Others resources include the OSME Region List and the IOC World Bird List (both updated twice yearly), the EURING Cyprus databases, the European Breeding Bird Atlas 2 and the online Birds of the World. As in the previous editions, decisions on the status of species and the validity of records are the authors' own, although for records this century they have followed the decision of the Cyprus rare birds committees and the KUŞKOR equivalent in northern Cyprus.
In this edition, in addition to recoveries of ringed birds, the authors have included results from birds fitted with electronic tracking devices. These results have had to be searched for in the scientific literature and probably not all relevant records have been retrieved. However, the ones that have been included reveal fascinating insights into the origins, destinations, journeys, and sometimes fates of individual migrants.
Earlier prefaces emphasized the need for more research on breeding biology, distribution, habitat, population sizes, and densities of breeding birds. For many species, we now have a more complete picture but, as evident from this book, there are still large gaps in the knowledge of many iconic breeding species, including some endemics and near endemics. The systematic list reveals gaps in our knowledge that might be usefully investigated in the future.
Preface 5
Acknowledgements 7
Authors' biographies 11
Authors' contributions 12
List of tables 13
List of figures 13
List of plates 14
Introduction 17
History of Cyprus 17
History of Cyprus ornithology 17
Geology 28
Geography 29
Climate 31
Vegetation 33
Environmental changes and impacts 35
Overview of the avifauna 39
Breeding 39
Migration and movements 44
Changes in status 53
Conservation 60
Systematic List 66
General abbreviations 66
Museum abbreviations 67
Observers and collectors 68
Presentation of the species accounts 71
Species accounts 75
Addendum 409
Unconfirmed species 410
Appendices 414
1. Gazetteer of Cyprus place names 414
2. List of plant names mentioned in the text 427
3. Biometrics 429
4. Sites of ornithological interest 433
References 455
Index 479
