Plan d'Action pour la conservation des espèces d'oiseaux inscrites ...

GLOBALLY THREATENED SPECIES
1. Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus
A species occurring exclusively in major wetlands, which breeds in
countries of the Sarmatic region (essentially the Mediterranean and Black
Sea); part of this population winters in the Mediterranean. The principal
breeding areas (Albania, Greece and Turkey) and nesting areas (Albania,
Greece, Syria and Turkey) are relatively well known. To maintain the
species’ status, it is a question above all of improving protection and
management of nesting and wintering areas.
2. Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmaeus
Another Sarmatic species occurring in wetlands, whose numbers have
shown some signs of recovery in recent years, with an extension
towards the west of the breeding area. The Action Plan estimates the
breeding population in the Mediterranean at 2,500 pairs; other colonies
exist in the Middle East. The principal nesting and wintering areas
(Albania, Serbia, Greece and Turkey, with some pairs in Israel and Italy)
are relatively well known.
3. Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris
One of the rarest species on the planet, whose numbers probably do
not exceed a hundred birds. Its nest has been found only once, in
about 1917, in western Siberia: it undertakes an east-west migration
across the Black Sea, then comes to winter in coastal areas of the
Mediterranean, particularly in Greece, Italy, the Maghreb and Spain. It
is difficult to recognise, since it is extremely similar to the Eurasian
Curlew. Among the international measures taken for its conservation,
the Agreement drawn up under the Convention on Migratory Species
(CMS) should be mentioned.
SPECIES OF ISLANDS AND CLIFFS
Two groups of species are concerned here. On one hand there are the
pelagic sea-birds which only come to land during the nesting season;
these are birds of the high seas, perfectly capable of spending the
greater part of the year at sea, extremely well adapted to life at sea,
but poorly adapted to walking on land, since their feet are placed so
far back on their bodies; they land mainly at night, to avoid terrestrial
predators. On the other hand, there are two species of raptor which
nest on rocks and cliffs and pass the winter south of the Sahara.
1. Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea
Shearwaters are like miniature albatrosses; Cory’s Shearwater
normally nests on rocky islets in the sea, in large colonies, some of
which are well known, though those in the eastern Mediterranean
and the Adriatic are less well known. In the Mediterranean there is an
endemic sub-species C. d. diomedea; other sub-species occur in the
Atlantic. The species is listed on Annex I of the 1979 European Union
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