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

6. Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae
Here too, the species involved is a raptor with a very special adaptation
to the marine environment: the whole population of the species nests on
Mediterranean coasts and islands, and feeds its young by catching small
migrant songbirds which arrive in the Mediterranean after the end of
their own breeding season further to the north. It appears that the whole
of this falcon’s population winters in Madagascar! Colonies are
concentrated in Crete and the Aegean Islands, but other colonies exist
in Spain, Italy (especially in Sardinia) and North Africa. The species is
listed on Annex I of the European Union’s Directive on Wild Birds.
7. Audouin’s Gull Larus audouini
This is one of the few gulls of the Mediterranean which has adopted a
pelagic style of life outside the breeding season. It is a species endemic
to the Mediterranean, where all its breeding colonies are situated, but its
winter range is poorly known. The colonies are found on rocky islets,
where conservation measures have improved its status in recent years. It
occurs on Annex I of the European Union’s Directive on Wild Birds.
SPECIES OF COASTAL WETLANDS
This third group is made up of five species whose preferred habitat is
coastal wetlands, i.e. lagoons, sandy beaches and the few inter-tidal
areas of Mediterranean.
1. White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus
Like the Dalmatian Pelican, the White Pelican nests in colonies in vast
wetlands, above all in Greece and Turkey; most of the Mediterranean
nesting population, whose numbers have undergone considerable
decreases, follows the course of the Nile to winter south of the Sahara;
other nesting populations are found in Asia and Africa. It is above all
important to protect nesting colonies and feeding areas around the
colonies for a species which is universally recognised and enjoys a
place of honour in the culture of many human societies.
2. Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber
The Greater Flamingo used to nest irregularly in the Mediterranean, in
large ephemeral wetlands created by heavy local rainfall; for the last
thirty years it has nested regularly, thanks to large-scale protection
measures, in coastal wetlands (often artificial salt-pans) and mainly on
the northern shores of the Mediterranean. It has thus been shown that
this species reacts very well to protection measures and to the creation
of artificial habitats. Numbers have increased considerably over these
thirty years, and the species cannot be regarded as under threat. Like
the pelican, the flamingo features prominently in popular culture and
folklore in the Mediterranean, and can act as a standard bearer for the
conservation of coastal zones, even though it has a tendency to favour
waters of high salinity which are often avoided by other species.
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