Circannual variation in movement patterns of the Black Kite (Milvus migrans migrans): a review

The nominal subspecies of the Black Kite is a summer resident in Europe and Asia that winters mostly in western Africa, although numbers of birds wintering in the Mediterranean area are increasing. During migrations, tens of thousands are observed migrating through the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, along the eastern side of the Black Sea, and in the Middle East, while substantial numbers cross the central Mediterranean and the Bosphorus. This paper provides a review of research concerning migration and its relationship with foraging behaviour in a circannual perspective. In particular, research made both by satellite tracking and by visual observations suggests a more evident time-selected migration during autumn rather than spring. Moreover, differences in timing occurring among different flyways could be explained either by different rates of intra-specific competition in areas with different breeding density and/or by different distances between wintering and breeding grounds.