Coastal Bird Migration at the Caspian Shore of the Azerbaijan Republic in October 2007

The barrier function of mountains and open waters cause a concentration of migrating birds in Azerbaijan. Here, the foothills of the Greater Caucasus and the Caspian Sea act like a bottleneck at the mountain Besh Barmag, 80 km north of Baku and force migrating birds to pass through an only three kilometre wide coastal plain. During the study period from 29 September to 24 October 2007, a total number of 310,495 migrants was observed and 174 bird species were identified. Among them were three species new to the Azerbaijan National List: Taiga Flycatcher Ficedula albicilla, Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla and Audouin’s Gull Ichthyaetus audouinii. The most common species was Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris with 182,547 individuals. Generally, passerine migration was restricted to the coastal plain. Along the coastline strong migration of terns, gulls and ducks was noticed while raptor migration was rather weak and mainly restricted to the adjacent mountains. Among migrants were eight species with international conservation status. Due to the high numbers of passing birds, the entire region has a high value for international bird protection. As main threats to migrants, power lines, wind energy plants and hunting have been identified.