EAGLES AND SMALLER BIRDS OF PREY IN THE AGROFORESTRY MOSAIC

Starting from coastal areas and inland wetlands, ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) and sea eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) nest in riparian forests and adjacent scattered trees, hunting fish and a variety of animals in the surrounding areas. These trees are also the roosting sites for the spotted eagle (Clanga clanga) in winter. Following the topography of the inland lowland and semi-mountainous areas with ‘open’ forests, which often include a mosaic of small wetlands - sometimes seasonal - we find the most iconic species of agroforestry landscapes, the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca). Such areas still exist in North Macedonia and eastern Bulgaria, where the imperial eagle maintains its last viable populations. Similar landscapes in western Greece, Macedonia and Evros were until recently home to the last pairs of the species in our country, but also provide a habitat for the lesser spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina), the black kite (Milvus migrans) and formerly the red kite (Milvus milvus), the common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and the Levant sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes). All nest in trees but hunt small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians in open areas, often spotting their prey from scattered trees, as do most species of hawks (Falco spp.).

Most eagle species nest in trees, but need agroforestry mosaics to locate and catch their prey

On partially forested slopes we also find the booted eagle (Hieraaetus spennatus) and the short-toed (or snake) eagle (Ciraetus gallicus), which are strongly linked to agroforestry mosaics (Sánchez-Zapata and Calvo 2001). In fact, the shrinking of open areas in the rainy western Pindos has so much reduced the habitats of the snake eagle that it is now observed hunting only in the high altitude forests surrounded by upland grasslands and on the periphery of settlements. Εven typical “forest” species, such as the honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) in summer and the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) in winter, often prefer forest openings and clearings to hunt, a habitat mosaic kept open by livestock farming. Finally, the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), a flexible species of open woodland and scrubland, prefers to feed on turtles in Greece, that it breaks by throwing them on sharp rocks. Complementing the above picture with island and Mediterranean areas, the habitat of the rock-nesting Bonelli’s eagle (Aquila fasciata) and long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus) often, though not exclusively, consists of agro-pastoral areas where traditional agricultural activities are maintained. Finally, the most common birds of prey in Greece and Europe, namely the common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), prefer agroforestry landscapes for nesting and searching for prey. This also includes endangered species such as the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanii), which occurs in more steppic habitats (grasslands), the Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorea) which hunts insects before the breeding season in cultivated agroforestry areas on the Aegean islands and the hobby falcon (Falco subbuteo) which nests in open, frequently pastoral woodlands in mainland Greece.

As 33 of Europe’s 36 species of birds of prey occur in agroforestry landscapes, conservation, particularly of endangered species, is directly linked to the restoration and maintenance of agroforestry landscapes. Of these, 26 are under threat in Europe, 19 are included in the Greek and 9 in the global Red List [in the categories “critically endangered”, “endangered”, “vulnerable” or “near threatened” (CR, EN, VU, NT)]. For these species, immediate actions for the conservation and restoration of their populations are required, both by national and European legislation, which very often involve specific management actions in agroforestry landscapes. To date, 11 International Action Plans have been compiled for corresponding threatened species which need to be implemented immediately. All of them can be much more easily implemented if horizontal agroforestry policies are put in place, particularly within the EU member states.