The Lesser Kestral is Back
A spectacular show has just started this year in the southern part of Albania, where it is located the bulk of the Lesser Kestrel roosting sites.
The first 80-100 individuals were observed, as expected, during last week on the medium voltage lines in Lushnje, Fieri, Vlora, Tepelena and Dropulli. Observations undertaken in the last 10 years confirm that the Lesser Kestrel forms at least six different roosting sites spread mostly in the south as it is shown in the attached map.
Albania shelters every year, in July-September, circa 10 % of the global population of the species. This fact underlines the importance of Albania for the global survival and conservation of this species.
The Lesser Kestrels perform post-breeding or pre-migratory movements, exactly before undertaking the “real” autumn migration to Africa. The most recent scientific articles have proved that these amount of 6000-7000 individuals comes from breeding populations of Northern Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria etc.
In Albania, they stop in valleys or planes where the presence of insects is quite high. This pit-stop provides the last energy supply ahead to a very difficult and long journey of about 3000-4000 km to the African wintering grounds. At the same time, this is the last service they freely provide for farmers, helping them to limit a considerable amount of insects that feed on agricultural crops.
AOS is monitoring since several years, the largest roosting sites of Lesser Kestrel in the country, a work that is consistent with the monitoring of other rare, endangered, or of global interest for nature conservation.