Greece has recorded its highest-ever count of Eleonora’s falcons, with provisional results from the country’s latest national census estimating 13,262 breeding pairs.
The figure is nearly seven percent higher than the previous nationwide survey, conducted between 2004 and 2006, which estimated 12,299 breeding pairs.
The latest assessment, carried out in 2024, provides the first nationwide comparison in nearly two decades. The result also reinforces Greece’s importance for the species, as the country supports the largest share of the world’s breeding population.
New census finds 13,262 Eleonora’s falcon breeding pairs in Greece
The Hellenic Ornithological Society coordinated the 2024 census. A team of thirty field ornithologists surveyed approximately 3,650 (2,268 miles) of coastline. Researchers covered about one thousand islands, islets, and rocky outcrops and recorded 18,946 individual falcons. They used those observations to produce the provisional estimate of 13,262 breeding pairs.
During the previous national survey, conducted from 2004 to 2006, researchers counted 17,661 individual Eleonora’s falcons and estimated 12,299 breeding pairs across 249 colonies. The latest estimate adds about 963 breeding pairs to that earlier total. The population did not grow uniformly across Greece. Researchers found population increases in at least 10 colonies, most of them in the southern Aegean, while more than five colonies showed declines.
The Dionysades islands, northeast of Crete, recorded one of the largest increases. Their breeding population climbed from 587 pairs in 2006 to 1,075 in 2024.
Greece hosts most of the world’s breeding population
Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae) has one of its most important global breeding areas in Greece. Scientific studies estimate that more than 80 percent of the world’s breeding population nests in the country, mainly on remote Aegean islands, rocky islets, and coastal cliffs.
The earlier national survey mapped six main population concentrations: the northeastern Aegean, the Sporades, the eastern Cyclades, Antikythera, the southwestern Dodecanese, and the islets east of Crete. Because such a large share of the species breeds in Greece, changes in Greek colonies can affect its global population.
An unusually late breeding season
Eleonora’s falcon follows a breeding cycle that differs from that of most European raptors. The birds return to Mediterranean breeding grounds in spring and early summer but delay nesting until later in the season. Adults raise their chicks mainly during August and September, when large numbers of small migratory birds cross the Mediterranean on their way to Africa.
This timing gives the falcons access to a concentrated supply of prey while they feed their young. Before autumn migration peaks, Eleonora’s falcons feed largely on insects, including beetles, moths, and grasshoppers. Research in Greece also shows that some birds travel considerable distances from their nesting colonies to forage over forests, wetlands, farmland, and larger islands.
From Greece to Madagascar: Eleonora’s falcon migration route
Once the breeding season ends, Eleonora’s falcons leave the Mediterranean and begin a long migration toward their wintering grounds. Most spend the winter in Madagascar, while others use parts of eastern Africa and the western Indian Ocean.
They return north the following spring, completing an annual migration that links Greek breeding colonies with habitats thousands of miles away.
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