ABSTRACT
The long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus) is a medium-sized, diurnal, raptor species with a Southern Palearctic distribution. Although the classic literature indicates that some of its populations are migratory, partially migratory or resident in different areas, its actual status in various areas and different populations is not fully clear. This uncertainty is also manifested by its weak passages, at very small numbers, at the main raptors bottlenecks. Recently, the movement ecology of long-legged buzzard has been studied in the Judean Israeli population, and has revealed an exceptional movement pattern. This population performs a poleward migration from their southern breeding grounds in Israel to their northern non-breeding grounds in Syria, Turkey, and Russia, where long-legged buzzards spend boreal summer and autumn. Therefore, they show an opposite migratory direction in comparison with the majority of other avian species.
