Batumi Raptor Count
Study species: Eurasian birds of prey
Research topic: Migration
Research location: Eastern Black Sea coast
Project organiser: Wouter Vansteelant
Status: Active
BRC is a research and conservation project working on migratory birds (of prey) at the eastern Black Sea coast of the Republic of Georgia and consists of a highly dynamic and forward-thinking team of young biologists and nature enthusiasts.
The BRC team has set up a sustainable volunteer-based monitoring of migration birds of prey in the third largest bottleneck for migrating birds of prey in the world. With over 40-50 volunteers BRC monitors the migration of > 1 million birds of prey from mid August through October each autumn. Researchers, including the MLSG's Wouter Vansteelant, have used monitoring data collected by BRC to study how weather affects the migration routes and timing of birds of prey along the eastern flyway. Honey Buzzards are the most common bird of prey migrating through Georgia (>450,000 per year).