Birdwatching Holidays

In 1989 Tilos declared a hunting ban on the island, unilaterally going against the Greek Constitution which declares hunting in the season as a national right.  The ban has remained in placed with the support of the majority on the island and a great many visitors who have signed successive petitions.   The net effect has been to greatly increase the amount and variety of birdlife on the island which make the island, particularly in the springtime, a paradise for birdwatchers.   There are now plans to establish five areas of National Park on the island to preserve the natural habitat of the island for the birds and other wildlife.   For more information, please visit www.tilos-park.org. 

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(A) The Roller (Coracias garrulous): Length 30 –32cm
A colourful bird of crow-like proportions and size.   Adult has blue head, neck and underparts, palest on forehead, and shows dark patch through eye.   The back is chestnut and the rump and tail are bluish-purple.  In flight, wings look striking with dark blue flight feathers contrasting with pale blue coverts and darker shoulder.   The legs and feet are dark.  Juvenile is similar to adult but with duller plumage.  Favours dry, open country with scattered trees.  Often perches on wires or dead branches and scans the ground below for lizards and large insects; these are caught and dispatched with robust, hook-tipped bill.  Widespread passage migrant and locally common breeding species, mainly in Iberian Peninsula, Greece and Turkey.  Present on the island from May to August. 

(B)  Patridge:  (Alectoris): Length 30cm
Gamebird preserved now in large numbers on the island due to the hunting ban introduced in 1987.  Often in small parties at ground level.  Small, rounded bird in differing shades of brown.

(C) The Scops Owl: (Otus scops):  Length 19 – 20 cm
Small, rather slender owl with proportionately long wings and conspicuous ear tufts.   Adult seen in two colour forms, either grey-brown or rufous.   Close view reveals delicate pattern of bars and streaks on plumage; shows striking black and white lines on scapulars.   Eyes yellow but often closed in roosting birds.   Favours woodlands, olive groves and the outskirts of villages.   Utters monotonous sonar-blip call throughout night; occasionally gives short bursts of call in daytime too.   Widespread summer visitor April-September; occasionally overwinters.

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(D) Golden Oriole (Oriolus Oriolus): Length 24 cm
Male has bright yellow and black plumage, and red bill; female duller and with streaked underparts.  Often surprisingly difficult to see in dappled foliage.   Male utters fluty wee-lo-weeow song.   Widespread summer visitor to woods and copses. (Early season only)

(E) Bee-Eater (Merops apiaster): Length 27 – 29 cm
The quintessential Mediterranean bird whose bubbling pruuuupp calls are such a feature of the months of May to August.   Has amazingly colourful plumage.  Adult has a chestnut crown and nape, grading to yellow on the back and rump; uppertail is green with two projecting central feathers and underparts are blue except from black-bordered yellow throat.  In flight, wings show chestnut and blue on upper surface.  Close views of perched birds reveal dark mask through eye and white forecrown.  Juvenile is similar to adult but colours are duller and lacks tail projections.   Often seen flying in flocks, circling and gliding in pursuit of insects.  Usually returns to perch with prey and removes stings from bees and wasps by knocking them against perch.  Colonial nester in sand banks.  Hunts over agriculatural land, marshes and rivers.  Widespread and common summer visitor to the Mediterranean.

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(G) Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus): Length 35 –38 cm
Smallest heron in Europe.   Adult male has greyish face, black cap, back and flight feathers and orange buff underparts.  Shows wing panel that grades from orange-buff to grayish-white.   Female similar but plumage subdued.  Juvenile has streaked brown plumage. Breeds in extensive reedbeds and seen mainly in jerky, low-level flight.  Often confiding on migration.   Present April – September.  Occurs locally throughout the region, wherever suitable, undisturbed habitats occur.

(H) Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus): Wingspan 95 – 115 cm
A robust and impressive falcon.   Adult has dark blue-grey upperparts and pale, barred underparts; face shows distinct dark mark.  Juvenile has browner plumage with streaked underparts.   Usually seen in flight over mountains or sea cliffs.  In winter, often wanders to coastal areas and marshes.  Soars on bowed wings but stoops at high speed with wings swept back on prey such as pigeons.  Locally common resident throughout region from Iberian Peninsula to Turkey.

Birds Sighted on Tilos