Birds
Nearly 19,300 raptors counted in one day at Batumi
After rain and fog, 27 August brought the season’s first 10,000-plus day in the Batumi bottleneck: nearly 19,300 birds, with Honey Buzzards dominating a stream that lasted several hours.
On 27 August, Batumi Raptor Count’s two stations recorded nearly 19,300 birds through the Batumi migration bottleneck. It was the first day of the 2026 autumn season on which the daily total passed 10,000. The organisation described a passage lasting several hours that practically created a wall of Honey Buzzards. The figures come from their field update — Reptiles.ge did not conduct the count.
What happened?
The 2026 autumn count at Batumi began on 12 August. The first fortnight was quiet. Batumi Raptor Count reported that rain and fog before 27 August had kept numbers low. The Honey Buzzard peak still lay ahead, and the team had begun to wonder where the birds were.
That day, the report says, they arrived. The two stations together reached nearly 19,300 birds. The stream lasted several hours. That is the season’s first day above 10,000 — not a season total, and not a species-by-species breakdown.
Why is the Batumi bottleneck important?
In autumn, raptors moving from the western Palearctic toward Africa follow the eastern Black Sea coast. In Adjara, north of Batumi, sea and mountains pinch that route into a narrow corridor. That is the Batumi bottleneck: many birds cross the same sky, so a single day’s count can run to the thousands.
Batumi Raptor Count has watched the corridor since 2008. The 2026 season runs from 12 August to 21 October. The update names two stations; on this atlas those sites appear as Sakhalvasho and Shuamta on profiles that record autumn passage here — including European honey buzzard and Common buzzard. The same context is on the birds hub.
What was observed on 27 August?
According to the report, European Honey Buzzards (Pernis apivorus) dominated the stream. This atlas’s profile for the species is European honey buzzard.
Station 1 took most of the counting; Station 2 worked the same streams for Black kites and harriers. The update does not name the harriers to species.
The report does not give species totals. What can be repeated here is only their summary: nearly 19,300 birds across the two stations, the first 10,000-plus day of the season, Honey Buzzards in the lead. Black Kites and harriers are named, without numbers.
Honey Buzzard is not a buzzard in the genus Buteo. The closest published lookalike page is Common buzzard — also a Batumi migrant, and a profile that already states honey buzzard is a different taxon.
What happens next?
Batumi Raptor Count expects Honey Buzzard numbers to peak in the following week. The season continues through 21 October. 27 August is the first large day, not the last: daily totals may still rise, and the species mix will shift as the autumn count runs on.
The primary source for the daily figures remains Batumi Raptor Count. News on this site adds context and points back to atlas pages — the species profile stays the main record.
