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Country/territory: Cyprus

IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3, B2, B3, C1, C2, C6 (2012)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 26,376 hectares (263.76 km²)

BirdLife Cyprus

Site summary
This is one of the richest, in terms of qualifying species, and most distinctive IBAs in Cyprus, encompassing most of the Pentadaktylos range, which stretches along the north coast of the island. With the exception of the Cyprus Scops Owl (Otus scops cyprius), this range, rising to a relatively modest height of just over 1,000m, does not host the endemic forest sub-species of the Troodos. It is, however, both a Mediterranean Biome site and an Endemic Bird Area site. Here, numbers of breeding Cyprus Warbler (Sylvia melanothorax) are as high as anywhere, while Cyprus Wheatears (Oenanthe cypriaca) are more numerous only in the vast ‘Pafos Forest’ IBA. Mediterranean Scrub Biome status is achieved thanks to the populations of the two endemics plus those of Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala), Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata), Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala), Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus) and Cretzschmar’s Bunting (Emberiza caesia) (the last two qualifying species in their own right for the site). The site is also a top breeding site for the Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) and Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). It is also the top breeding site in Cyprus for both the Little Owl (Athene noctua) and the Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar) and a key site for European Roller (Coracias garrulus). Finally, it is the most important remaining breeding site for the Raven (Corvus corax) in Cyprus as well as the key site for breeding Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Pentadaktylos Mountains (Cyprus). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/pentadaktylos-mountains-iba-cyprus on 23/12/2024.