Ornithologists (people who study birds) from the USA, Holland, Belgium, England, Estonia and other countries have been coming to Batumi for 11 years to observe millions of migratory birds, find and count the endangered species. Batumi in autumn is a real paradise for migratory birds and their observers.​​​​​

Interesting facts about birdwatching

Diversity: During 2 months, you enjoy watching numerous flocks of birds – more than million raptors of 35 species, including 7 types of eagles. The Aquila Heliaca - the eastern imperial eagle is among them. It is a rare pleasure to see this specie.

Emotions: Imagine more than 50 000 birds flying over your head every day and all the delight and enjoyment caused by this phenomenon. The choreography of numerous raptors is just some 50 meters above you.

Eco-tourism experience: It is quite possible that birdwatching will become your hobby or a sphere of interest. Especially since it will not be difficult to find people with the same interest, since scientists, international specialists, eco-tourists, observers and volunteers from different countries visit Batumi every year. You will discover new places, people, local culture and different tastes and flavors here.

Different daily routine: you wake up before dawn and finish your observation 2 hours before sunset. You will rest and relax in the nature.

Getting to know: you will learn much new about the bird world and get acquainted with environment protection issues. Bird colors, size and form, once again, will make you discover the diversity of our world. 

Interesting facts:

As experts say, Batumi, due to its geographical location, after Veracruz in Mexico and Eilat in Israel, presents the best migration corridor in the world. It turns out that more than 10 million raptors fly over the Gulf of Mexico, near Veracruz, every year. As for Eilat in Israel, the number of migratory birds constitutes about 2-3 millions.

Why do millions of birds choose Batumi migratory “bottleneck”?

The answer is – a warm climate. Birds flying to distant lands avoid high mountains and water surface, as in such places warm streams of air do not occur. In the rising warm air currents, they can hover and fly many kilometers without losing energy. Since Batumi is situated between sea and mountains and birds avoid both of them, they gather in one place. In the airspace of Batumi, you can see many rare and diverse birds that almost cannot be found anywhere else. The Batumi migratory “bottleneck”, alongside with Gibraltar and Messina (Sicilia), represents one of the four most important spots in Europe.

What is the main reason of bird migration?

Scientists agree that the main reasons are food shortage and tough weather conditions, as well as inborn instincts and reflexes.

The Finn ornithologists are the first who spread information about Batumi, as a bird migration corridor. It happened upon their visit to Batumi in 1980-s.

The seasonal bird migration supposedly started 10-30 millions of years ago, due to climate change. Birds use the position of stars at night and sounds to navigate.

In the world, about 2-5 billion of birds migrate from north to south every season. More than 62 % of raptors move to warm countries.

Nowadays there are about 8,850 different bird species on the planet and 4000 of them are regular migrants.

Flightless birds also change their location. For example, penguins swim and Australian bird - Emu travels great distances on foot to find food.

 Data of September 20, 2018