Birdwatching in eastern Cyprus: migration times, sites and rules

Why Cyprus matters to migrating birds

At 9,250 square kilometres, Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean, and according to BirdLife Cyprus it lies on one of the most important migration routes in the region, between Africa to the south and Europe to the north, with the Middle East as its neighbour to the east. Twice a year, birds stop over here on their way between their breeding and wintering grounds. BirdLife Cyprus counts more than 200 species that occur regularly on passage, and over 400 species recorded on the island in total. There are 34 sites classed as Important Bird Areas, ranging from the coast to the Troodos peaks of almost 2,000 metres.

Nobody can say precisely how many birds pass through, and the sources differ widely. On its birdwatching page BirdLife Cyprus speaks of literally millions; in an article on spring migration from April 2025 it speaks of hundreds of thousands. The Deputy Ministry of Tourism gives around 250 million birds each spring and autumn on Visit Cyprus, without saying where the figure comes from. We consider the BirdLife Cyprus figures more reliable, because the organisation monitors migration itself and counts raptors at Akrotiri, for example; none of the figures, however, is based on a full count, and even BirdLife Cyprus's own two figures are far apart.

There is a simple reason why so much happens on the coast. After hours of flying over the open sea, the coast is the first land the birds reach, and for waders and waterbirds it also serves as a leading line. The bottlenecks where most migrants gather are therefore on the coast; BirdLife Cyprus places them between the Akamas peninsula in the west and Cape Greco and the Karpasia peninsula in the east.

Cyprus is also an Endemic Bird Area of BirdLife International in its own right. Three species breed only here: the Cyprus wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca), the Cyprus warbler (Sylvia melanothorax) and the Cyprus scops owl (Otus cyprius). In addition there are endemic subspecies of jay, coal tit and short-toed treecreeper, which live mainly in the forests of the Troodos and are unlikely to turn up on the east coast. The scops owl, by contrast, occurs across the whole island according to BirdLife Cyprus, in gardens, olive groves and on the edges of villages, with an estimated 5,000 to 12,000 breeding pairs. You are more likely to hear it than to see it: its territorial call has two notes, while that of the Eurasian scops owl has only one.

The calendar: spring migration, autumn migration and winter

According to BirdLife Cyprus, spring migration begins as early as February with the first swallows and isabelline and northern wheatears, and the great spotted cuckoo follows at the end of February. The first hoopoes arrive in early March, and by the end of March migration is in full swing, with pallid harrier, wryneck, larks, pipits, wagtails, black-eared wheatear, warblers such as Rüppell's and subalpine warblers, and Cretzschmar's and ortolan buntings. In early April they are joined by herons, waders, rollers, bee-eaters, olivaceous warblers, shrikes, golden orioles and black-headed buntings. At the end of April the passage of songbirds eases off, waders continue to move through into May, and with them the occasional rarity turns up.

Autumn migration, according to BirdLife Cyprus, begins in early August with the shrikes; strictly speaking, according to another article by the organisation, the return migration already starts at the end of June. At the end of August and in early September, demoiselle cranes stop over at Akrotiri Salt Lake and can occasionally be seen over other parts of the island too. There is also a passage of raptors and other large soaring birds, varying in strength from year to year, including Egyptian vultures, lesser spotted eagles, honey buzzards in large numbers, black kites, red-footed falcons, lesser kestrels, and black storks and white storks. Autumn migration lasts into October, and then the first winter visitors arrive.

For raptors, autumn is the better season. According to BirdLife Cyprus, many species return in spring on a more easterly route over land, avoiding the sea, a pattern known as loop migration. The commonest raptor on passage is the honey buzzard, with more than 5,000 birds in most years, mainly from early September to early October and in the morning, when the warm air rises and the birds gain height. The Akrotiri peninsula in the south is considered the main bottleneck, over which, according to BirdLife Cyprus, most migrating raptors are thought to pass. In recent years the counting programme, which has been running since 2003 and counts every autumn from the end of August to early November, has focused there; Cape Greco is covered less often.

Winter, according to BirdLife Cyprus, feels almost northern European, with an eastern touch. Duck numbers rise and there is a small wintering flock of white-fronted geese; black redstart, robin and song thrush are common, and bluethroat and reed bunting appear in wetlands. A winter speciality of Cyprus is Finsch's wheatear, and the wallcreeper is occasionally found on cliffs and in gorges; finding either takes time and patience. Off the headlands, the odd Scopoli's or Yelkouan shearwater turns up in winter. When the flamingos arrive and where they gather is described in the guide to the flamingos.

Cape Greco: coastal migration and two endemics

From Sotira, Cape Greco, between Ayia Napa and Protaras, is the obvious destination. According to Visit Cyprus, the national forest park covers 385 hectares and is a Natura 2000 site; according to the same source, most of the birds there are migrants. BirdLife Cyprus expressly names the cape among the places where black kites and lesser kestrels pass through in autumn, along with the odd booted eagle in September and October. For black kites, BirdLife Cyprus gives the period from early September to early October.

In spring and summer, two of the three endemics breed in the scrub and on the cliffs of the cape: the Cyprus wheatear and the Cyprus warbler (BirdLife Cyprus). The wheatear winters in Africa, for example in Ethiopia and Sudan, and is common across the whole island from March to October. From April to June the black-and-white male sings for hours from a raised perch, with a song reminiscent of an insect. The Cyprus warbler is harder to see, a small grey bird with black spots on the throat and breast that likes dense scrub. It mostly stays on the island all year round and, according to BirdLife Cyprus, is more likely to be found in the west and south-west.

The environmental information centre at the cape, with an exhibition, three aquariums and a café, gives an overview of the area. According to Visit Cyprus it is open daily from 10:00 to 18:30 from May to October, and only Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:30 from November to April; it is closed on public holidays. Admission costs 2 euros for adults and 1 euro for children aged 6 to 12. For the year it opened, the same page gives 2015 in one place and 2017 in another. A 2017 leaflet from the Department of Forests gives different times, Monday to Friday 10:00 to 15:00 from October to April and daily 10:00 to 17:00 from May to September, and 2 euros for anyone over 12; the centre can be reached on +357 23 814 412.

The list of recent sightings from BirdLife Cyprus shows how quickly the picture changes: for 31 October 2026, observers reported two nightjars at Cape Greco. The reports are unconfirmed, but they are a good way of seeing what is around before a trip.

According to our route calculation with OSRM, it is around 16.5 road kilometres from Sotira to the Agioi Anargyroi road on the cape, about 22 minutes by car without traffic. Without a car, you take the bus to Ayia Napa and change there to route 101, which runs via the cape to Protaras and Paralimni; details are in the guide to buses and taxis.

Oroklini Lake: hide, black-winged stilt and spur-winged lapwing

Oroklini Lake, near Voroklini in the Larnaca district, covers around 50 hectares and is the smallest Natura 2000 site in Cyprus, designated as a Special Protection Area under the Birds Directive and as a Site of Community Importance under the Habitats Directive. BirdLife Cyprus counts 190 bird species recorded there. The lake is particularly important for two breeding birds: for the black-winged stilt it is the best breeding site on the island, and for the spur-winged lapwing it is one of the five most important sites in Cyprus, which according to BirdLife Cyprus holds more than half of the EU breeding population of the species. Visit Cyprus also mentions herons, flamingos and glossy ibises, as well as the pelican, which passes through on only a few days on its way to Africa.

The lake's present condition is the result of an EU-funded LIFE project from 2012 to 2014. It was led by the Game and Fauna Service and co-ordinated by BirdLife Cyprus, with the Department of Environment, the Department of Forests and the Voroklini community council also taking part. The lake was fenced so that cars and motorbikes could no longer drive into it in dry periods, non-native plants were removed, native shrubs and trees were planted and the water level was regulated. A visitor point with a hide was also built; for World Wetlands Day 2020, BirdLife Cyprus invited the public to the main hide, with binoculars and telescopes on hand. The organisation now presents the lake as an example of how a damaged wetland can be restored.

From Sotira to the Oroklini Lake bus stop on Spyrou Kyprianou Street it is around 34.6 road kilometres according to our route calculation, about 30 minutes by car without traffic, which makes it a half-day trip.

Achna reservoir and Paralimni Lake: the sites in the neighbourhood

Closer to hand are two bodies of water that already feature in other guides. The Achna reservoir between Avgorou and Dasaki Achnas has been a Special Protection Area for birds since April 2008; the Game and Fauna Service's management plan lists 224 recorded species, and more on its location is in the guide to the red villages. In a 2022 article, BirdLife Cyprus mentions the dam as a place where a booted eagle had wintered a few years earlier, and the list of recent sightings records a jack snipe there for 29 October 2026. According to our route calculation, the dam is around 15.8 road kilometres and about 21 minutes by car from Sotira.

A current notice from BirdLife Cyprus concerns this very area. Because of foot-and-mouth disease, access to birdwatching sites near livestock farms may be temporarily restricted or closed; as examples the organisation names Akrotiri Marsh and possibly Achna and Agia Varvara. Barriers and instructions from the authorities must be followed.

Paralimni Lake lies right next to Sotira; the shallow basin fills with rainwater in winter. On 1 February 2026 BirdLife Cyprus invited the public to a birdwatching morning there for World Wetlands Day, and participants saw wintering flamingos as well as ducks, herons and other waterbirds. For an earlier event in February 2020, the team invited people to the north-east side of the lake along Petrou Iliadi Street.

May 2026 showed how sensitive the area is. According to BirdLife Cyprus, part of the embankment that held the water was removed, with the consent of the competent authorities and at the urging of the municipality of Paralimni, which cited mosquitoes and the salinity of the groundwater. This happened in the middle of the breeding season of species including the black-winged stilt and the spur-winged lapwing; BirdLife Cyprus demanded that the embankment be restored immediately. The size, protected status and pressures on the lake are described in the guide to the flamingos.

Hunting and bird trapping: what birdwatchers should know

Anyone out and about between late August and the end of February will come across hunters. According to BirdLife Cyprus, around 40,000 hunters are registered in Cyprus. BirdLife Cyprus gives Sunday and Wednesday as the usual hunting days, with daily hunting in some areas. Around Sotira this rule of thumb only partly applies. Under the Game and Fauna Service's hunting decree for 2026/27, bird hunting in all designated hunting zones of Famagusta district, including those right around Sotira, is permitted on 23 and 30 August and then every day from 2 September, until 30 September or 30 October 2026 depending on the zone. From 1 November to 27 December 2026, hunting takes place on Sundays and Wednesdays across the island outside the no-hunting areas; in several zones around Sotira and at Paralimni Lake, thrushes, ducks and other game birds may then also be hunted every day except 25 December, while hare, partridge, pheasant and francolin remain limited to Sundays and Wednesdays. From 3 January to 28 February 2027, hunting is again permitted every day in the district's hunting zones, including for song thrushes; the area around Paralimni Lake is excluded during this period. Spring hunting is prohibited under the EU Birds Directive and Cypriot law. At Paralimni Lake, according to BirdLife Cyprus, hunting is permitted every day in November and December on around 30 per cent of the area.

A separate issue is illegal bird trapping with nets and limesticks. BirdLife Cyprus monitors it in the two areas where trapping is heaviest: the Kokkinochoria, which include Sotira, together with the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, and the Agios Theodoros and Maroni area in the west of Larnaca district. According to its report on autumn 2025, an estimated 726,000 birds were illegally killed in this survey area; extrapolated to the whole of Cyprus excluding the north of the island, the figure is around 968,000. Overall, trapping with nets rose by 4 per cent compared with autumn 2024, with the two jurisdictions moving in opposite directions: in the Republic of Cyprus it fell by 47 per cent, while in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area it rose by 55 per cent. Compared with 2002, the first year of monitoring, netting was 86 per cent lower. At Cape Pyla, a well-known hotspot west of Ayia Napa, trapping was documented again for the first time since 2019. The use of limesticks remains high, according to BirdLife Cyprus.

Under the BirdLife Cyprus Code of Good Practice, anyone who notices nets, limesticks or illegal shooting should report it to the Game and Fauna Service or, within the Sovereign Base Areas, to the Sovereign Base Areas Police, and to BirdLife Cyprus as well. You should not confront the offenders or remove nets or limesticks, because this can be dangerous and can make legal proceedings more difficult. The same code refers to Law 152(I)/2003: deliberately disturbing birds or their nests during the breeding season is prohibited, as is playing recordings of bird calls to attract birds.

BirdLife Cyprus also advises caution with binoculars, telescopes and cameras near military installations and airports. Birdwatchers have been questioned by the police there, and photographic equipment has also been confiscated.

Recent sightings and your own observations

The best preparation for a trip is the recent sightings page of BirdLife Cyprus. It lists unconfirmed reports from local and visiting birdwatchers, day by day and arranged by site; there are also WhatsApp groups for sightings, which you can join on request. BirdLife Cyprus accepts your own observations via the free BirdTrack platform or directly through the organisation's recorder, and there is a separate form for rare species.

Under the Code of Good Practice, anyone who finds a rare species should first consider whether the news ought to be spread, especially in the breeding season; BirdLife Cyprus gives confidential advice on this. For the distance to keep from a bird, the simple measure described in the guide to the flamingos applies: if a bird takes flight or gives repeated alarm calls, you are too close.

For planning, BirdLife Cyprus has published a book, “Birdwatching in Cyprus: Where to go and what to look out for”, with ten birdwatching sites including maps and directions, six further sites in brief and a species list. In the organisation's shop the English edition costs 18 euros.

From Suite 203

Suite 203 is on the top floor of the Flamingo Lake Resort in Sotira, opposite Paralimni Lake, and is expected to be ready for occupancy in March 2027. From there, Cape Greco, the Achna reservoir and Paralimni Lake are only a short way away. There is no booking calendar yet; if you have a migration season in mind, send us the weeks you would like, and we will get back to you as soon as letting begins.