This is an article from RAPTOR-LINK - a newsletter on Russian Birds of Prey and Owls. Information about the newsletter could be obtained from Eugene Potapov e-mail: [log in to unmask] BIRDS OF PREY OF THE MIDDLE BIKIN RIVER (RUSSIAN FAR EAST). In May-June of 1992 and 1993 a team of Moscow ornithologists surveyed 300 km of valley woodlands of the Middle Bikin River (from the settlement of Verkhniy Pereval to s. Krasniy Yar up to the Rodnikovaya Meteorological station). This area is the last unfragmented part of the taiga of Ussuri type in the Russian Far East. Of the owls, the Screech Owl (Otus sunia) and Ural Owls (Stix uralensis) are the most common. The BlackistonUs Fish Owl (Ketupa blakistoni) was found in all surveyed regions and its population is in comparatively good condition. The Collared Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena) was not seen; Brown Hawk Owl (Ninox scutulata) was recorded only once near Verkhniy Pereval settlement. The Crested Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) and Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) are common in the area. A cluster of nests of Ospreys (Pandion heliaetus) was found near the Krasny Yar settlement (6 nesting pairs near the Rodnikovaya Meteorological Station). There were single records of Besra (Accipiter gularis), Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Hobby (Falco subbuteo) and Amur Red-footed Falcon (Falco amurensis). The two latter species were seen in farmlands near the Verkhny Pereval settlement. There were no sightings of Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle (Butastur indicus), White-tailed Sea Eagle (Heliaeetus albicilla), ohter Eagles, Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo). The latter was recorded in the area in 1990. Konstantin E. Mikhailov, Paleontological Institute, Profsoiusnaya st. 123, Moscow 117647, Russia. Until August 1994 the address is: Deptartment of Geology, University of Bristol, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK.