TURKEY'S MIGRATORY BIRDS
Geographically Turkey enjoys a very special location
with respect to seas and land masses, and a remarkable diversity
of terrain, habitat and climate, with a large number of streams
and rivers. The country has a coastline of 8200 kilometres, yet
an average altitude of over 1100 metres. Vast forests of spruce
and fir suddenly make way for bare steppe and semi-desert conditions,
and there are numerous wetlands, both freshwater and salt.
Then there are the birds. Turkey’s mountains, forests, coasts,
steppes, arable land and wetlands are temporary or permanent home
to nearly 450 species, or approximately 75 percent of all the recorded
bird species in the Western Palearctic.
Twenty-three of these are rare species threatened by worldwide extinction.
A high proportion of the millions of birds which migrate from Africa
to Europe in spring and back again in autumn fly over Turkey, because
the peninsula of Anatolia which forms Turkey’s mainland mass
serves as a convenient bridge between the continents.
The main migration routes are along the Bosphorus
and Çanakkale straits and the valleys of the eastern Black
Sea. The sight of the sky filled with tens of thousands of wheeling
storks or soaring eagles over a great city like Istanbul is unforgettable.
The best time of year to see these remarkable phenomena are April-May
and August-September, and the best vantage points in Istanbul are
the hills of Sariyer and Çamlica overlooking the Bosphorus.
In a study carried out thirty years ago, nearly 350,000 storks were
counted over Istanbul during two months in autumn.
Birdwatchers who come to Turkey for the first time
should certainly start or end their journey in Istanbul if they
come in those months. The other must on their itinerary is the wetlands,
of which the nearest to Istanbul is just a two and a half hour drive
away. This is Kuscenneti, one of Turkey’s first national parks,
near Bandirma. Although this consists of a small willow forest on
the shores of Lake Manyas (alias Kus Gölü), astonishingly
large numbers of birds come here.
Large species which nest in the willow copses include
spoonbills, squacco herons, night herons, little egrets, grey herons,
glossy ibises, cormorants and pygmy cormorants. Dalmatian pelicans,
which are an endangered species, breed on special platforms built
for them here. If you come in May or June, try looking out from
the observation tower in this bird sanctuary.
On the Aegean coast are two deltas of particular
importance where birdlife is concerned. One of these is the Gediz
Delta, where the Izmir Kuscenneti bird sanctuary is located (also
known as Çamalti Tuzlasi), and which lies just 25 kilometres
northwest of Izmir at the mouth of the gulf. This bird sanctuary
is famous for its flamingos, and has paths and observation towers
which enable visitors to get a good view of the birds without disturbing
them. This is a perfect place to spend a weekend in spring or summer.
South of Izmir is the Büyük Menderes Delta, which is the
largest and also the most important delta in terms of birdlife in
the Aegean region.
The scenes you are likely to see on the northern
shore of the delta early one sunny spring morning will be imprinted
on your memory for ever. Flamingos, herons and pelicans provide
the only movement in the still water of the delta, and of course
the fishermen, who still use the traditional methods they have used
for centuries. After visiting the delta, you can spend the rest
of the day visiting the ancient cities of Miletus and Priene, both
among the most spectacular sights in western Turkey. Here you will
be able to see not only history but also an abundance of songbirds
which make their home in the ruins. The scenes you are likely to
see on the northern shore of the delta early one sunny spring morning
will be imprinted on your memory for ever. Flamingos, herons and
pelicans provide the only movement in the still water of the delta,
and of course the fishermen, who still use the traditional methods
they have used for centuries. After visiting the delta, you can
spend the rest of the day visiting the ancient cities of Miletus
and Priene, both among the most spectacular sights in western Turkey.
Here you will be able to see not only history but
also an abundance of songbirds which make their home in the ruins.
The Göksu Delta on the Mediterranean holds
the Turkish record for the greatest number of species ever observed
in a single area, 331 in all. Throughout the year a wide variety
of common and unusual birds can be seen here, including rare and
large birds of prey like the white-tailed eagle, imperial eagle
and greater spotted eagle. In the winter months cranes and tens
of thousands of ducks of many different species inhabit the delta,
and in the breeding season birds like the white-headed duck, marbled
duck and gallinule make this wetland a centre of attention for ornithologists
around the world.
Turkey’s Lake District, with its many large
and small lakes, is situated between the Aegean, Mediterranean and
central Anatolian regions.
Here are Turkey’s two largest freshwater natural
lakes, Egirdir and Beysehir, while two others, Burdur and Acigöl,
contain high levels of salts. Particularly in winter, this area
is home to hundreds of thousands of ducks, principally the white
headed duck. In some years Lake Burdur alone is home to nearly 70
percent of the entire world population of this bird.
Although central Anatolia is largely bare dry tableland,
surprisingly it also possesses some of the coutry’se foremost
wetlands. The region is an ancient seabed, left high and dry after
the formation of the Toros Mountains. Tuz Gölü (Salt Lake)
could be likened to the last remaining puddle of this ancient sea,
in the lowest lying part. The lake has one of the highest salinity
levels in the world, which is why it attracts flamingos in such
huge numbers.
The deep forests and craggy mountains of the Black Sea region offer
remote habitats for rare species like the Caucasian black grouse
and Caspian snowcock, and are perfect for birdwatchers who like
a challenge.
Eastern Anatolia with its lofty mountains and high
plateaus, and southeastern Anatolia with its semi-desert character,
despite the huge amounts of water carried by the Euphrates, the
Tigris and their tributaries, also offer their own surprises for
birdwatchers. Here can be seen many of the rare species native to
the Caucasus, Caspian, Middle East and Western Asian regions. These
include such endangered songbird species as the cinereous bunting,
grey-necked bunting, desert finch, pale rock sparrow, eastern rock
nuthatch and Upcher’s warbler. What more could a birdwatcher
want than to see one of these? And finally, at Birecik on the Euphrates
you can see the last of Turkey’s bald ibises, but unfortunately
only in cages. Captivity was the last hope for this virtually extinct
species.
This brief ornithological tour of Turkey gives an idea of this land
of birds, where so many elusive species still make their home.
* Murat Yarar is a birdwatcher
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