With its unique position sandwiched between Europe and Asia, Turkey hosts tens of thousands of birds of different species as they migrate to Africa, Europe, Asia and several different spots around the world. With the aim of tracking these birds for research purposes, Turkish researchers followed the amazing journey of a migratory bird of a booted eagle species – a medium-sized mostly migratory bird of prey – spread over nine countries in six months, traveling 20,000 kilometers (over 12,400 miles).
Researchers at the Aras Bird Research Center in the eastern province of Iğdır placed a transmitter on the bird's body. The bird was released into nature on Sept. 13, 2021, and it left Turkey's eastern province of Van for Iran on the same day.
The bird then flew to Turkey's border province of Hakkari and the very next day crossed into Iraq.
After staying in Iraq for three days, the eagle reached Saudi Arabia. Spending seven days there, it flew to Ethiopia on Sept. 28. After a month, the eagle flew to Kenya on Oct. 30, Uganda on Oct. 31 and stayed there for five months in the Nakarapirpirit area.
With the winter approaching the Southern Hemisphere, it began its journey to the Northern Hemisphere. Leaving Uganda on March 12, 2022, the eagle came to Saudi Arabia after a journey spread over several days.
Emrah Çoban, a researcher tracking the bird, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that significant studies on birds were being conducted at the center.
Stating that many important bird species arriving in the area have been monitored, Çoban said: "On Sept. 13, 2021, we started monitoring the booted eagle that was attached to our net by installing a 10-gram satellite transmitter."
Stating that the eagle spent the winter in an area close to the Kenya and Uganda border, he said: "Now it has started its journey back (to Turkey) and is currently in Saudi Arabia."
"On its migration journey, it has soared to 3,500 meters (over 11,480 feet)," he said. "We hope that it will again go through Iğdır to the breeding ground and breed there," he added.
Çoban noted that Iğdır was a vital route that birds often use during their north-south migration. "The eagle we caught is an adult individual, weighing 700 grams."
"When you look at the (figures) world over, the population of booted eagles is not endangered. It has a stable population.
"Their average lifespan is seven years. It'll probably be breeding and moving on when it gets back," he added.
It is expected that the booted eagle will come back to Iğdır in about 10 days and after staying there for a while it will cross to Russia and nest in the Northern Hemisphere.