Nearly 2 million 41,479 aquatic birds, including waterfowl, were seen in 142 wetlands across the country, revealed the midwinter water bird count that was carried out this year between January and March.
The census was conducted in cooperation with the Ornithology Research Center of Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU), Ministry of Agriculture, and the Forestry General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks.
Kiraz Erciyas Yavuz, faculty member at the Ornithology Research Center, OMU, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the International Wetlands Conservation Agency (Wetlands International) in the Western Palearctic and Southwest Asia carries out waterfowl counting every year in the middle of winter.
"Each team includes an expert bird watcher, assistant and observer who are responsible for specific counting points and must finish the job from morning to evening. At each count point, all water birds in the field of view are counted individually or in groups with telescopes and binoculars and the teams move on to the next point after assessments," he added.
Noting that the censuses, in which most of the northern hemisphere participated, have been carried out in Türkiye since 1967, Yavuz emphasized that watching birds and detecting the increase and decrease in their numbers is extremely important in terms of protecting nature.
"Türkiye was one of the richest regions with 1.72 million water birds of 103 species over the winter in 2018," he added.
Unfortunately, the number has reduced to 62 waterfowl in terms of species diversity due to climate change. Currently, 171,544 waterfowl from 68 species were counted.
Underlining the most important wetlands in Türkiye according to the midwinter waterbird census, Yavuz noted: "The Kızılırmak Delta, Yeşilırmak Delta, Lake Ladik, Amasya Yedikır Dam, Lake Tokat Kaz, Almus Dam, Derbent Dam, Altınkaya Dam, Lake Sinop Sarıkum, shores of Sinop, Samsun, Ordu, and the coasts of Giresun, Trabzon, Rize and Artvin are wetland habitats for aquatic birds."
Pointing out that thousands of flamingos that inhabit the shores of Lake Van in the eastern Karahan region, Gelingüllü Dam and Erçek Lake hosted the most number of birds this year, as the locations offer some of the most important habitats for migratory species.
The purpose of these censuses is to determine the species and populations of waterfowl in wetlands, which also indicates the health status of the wetland.
According to recent data, the most common species were teal, cuckoo, mallard, silver gull, cormorant, black-headed gull, lapwing, pike, crested hare and black buckthorn.