Hüseyin Yıldız
June 11, 2021•Update: June 11, 2021
IGDIR, Turkey
Located at the junction of the routes of birds migrating from Asia, Europe and Africa, a bird research center in eastern Turkey registered and ringed around 5,000 birds from 97 species between March and June.
“This season, since March, we have ringed approximately 5,000 birds from 97 species so far,” Kayahan Agirkaya, manager of the Aras Bird Research and Education Center in the eastern Igdir province, told Anadolu Agency.
It is one of the most important bird watching stations in Turkey and is located in the Yukari Ciyrikli village of Tuzluca district, on the banks of the Aras River that forms the Turkey-Armenia border.
The region is used as a breeding area by many bird species with its lush nature, wetlands, nutritional richness, and geographical location.
Agirkaya said they were able to catch different bird species due to increasing temperature and draught.
“Thirteen volunteers participated in our study. We also have volunteer participants from Sweden and America,” he said, adding that the birds are ringed and released to the nature by the workers of the center.
He said the center has been contributing to ornithology since 16 years with its studies and that Aras River Bird Paradise is of great importance for the field due to its location.
“This is an important crossing point of the Southeast Europe bird route. It is at the junction of Asia, Europe and Africa,” he said.
Agirkaya noted that they came across very rare bird species there and ringed them.
“This is a very important station where we can access very rich, new data in terms of ornithology.”
*Writing by Sena Guler in Ankara
