Mahmoud Sheish Abdallah The finding comes just eight months after discoveries of large wintering populations in Syria and Turkey. Zoom In

Largest flock for 100 years: Sociable Lapwing lives up to its name

19-10-2007

Thanks to a single satellite tag, a 3,000-strong flock of Sociable Lapwing has been discovered in Turkey – the largest seen for more than 100 years.

“By tracking a single bird from its Kazakh breeding grounds, we have found the location of most of the world population of these birds in Turkey,” announced Guven Eken, Executive Director of Doğa Derneği (BirdLife in Turkey).

The finding represents another significant rise in fortune for the Critically Endangered bird: almost five years ago, as few as 400 Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius were thought to exist globally.

The birds were found in the Ceylanpınar district of south-eastern Turkey after a satellite tag was fitted to one of the birds migrating from breeding grounds in Kazakhstan earlier this year.

The tagged bird covered 2,000 miles, flying north of the Caspian Sea, then down through the Caucasus and south into Turkey, where it effectively stopped. On investigation last Friday, conservationists from Doğa Derneği found that the tagged bird was part of a flock of 1,800 other lapwing.

The following day a staggering 3,200 Sociable Lapwing were observed at the site.

“Sociable lapwings are finally living up to their name” —Guven Eken, Executive Director of Doğa Derneği

Conservationists from a number of nations (nearly all BirdLife Partners) have been working to conserve Sociable Lapwing in recent years, by coordinating their actions on the ground; focusing their efforts to conserve wintering sites, stopover sites and breeding sites along the species’ flyways.

This coordinated action has included research and protection of breeding sites in Kazakhstan (by ACBK); actions to protect wintering and stopover sites in Turkey and Syria (being undertaken by Doğa Derneği, SPNL and BirdLife’s Middle East Division); all assisted by research coordinated by the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK).

“Understanding the migration from breeding sites in Kazakhstan is essential for the future protection of this species, so the news of such a large flock is a great cause for celebration,” commented Maxim Koshkin of Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan (ACBK).

"This discovery is something we didn’t dare dream of,” said the RSPB’s Dr Rob Sheldon, responsible for tagging the bird in Kazakhstan. “The Sociable Lapwing is one of the rarest birds on earth and suddenly it’s been found in these large numbers.”

“It shows just how important both Kazakhstan and Turkey have become for the survival of this species. The next step is to protect the bird, both on its breeding grounds and at all the key sites on its migration route.”

Where the birds go next is unclear: “They could still move on to Iraq or East Africa but if they stay in Turkey, it will be much easier to make them safe. We can keep an eye on them here, raise awareness amongst local people and work with the Turkish government to protect the areas they are using,” said Özge Balkız, a scientist from Doğa Derneği.

The tagging project is partly paid for by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative and conservationists from Britain and Kazakhstan hope to win new funds to tag more birds next summer.

This news is brought to you with the support of the BirdLife Species Champions.