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SYRIAN SOCIABLE LAPWING SURVEY18 February - 5 March 2007

Remco Hofland & Guido Keijl

Foundation Working Group International Waterbird- and Wetland Research

WIWO-report 85

2008

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Front cover: adult male Sociable Lapwing, Eiwa, Syria, 25 February 2007 (David Hoekstra).

SYRIAN SOCIABLE LAPWING SURVEY18 February - 5 March 2007

Remco Hofland & Guido Keijl

Foundation Working Group International Waterbird and Wetland Research

WIWO-report 85, 2008

WIWORijksstraatweg 1786573 DG Beek-UbbergenThe Netherlands

African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement

Colofon

Participants The Netherlands Rommert Cazemier David Hoekstra Remco Hofland Guido Keijl

Syria Ahmed Abdallah Mahmoud Sheish Abdallah Adib al-Assaed

Financial support African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) Boere Conservation Consultancy BirdLife Middle East Ornithological Society of the Middle East (OSME) Van Tienhoven Foundation Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) / Darwin grant initiative Maps René Vos

Photos Rommert Cazemier, David Hoekstra, Remco Hofland, Guido Keijl

Contact: Aert van Neslaan 336 2341 HN Oegstgeest The Netherlands

WIWO Rijksstraatweg 178 6573 DG Beek-Ubbergen The Netherlands

Citation: Hofland R. & G.O. Keijl 2008. Syrian Sociable Lapwing survey, 18 February - 5 March 2007. WIWO-report 85, Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands.

© Stichting WIWO, Zeist. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, whether electronic,

mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copy-

right owner.

Contents

Summary .............................................................................................................................. 7

1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 9

2. Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 10

3. Syria: country and climate ........................................................................................... 11

4. Short review on status of Sociable Lapwing .............................................................. 12

5. Census of Sociable Lapwings in Syria between 18 February and 5 March 2007 ..... 17

6. Observations on Sociable Lapwings in Syria in February-March 2007 ..................... 31

7. Interviews with villagers and shepherds .................................................................... 40

8. Summary of present knowledge, reflections and recommended research ............ 46

9. Avifauna .......................................................................................................................... 52

10. References ..................................................................................................................... 73

Appendix 1. Wetlands visited between 18 February and 5 March 2007 ...................... 75Appendix 2. List of waterbirds counted between 18 February and 5 March 2007 ..... 80Appendix 3. GPS waypoints of locations visited between 18 February and 5 March 2007 ................................................................................................................. 86Appendix 4. Itinerary ........................................................................................................ 88Appendix 5. List of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects seen between 18 February and 5 March 2007 ..................................................................................... 90Appendix 6. Some publications resulting from the Syrian Sociable Lapwing Survey 92List of WIWO-reports ........................................................................................................ 96

Sociable Lapwings in Syria

Figure 1. (Most of) the team, hiding from the cold wind: from left to right Ahmed, Adib, Mahmoud, David,

Remco and Rommert, having tea at a shepherd’s day-shelter on the steppe at Eiwa on 24 February 2007

(Guido Keijl).

Summary

Until recently, there was scant information on the surviving numbers of Sociable Lapwings, their preferred habitat, migration routes and on the main threats to their survival. The species is currently classified as Critically Endangered by BirdLife International: the world population was estimated to number only 1200 individuals (Delany & Scott 2006).

Between 18 February - 5 March 2007 a team consisting of Dutch and Syrian bird-watchers surveyed wetlands and fields in approximately the northern half of Syria on the presence of this species. Here, many hundreds were found. After this date, two team members stayed in the area holding the highest numbers until 26 March, when all Sociable Lapwings had left.

Sociable Lapwings were encountered in four natural steppe areas in northern Syria: three situated in the central-northern agricultural area (Eiwa, Al Aumair and Ar Ruweira) and one further south (Al Fedha), between Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra. Al-together, 1579 Sociable Lapwings were counted prior to 5 March, while a week later, on 8-9 March, the highest estimate numbered 2000 birds. None of the birds checked were colour-ringed.

Information was collected on numbers, behaviour, plumage and diet. All birds were exclusively seen in natural steppe habitat, except for a small flock that left the steppe to rest in an arable field. No birds were observed near water, with the excep-tion of 12 Sociable Lapwings that briefly stayed near a sabkha (temporary pool) near Eiwa.

Local people, mainly shepherds, were interviewed to find out more about Sociable Lapwings, such as the timing of migration, numbers, hunting pressure, protection of the area, et cetera. Many people knew the birds: they could point them out in a field guide depicting five species of lapwing. As became clear from the interviews, Socia-ble Lapwings arrive yearly around mid-February and leave by late March. In autumn the birds arrive ‘when the barley is sown’ and leave after a couple of weeks. Some shepherds herding their sheep even in cold winters insisted they had seen a few Sociable Lapwings in mid-winter in the past. Thus only few, if any, Sociable Lapwings seem to spend the winter in the steppe in Syria.

At the time of this survey, a Qatari hunting party was visiting Ar Ruweira, the area holding the highest numbers (exactly 1000 Sociable Lapwings counted). Local authorities were notified, international attention was sought and two team mem-bers stayed in the area to observe until the hunting party left, on 18 March. During this period, no Sociable Lapwings were seen being shot, but feathers of a presumed Sociable Lapwing were found in the Qatari camp.

The present state of knowledge is reviewed and recommendations for further research are presented.

The report finishes with a full list of birds observed during this survey and gives a short overview of the wetlands visited.

A Google Earth satellite image of northern Syria, indicating the three main areas in which Sociable Lapwings were seen, can be found on www.syria.renevos.net (click on the encircled text).

summary

1. Introduction

The Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius formerly bred in the steppe region, from Ukraine in the west to about 85° E in Russia. However, from the western part of the range the species has silently disappeared as a breeding bird, possibly already since the late 19th century, while the population has declined dramatically during the past decades (see short review on status, below). Sociable Lapwings are at this moment only known to reside in northern and western Kazakhstan (BirdLife 2002). Proper census data from wintering areas are lacking altogether and data are old (e.g. no data from Sudan after 1950, Nikolaus & Hamed 1984, Piersma & Wiersma 1996). As no dedicated surveys in winter or summer areas have been performed, (old) census data should be used with caution. The reasons for the decline are at present mainly sought in the breeding range, where destruction of breeding habitat (conversion into arable fields), growing human population, and overgrazing and trampling of nests by cattle are said to be dominant factors (Watson et al. 2006). Still, habitat changes, as well as uncontrolled hunting within the wintering and/or staging range, could very well be other important factors of decline.

During the Syrian Wetland Expedition in January-February 2004 (Murdoch et al. 2005), which mainly aimed at censusing waterbirds, a few Sociable Lapwings were accidentally discovered, in the northern, western and central parts of Syria, in as-sociation with Northern Lapwings V. vanellus (see page 15). As censusing suitable wintering habitat for this species was not the main focus of that particular project, these sightings are remarkable. Along with the 1013 Sociable Lapwings that were found staging in the Stavropol region of the southwestern Russian Federation in Sep-tember 2006 (Jeff Gordon pers. comm; see box 1 on page 47), the 2004 Syrian sight-ings were the direct reason for Remco Hofland to put together a team to survey Syria for Sociable Lapwings.

A specifically designed Sociable Lapwing Action Plan (BirdLife 2004) mentions that there are no data on population size, distribution, habitat use and key negative factors and only very little data on timing/presence of Sociable Lapwings in Syria. Seven years before this Action Plan was published, Piersma et al. (1997) stressed the lack of proper information on this species. The project undertaken in Febru-ary-March 2007 attempted to fill in some of these gaps. The main aims of the Syrian Sociable Lapwing Survey in 2007 were:

• to establish whether Sociable Lapwings are found in Syria in winter and/or spring,• to identify their key habitat,• to document threats to this key habitat,• to document threats to the Sociable Lapwings found.

Other aims were:• to study the (feeding and roosting) habits of Sociable Lapwings,• to identify areas of conservation value.

Scientific names of birds in this report can be found in the avifauna (chapter 9). Scientific names of other animals are found in appendix 5.

Figure 2 (facing page). Female Sociable Lapwing, Eiwa, Syria, 25 February 2007 (Guido Keijl).

introduction


2. Acknowledgements

Funding was kindly provided by the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), Boere Conservation Consultancy, BirdLife Middle East, the Ornithological Society of the Middle East (OSME), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) / Darwin Grant Initiative and Van Tienhoven Foundation (in alphabetical order). We especially thank dr. René Dekker (Van Tienhoven Foundation), dr. Gerard Boere (Boere Conser-vation Consultancy), Bert Lenten (AEWA), Keith Betton (OSME) and dr. Paul Donald and dr. Robert Sheldon (RSPB) for their help and advice. Mr. Bert Lenten (AEWA) kind-ly provided literature on Sociable Lapwings.

Mr. Sharif Al Jbour (BirdLife Middle East) kindly supported the survey by financing the addition of a third Syrian surveyer, Mahmoud Abdallah. We met with Mr. Al Jbour and his assistant, along with Finnish diplomate Anssi Kullberg, in Palmyra during which meeting we were able to discuss how to go about protecting the Syrian Socia-ble Lapwings.

We are very grateful to Dr. Akram Darwish, Director of Biodiversity and Protected Ar-eas Directorate, Ministry of Local Administration and Environment and chairman of the Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife (SSCW), for providing governmen-tal documentation that greatly assisted the work of the Survey. A meeting with him on our last evening in Syria was very fruitful, discussing the need for future wildlife habitat protection in general and that of the Sociable Lapwing in particular.

Mr. Yaseen Mujawer is acknowledged for allowing us access to Sabkhat al-Jabbul northern dyke and providing accommodation to the survey members. A special men-tion deserves the extraordinary hospitality of many Syrians, who offered tea and breakfast during our days in the field.

Gert Cazemier is thanked for lending us his GPS.

We wish to thank David Murdoch, Gianluca Serra and René Vos for their support and advice prior to, during and after the trip. René Vos’s help with producing the maps in this report was invaluable.

The following persons kindly provided us with information regarding numbers of Sociable Lapwings in the breeding, staging or wintering areas: (in alphabetical order) Keith Betton, Simon Delany, Paul Donald, Jeff Gordon, Johannes Kamp, Richard Porter, Rob Sheldon and Jose Pedro Tavares.

We wish to thank the Dutch Foundation Working Group International Waterbird and Wetland Research (WIWO) for enabling us to publish this survey’s report in the WIWO-series, thus assuring that it is distributed amongst the largest possible audi-ence.

3. Syria: country and climate

Situated in the Middle East, Syria measures over 185,000 km2. The human population presently numbers over nineteen million people and is concentrated in the western mountainous part of the country and along the Mediterranean coast. The country has a typical Mediterranean climate, with cool winters and dry and hot summers. Yearly precipitation rate is below 500 mm, mostly in winter. Most precipitation falls in the northwest; there is a cline in precipitation from north to south and from west to east.

Mountains are mainly found in the west and south-west; the remainder of the country is rather flat, or hilly at most (up to 1000 m asl). The northern half of the country holds the majority of agricultural fields, the southern half consists mainly of semi-desert and pure desert. The largest water bodies in the country are formed by the (natural) river Euphrates, running from the central-northern part of the country, where it enters from Turkey, to the east, on the border with Iraq, and the large (artifi-cial) Lake Assad in the upper reaches of the Euphrates.

Syria: country and climate

Figure 3. Syria has a number of important wetlands, like Lake Jabbul. This lake, measuring up to 10,000

hectares in wet years, holds tens of thousands of waterbirds during the winter season. It is an important

roosting site for Lesser White-fronted Geese (Guido Keijl, 20 February 2007).


4. Short review on status of Sociable Lapwing

Breeding areasThere has been considerable concern about the population decline of Sociable Lapwings in the breeding areas, even though the species has never been properly surveyed. The decline probably started as early as the late 19th or early 20th century, but it was probably noted only somewhere in the mid-1970´s (Glutz von Blotzheim et al. 1975, AEWA 2004).

The decrease has probably been rapid: during the second half of the 20th century the breeding density in Kazakhstan declined from 13.2 birds per km² in the 1930’s to 0.08 in 1993 (Piersma & Wiersma 1996). Considering the enormous distribution area and the inaccessibility of the breeding habitat, it is not surprising that proper estimates have never been easy to make (table 1). Nevertheless, there is general concensus that the species is seriously threatened. Recent surveys in areas where the species had formerly bred yielded low numbers (e.g. Belik 1998, Shevchenko 1998, Eichhorn & Heinicke 2000, Eichhorn & Khrokov 2002). The overwhelming lack of knowledge led to a workshop in 2002 and resulted in an International Species Action Plan (AEWA 2004). During this workshop information was gathered on the breeding population.

Although the main cause of the population decline is not yet clear, possibilities

Figure 4 (facing page). A fine flock of Sociable Lapwings at Eiwa, 25 February 2007. These birds spent the

night on the steppe and did not roost near water, as has been suggested in literature (David Hoekstra).

Table 1. Population estimates of Sociable Lapwing over the past 35 years in some important publications.

population trend source

world population ‘decrease’ Glutz von Blotzheim et al. 1975western palearctic ‘decrease’ Cramp & Simmons 1983world population 10,000 individuals Collar et al. 1994world population 10,000 individuals Tucker & Heath 1994European Russia 1000-2100 pairs Belik 1994world population 10,000 individuals Piersma & Wiersma 1996world population 1000 pairs BirdLife 2001world population 200-600 pairs BirdLife 2002world population 600-1800 birds BirdLife 2002world population 171-516 pairs BirdLife 2002world population 1000 pairs in AEWA 2004world population 200-600 pairs AEWA 2004 600-1800 individuals AEWA 2004world population 200-600 breeding pairs Delany & Scott 2006 400-1200 individuals Delany & Scott 2006world population 600-1800 pairs BirdLife 2007

include habitat destruction due to a number of agricultural developments, over-grazing, increased predation, hunting, the use of pesticides and/or herbicides and climate change.

In summer 2004, 21 adults and 94 chicks were colour-ringed in Central Kazakh-stan (Watson et al. 2006). Between 2004-2007 about 600 Sociable Lapwing chicks and dozens of adults have been colour-ringed in the breeding areas in Kazakhstan, to study survival, migration routes, et cetera (Watson et al. 2006, Rob Sheldon pers. comm., Sandgrouse 2008, Vol. 30 (1)).

Non-breeding areasInformation from the wintering areas is even more scant than that from the breed-ing range. There seem to be two wintering populations: a western one, ranging from Chad through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and an eastern one, from Iraq to Pakistan and North-West India (Cramp & Simmons 1983). Note that the supposed wintering area in Iraq appears to be separated from that further east, as Iran is not indicated on maps or in texts in Glutz von Blotzheim et al. (1975) or Cramp & Simmons (1983) and, indeed, there are very few records from Iran in mid-winter (Tohidifar & Zarei 2007). The western wintering population was recently estimated to number 1000 individuals, the eastern one 200-600 individu-als (Delany & Scott 2006). Several of these data however may be questionable, or not valid any more (e.g. Wiersma & Piersma 1996). Wintering in Iraq for instance seems to be based on a single sighting (fide Wiersma & Piersma 1996), while sightings in Chad seem to be lacking altogether and are presumably erroneous.

Amazing is the record of the American sergeant First Class Jonathan Trouern-Trend of ‘a large flock of Sociable Lapwings’ seen north of Mosul, North Iraq, from a helicopter in early November 2004 (www.birdingbabylon.blogspot.com, visited29 March 2008).

review on status


Migration routesObviously, Sociable Lapwings need to cross the countries between the breeding and wintering areas, but until 2007 regularly used routes and traditional stop-over sites – if existing at all – were poorly known. Probably the only country with more or less regular sightings is Israel, where it is still rare, both as a migrant and winter visi-tor. Even so, it is likely that regular sightings in Israel can be contributed to observer bias, as it is the only Middle Eastern country that is very regularly visited by a fair number of birdwatchers.

After our discovery of the sites in Syria (see further) and the publication of this spectacular news through the internet, other sites were discovered just north of the Syrian border in Turkey. See chapter 8 for information on numbers and other re-search on Sociable Lapwings in 2007-2008.

Figure 5. Remco and Mahmoud counting Greater White-fronted Geese leaving the roost at Jabbul Lake in

the early morning of 21 February 2007. During this count a flock of twenty probable Lesser White-fronted

Geese was seen among the c. 1200 Greater White-fronts (Guido Keijl).

Figure 6 (facing page). Large parts of northern Syria have been converted into arable land, where wheat

and barley are grown. According to literature, arable fields are supposed to be important to Sociable

Lapwings, but during our visit in 2007 no birds were seen in this habitat (David Hoekstra, 22 February

2007).

Sociable Lapwings in Syria prior to 2007The immediate reason for initiating this survey was, as mentioned before, the dis-covery of a few Sociable Lapwings during a survey of waterbirds in early 2004 (Mur-doch et al. 2005). A total of eight birds was observed:9 February 2004 1 individual, Homs Lake, peninsula between Moudan and Dbeen21 February 2004 4 individuals flying over Talila reserve21 February 2004 3 summer-plumaged adults amongst 44 Northern Lapwings, field between Tal Brak ruins and Al Hassake.

Prior to 2004, small numbers of Sociable Lapwings were seen at Talila Reserve (Serra et al. 2005), as follows:14 February 2001 5-15 in Talila reserve7 March 2001 flocks of 14 and 3 near Talila reserve7 or 8 March 2003 1 shot by a hunter near Talila reserve, who reported having seen a small flock.

There are very few other published detailed observations on Sociable Lapwings in Syria. It is not clear whether this is due to a lack of bird observers or because of the rarity of this species, but the former seems most likely. Kumerloeve (1968) men-tions a few records in September-October and assumes the species to be a migrant in small numbers, Baumgart & Stephan (1986) mention only three records. Also Baumgart et al. (1995) consider the species to be a migrant ‘in small numbers, mainly in the north-east’. Cramp & Simmons (1983) call the species ´a migrant in small numbers´ in autumn. Interestingly, Evans (1994) mentions Tual al-’Abba, a steppe area west of Ar Raqqah, as being potentially important for Sociable Lapwings (with

review on status


apparently only a single sighting of a single bird). Furthermore, Jan Wester mentions having seen seven Sociable Lapwings at ‘a marsh west of the road towards Ash’hola’, close to Deir ez-Zor on 24 February 1998 (private trip-report at OSME website).

Figure 7. Remco and Ahmed interview Mr. al Basher, a villager at Eiwa, on 24 February 2007. He

commented on the disappearance of bustards and Stone Curlew and the strong decline of sandgrouse,

because of hunting (Rommert Cazemier).

5. Census of Sociable Lapwings in Syria between 18 February and 5 March 2007

Methods

SurveyThe survey consisted of two teams of each two Dutch and one to three Syrian bird-watchers. A general idea on which sites to visit was developed in The Netherlands, prior to the survey. This was mainly based on previous experience and habitat maps, which showed the arable and steppe areas to be roughly situated in the northern half of the country (figure 8). Because of previous experiences (sightings of Sociable Lap-wings in 2004), it seemed feasible to focus on the arable fields. Also, because the spe-cies is said to frequent water (e.g. Cramp & Simmons 1983, Piersma & Wiersma 1996), attention was paid to wetlands to look for roosting Sociable Lapwings.

The teams were in the field from dawn to dusk and tried to locate Northern Lap-wings in arable fields and wetlands to look for Sociable Lapwings amongst them. The

census in spring 2007

Figure 8. Map of Syria, with main sites visited during this survey. The sites with Sociable Lapwings are

indicated with large black dots (northern one: Eiwa, Al Aumair, Ar Ruweira; southern one: Al Fedha

area). Note that Lake Qattine is called Lake of Homs on this map.


teams operated separate from each other, but stayed in contact with mobile phones.During the first days of the survey we tried to spend the last part of daylight near wa-

ter to look for roosting birds. This idea was abandoned when the first Sociable Lapwings were found (on 23 February) in steppe. Besides spending the evening of the 23rd at the nearby lake to look for roosting birds, we focused on steppe habitat rather than on ar-able fields and wetlands. However, we spent the evening of the 23rd near the nearby lake to look for roosting birds. Considerable flexibility in the individual teams’ timetables was built in, enabling teams to spend more time in better sites and to move on rapidly from those of less interest. Most sites were surveyed primarily by car, but wetland areas were usually also visited on foot. Birds were located with binoculars and telescopes and checked for colour-rings. Waterbirds were only accurately counted in areas not visited by the Syrian Wetland Expedition of 2004 (e.g. the northeastern part of Lake Assad and Lake Khatuniyeh).

After the discovery of the large concentration of Sociable Lapwings at Ar Ruweira Rangeland Reserve on 25 February, the team split up. Adib al-Assaed stayed in the area, joined on 5 March by Ahmed Abdallah. They had a car and binoculars, but no telescopes. Birds in the general area were observed and a maximum number per day was estimated.

Global Positioning System (GPS, Garmin E-trex Legend Cx and Garmin E-trex) was used to map all sightings and the steppe areas. At home, ArcGIS mapping system was used to transpose the GPS tracks onto NASA maps.

A Google Earth satellite image of northern Syria, indicating the three main areas in which Sociable Lapwings were seen, is found on www.syria.renevos.net (click on the encircled text).

InterviewsWe specifically asked shepherds and other local people we met on the Sociable Lapwing sites whether they knew the species (they were asked to point them out in a field guide depicting Eurasian Lapwing, Sociable Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing,

White-tailed Lapwing and Red-wattled Lapwing) and asked about hunting activities and the main quarry species. After the first Sociable Lapwings were encountered, a list of questions was compiled in order to acquire accurate information on numbers, timing of presence, disturbance, other similar areas, et cetera. A detailed account of the interviews is presented in chapter 7.

Figure 9 (facing page). Rolling steppe at Eiwa on a clear day. Characteristic are the clay soil with scarce

and low vegetation, interspersed with bright green patches of grass. Note the large amount of sheep

droppings in the lower right corner (Guido Keijl, 23 February 2007).


Table 2. Maximum number of Sociable Lapwings counted per day in Syria between 18 Febru-ary and 5 March 2007, with estimates between 6 and 26 March. Local time is also given (= -2 hr GMT). See figures 1-3 for detailed maps.

date time area maximum count

23 February 16.00 Eiwa 6224 February 10.48 Eiwa 26724 February 15.16 Al Aumair 19225 February 07.41 Tall as Samin 725 February 09.51 Eiwa 26725 February 10.00 Al Aumair * 12325 February 12.38 Ar Ruweira (SW) 13825 February 13.30 Ar Ruweira (NE) ** 15225 February 14.50 Ar Ruweira (N) 71026 February 16.30 Ar Ruweira (N) 7081 March 08.15 Al Fedha *** 113

6 March Ar Ruweira 16088 March Ar Ruweira 20009 March Ar Ruweira 200010 March Ar Ruweira 164511 March Ar Ruweira 157012 March Ar Ruweira 84813 March Ar Ruweira 91916 March Ar Ruweira 62018 March Ar Ruweira 60019-25 March Ar Ruweira 4026 March Ar Ruweira 0

* Around 60 of these flew off at 11.35 hrs. in eastsoutheast direction.** These 152 were seen right before finding the vantage point from where 710 birds were seen. The area with the 152 birds was not visible from the vantage point, thus these 152 are added to the Ar Ruweira total.*** Separate flocks of 92 and 36 were seen. 15 flew off from the (first) flock of 92 in the direction of the (second flock) of 36. Therefore, the 113 is a conservative count.


Figure 10. Map of Eiwa. The M4 highway between Aleppo and al-Hasakeh is indicated. The P-numbers

refer to GPS-waypoints (see appendix 3). See also www.syria.renevos.net for a Google Earth map.

OtherHunting activity was noted. Photographs of birds and habitats were taken.

ResultsThe first Sociable Lapwings were encountered on Friday 23 February, when a flock of forty individuals flew southwest near Eiwa in late morning (table 2 and figure 9). At Eiwa a total of 62 was counted that afternoon. The entire next day was spent there, with one team observing the Sociable Lapwings, the other mapping the area and interviewing local people. The maximum number at Eiwa on 24 February was 262.

Description of areas holding Sociable LapwingsIn this paragraph all sites where Sociable Lapwings were encountered are described. Information is given on the size of the site, the number of Sociable Lapwing counted, the number of colour-ringed individuals, and on other birds, other wildlife, human habitation, human activities impacting on Sociable Lapwings, et cetera. In all these areas Sociable Lapwings were found feeding, except for the last one (Tall as Samin).

EiwaLocation: c. 110 km west of Al Hassake, c. 35 km east of the intersection of the M4 highway with the road going south towards Ar Raqqa (figure 10)Coördinates: 36˚27’14.5’N, 039˚29’14.9’ESize: approximately 1600 hectaresMaximum number of Sociable Lapwings seen: 267 (25 February 2007)

Eiwa is a small signposted village just north of the M4 (Aleppo – Al Hassake highway), about fifteen km west of the Ar Raqqa / Al Hassake state border (this road is indi-cated with ‘6’ on the Syrian tourist road map issued by Freytag & Berndt). The village

Figure 12 (right). Eiwa was also visited on 26

February 2008, a year after the discovery of the

Sociable Lapwings. Although there was a light

drizzle at the time of the visit, the influence of

a dry winter was clearly visible: there was no

vegetation whatsoever .... but there were Sociable

Lapwings (Remco Hofland).

Figure 11 (facing page). The steppe at Eiwa on 23

February 2007, with the ‘flowering’ moss clearly

visible. Note the green patches of grass and the

large amount of sheep droppings in the lower

right corner. The power line is just visible in the

upper right corner (Guido Keijl).



lies three km east of a gas station (north of the road) flanked by tall metal grain ele-vators. The rolling natural steppe area is found north of the village (figures 10-11, 17). The highest point, in the eastern part, lies 363 m above sea level. It measures 4 km (west-east) x 4 km (south-north). While most of the village is situated between the highway and the area of natural steppe, a few houses are also found on the northern edge of this habitat. High-power electricity wires and electricity posts run west-east parallel to the M4 highway, dividing the area into two unequal parts. The Socia-ble Lapwings frequented roughly two areas: a larger one at the eastern side and a smaller lower-lying one at the western side. The eastern core area was situated more or less underneath the electricity wires; the western one entirely south of them.

The northwestern two-fifth of the Eiwa steppe area was taken up by a sabkha and areas that were recently inundated, as well as fallow fields that had apparently been used as barley fields in previous years. Salinification appeared to be the cause of the fields becoming fallow. The surroundings of the sabkha seemed less interesting to Sociable Lapwings, as we only encountered a flock of 12 here which, when startled by a Merlin, quickly returned to the western core area. The entire sabkha area is situ-ated north of the electricity wires, where the land was evidently lower than south of the lines.

Although there were herds of sheep and there was apparent overgrazing, the steppe was covered in short green grass with a yellowish sheen caused by ‘flowering’ mosses (figure 11). The grassy parts seemed to be more in favour of the Sociable Lap-wings than the mossy ones. Some areas, mostly at the edges of the natural steppe, had taller yellowish grass and in this habitat Sociable Lapwings were found as well, but in smaller numbers and less often.

Numbers of Sociable LapwingsFrom the highest position of the Eiwa steppe area, up to 267 Sociable Lapwings were counted, of which roughly two-thirds fed in the eastern core area and one-third in the western one. The largest (loose) flocks of up to one hundred Sociable Lapwings

Figure 13. Even though hunting is forbidden in

Syria, cartridges are plentiful throughout the

country, even in the remotest areas, and hunters

are commonly met. Hunting is without doubt an

important threat to Sociable Lapwings (Rom-

mert Cazemier, 24 February 2007).

Figure 14. At all places we visited the vegetation was

grazed, as was the case at Ar Ruweira Rangeland Re-

serve. Some grazing is possibly beneficial to Sociable

Lapwings, but the grazing pressure in Syria seems

to be extremely high. Its effect on the vegetation and

wildlife is unknown (Rommert Cazemier, 25 February

2007).

Figure 15. Adib and Ahmed in-

terview inhabitants of Eiwa on

24 February 2007. Some of the

people were very interested in

wildlife and provided us with

valuable information on the

presence of Sociable Lapwings

through the years (Rommert

Cazemier).

fed underneath the powerlines in the eastern core area. Out of 267 individuals, 199 could be checked for colour-rings; none were found.

Other birds and wildlifeThe only bird encountered in numbers was Common Skylark, of which large flocks (probably 10,000’s) were present. Calandra Larks were much less numerous, but still quite common. Lesser Short-toed Larks were present in small numbers. Other wad-ers, more or less associating with the Sociable Lapwings, were up to thirteen Euro-pean Golden Plovers, two Eurasian Dotterels (both species in winter plumage), up to three pairs of Greater Sand Plovers and 10+ Kentish Plovers (the latter two species in breeding plumage); both of these were seen displaying.

Other birds seen included a male Pallid Harrier, a Black Kite and several Merlins, while at the sabkha (dealt with in more detail at the wetland sites section) small numbers of (shel)ducks and waders were found, as well as up to four Long-legged Buzzards. Thirty Black-bellied Sandgrouse were seen in flight on two consecutive days. Probable migratory birds included a Hoopoe, Barn Swallows and White Wag-tails, where the Little Owls, Isabelline Wheatears (also displaying) and House Spar-rows could have been local breeders. According to local people, Cream-coloured Courser is a common breeding bird, but none were seen here during our visit.

Other than some beetles, small flies and ants no other wildlife was noted.

Human activities impacting on Sociable LapwingsThe area held about ten herds of sheep, each herd consisting of 100 sheep on average (local shepherd pers. comm.). The area was clearly extensively grazed.

Two Sociable Lapwings were shot last winter; their feet were used as a remedy against pain in the legs (local villager pers. comm.). Other villagers also mentioned that the birds are hunted. We witnessed Sociable Lapwings being shot at, on 25 Feb-ruary, by Gulf State hunters from a 4WD vehicle. They did not kill any (while we were watching). Cartridge cases were found on several occasions.



Car tracks were visible throughout the area.Note: on 26 February 2008, the area was dry and looked very different from Febru-

ary 2007 (figure 12). See chapter 8 for more details.

Al AumairLocation: c. 95 km west of Al Hassake, c. 50 km east of the intersection of the M4 highway with the road going south towards Ar Raqqa (figure 16)Coördinates: 36˚26’31.1’N, 039˚39’01.2’ESize: approximately 1600 hectaresMaximum number of Sociable Lapwings: 192 (24 February 2007)

A natural steppe area located 3 km south of the M4 highway, right at the border of Ar Raqqa and Al Hassake states and 14.2 km from the (eastern) core area of Eiwa. The turn-off towards the area is right at a large sign depicting (former president) Hafez al-Assad and a cotton flower. Here, a sign ‘Al Qseir’ is found north of the highway, a sign ‘Sou-Naim’ points southwards. The natural steppe area is roughly 4 x 4 km in size, about 1600 ha. A village is located on a hill at the northern edge of the steppe area. The core area for Sociable Lapwings at Al Aumair lies at 418 m asl.

Figure 16. Map of Al Aumair.

The hatched area indicates

the place where Sociable

Lapwings were found. The

stream bed on the western

side was dry at the time of

our visit.

Figure 17. Feeding Sociable Lapwings, with a small flock of sheep in the background. The birds are feeding

in the slightly lower-lying grassy patches. The yellowish sheen in the foreground are ‘flowering’ mosses,

the houses in the background are part of Eiwa. Also visible is the main Aleppo - Al Hassake highway, the

M4 (David Hoekstra, 23 February 2007).

Number of Sociable Lapwings192 Sociable Lapwings were counted in the afternoon of 24 February. During the simultaneous count of 25 February, between 123 and 140 Sociable Lapwings were found at 15.16 hr. These flew off, for no apparent reason, at a distance of about 200 m, so that none could be checked for colour-rings. It is not entirely clear whether these included some of the c. 200 birds that flew off at Eiwa at 14.35 hr.

Other birds and wildlifeRaptors were much in evidence, with a Black Kite, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, five Long-legged Buzzards, a female Pallid Harrier, a Merlin, two Eurasian Kestrels and two Little Owls.

Waders were represented by two Greater Sand Plovers, one Ruff and one Green Sandpiper. Other birds recorded were ten Isabelline and one Mourning Wheatear and three Black Redstarts.

Human activities impacting on Sociable LapwingsNone noted by us, although there were herds of sheep in the area.

Cartridge cases were found. At the time of our visit, no active hunting activity was noted.



Figure 18. Ar Ruweira Rangeland Reserve. The large concentration of 710 Sociable Lapwings was found

in the northern part of the area.

Ar Ruweira Rangeland Reserve (Ain Assafra)Location: c. 75 km west of Al Hassake, c. 65 km east of the intersection of the M4 highway with the road going south towards Ar Raqqa (figure 18)Coördinates: 36°3’06.21’N, 039°3’10.69’ESize: approximately 25,000 hectaresMaximum count of Sociable Lapwings during survey: 1000 (25 February 2007)Maximum estimate of Sociable Lapwings after survey: 2000 (8-9 March 2007)

This is a large natural steppe area located 4 km south of the M4 highway, about 15 km east of the Ar Raqqa / Al Hassake state border. It can be accessed best by turn-ing south at the sign ‘Ain Assafra’, located at 36°33.194’N, 039°52.935’E. The area is roughly 14 x 18 km in size, about 25,000 ha. The southern half of the rangeland reserve consists of semi-desert and seemed unsuitable habitat for Sociable Lapwings (which were not found there). The western side of the reserve is bordered by a sand wall and ditch, probably to limit the entry by herds of sheep. In the south-western (semi-desert) part of the reserve lies a deep south-north running wadi.

The Sociable Lapwings seemed to prefer the north-central part, located just south(west) of a large red-and-white communication tower, with smaller numbers found in the southwestern corner of the area. At both these areas, habitat resembled that of Eiwa and Al Aumair: short green grass with a yellowish sheen of ‘flowering’ mosses. Artemisia plants were evident.

Numbers of Sociable LapwingThe highest number counted here from one spot on a hill in the northern parts was 710 individuals, at 14.50 in the afternoon of 25 February. Because 152 were seen nearby and another 138 were seen in the southwestern corner simultaneously, the maximum number seen here amounts to 1000.

99 out of 138 (southwestern corner) and 147 out of 710 (north-central part) were checked for colour-rings, but without result (29% checked).

Other birds and wildlifeOnly one Northern Lapwing was found amongst the 710 Sociable Lapwings on 25 February. Other birds encountered were few (other than the obligatory - here not so common - Skylarks) and included a male Hen Harrier and a Greater Sand Plover. Scarab beetles were found in the southwestern corner.

Human activities impacting on Sociable LapwingsThe area was clearly grazed extensively. Local shepherds informed us that the func-tion of a ‘rangeland reserve’ is to provide grazing in times of hardship.

A tented camp meant to accommodate a Qatari hunting party was being set up on 25 February. As this area held a large percentage of the known world population of Sociable Lapwings and hunting is officially forbidden in Syria, the proper authori-ties were notified and action was taken: Adib al-Assaed was sent to the area as of 27 February and he was joined by Ahmed Abdallah from 5 March onwards. They closely watched the camp and no Sociable Lapwings were said to have been shot during their presence. However, feathers possibly of Sociable Lapwing, and legs of a definite Sociable Lapwing, were found in the camp. The hunting party told Adib al-Assaed



that they shot Ruddy Shelduck, White-fronted Geese and Common Cranes. The hunt-ing party left the area on 18 March. Shepherds mentioned hunting had happened in previous years. Cartridge cases were found in several places.

Note: on 26 February 2008 the area was visited again (by RH). Three flocks of 2, 15 and 22 Sociable Lapwings were found in the northeastern part. No hunters or herds of sheep were present.

Al Fedha (Al Cholla)Location: 30 km south-west of Deir ez-Zor (no map)Coördinates: 35°2’18.15’N, 039°4’32.62’ESize: ‘large’ (see below)Minimum number of Sociable Lapwings: 113 (1 March 2007)

This is a natural steppe area located around 30 km south-west of Deir ez-Zor, just north of and visible from the Deir ez-Zor – Palmyra highway (no map). The natural steppe area here was near-endless, which could be attributed to recent rainfall (it was also raining when we were there). When scanning the habitat, four Sociable Lap-wings were visible from the highway; when we drove nearer, this area held 92 birds. This was between the highway and the (seasonal?) village Al Cholla. The entire area is situated south of Kbor al Ageat hills.

When a flock of 15 flew off from the flock of 92, it was followed for a few hundred metres to an area beyond some low hills (west of Al Fedha). There, a flock of 36 was found, of which the 15 were subtracted. Local people told us that Sociable Lapwings could be found here in three valleys, of which one was located south-east of the highway. The general area was checked but, other than the flocks of 92 and 36 (see table 1), none were found.

Number of Sociable LapwingsOut of 92 none had colour-rings (100% checked). It was striking that birds, when ap-proached by car, flew off at far greater distance than, for example, at Eiwa. The flock of 36 was too far away to check for colour-rings.

Other birds and wildlifeSkylarks and Calandra Larks were present, as was a single Cream-coloured Courser.

Human activities impacting on Sociable LapwingsNone seen, but a resident shepherd told us a Qatari hunting party, apparently the same one as was now residing at Ar Ruweira Rangeland Reserve, had set up camp in the area some time earlier that month and had been hunting every day. What the hunter was exactly aiming for the shepherd did not know. Cartridge cases were found in large numbers. No actual hunting activity was noted at the time of our visit.

The number of sheep herds visible was rather limited.Note: on 29 February 2008 the area was visited again (by RH). A flock of 8 Sociable

Lapwings was found in the exact same area.

Tall as SaminThis site is situated along the ´Ar Raqqa - M4 highway´ road (288 m asl; 36°02’02.76’N, 039°01’28.37’E; no map). Here, at 07.40 hr on 25 February 2007, seven Sociable Lap-wings flew west across the road. They didn’t appear to be landing and a scan of areas west and east of this road did not yield anything other than an other flock of five passing Northern Lapwings, apparently migrating at 30 m altitude in a more north-northeasterly direction. The desert-like area did not seem suitable habitat for feed-ing lapwings of either species (arid, stony, few and mainly spiny plants).

Figure 19 (facing page). Two males and two females Sociable Lapwing, feeding on a grassy patch. Eiwa,

Syria, 24 February 2007 (David Hoekstra).



Short discussion on numbers and threatsThe total number of Sociable Lapwings counted in northern Syria between 24 Feb-ruary - 5 March was 1579 (table 3, this number includes 7 birds in flight at Tall as Samin). We cannot rule out the possibility however that the c. 200 birds that left Eiwa in the afternoon on 24 February at 14.35 hr were the same as those located at Al Au-mair almost 45 minutes later. It is possible that the birds used both areas for feeding and/or resting.

Some of the areas are large and/or difficult to access and there is always a pos-sibility of double-counting or missing flocks. Considering this, we think it is safe to estimate that about 1500 birds were present in northern Syria around 25 February. Please note that at no time a total of 1500 birds, or more, was actually counted at any single moment or at any area prior to 1 March; this figure, or even higher ones, has appeared in literature and on internet (e.g. Bozdogan et al sine anno, Murdoch & Blair 2007, electronic messages on EuroBirdnet).

After 26 February numbers rose to a stunning 2000 on 8-9 March at Ar Ruweira and Al Aumair (but note that this number is an estimate). All birds had left these areas after 25 March.

See chapter 8 for a further discussion on numbers, in view of Turkish and Syrian sightings in autumn 2007 and spring 2008.

Table 3. Maximum number of Sociable Lapwings per site in 2007.

area maximum count date time

Al Aumair 192 24 February 15.15Eiwa 267 25 February 09.50Ar Ruweira 1000 25 February 16.00Al Fedha 113 1 March 08.15Ar Ruweira andAl Aumair 2000 8-9 March entire days

6. Observations on Sociable Lapwings in February-March 2007

After the discovery of the Sociable Lapwings at the steppe area at Eiwa on 23 Febru-ary, it was decided to spend the entire next day at that spot to 1) see how the birds use the area in the course of the day, 2) gather basic information on feeding, inter-action, colour-rings, et cetera, 3) interview local shepherds, 4) plot the area by using GPS and 5) get information on disturbance. On 25 February the area was only visited between 09.20-10.45 hr. The rest of the day was spent counting Sociable Lapwings in the three areas of natural steppe already identified. On 24 February, much attention was paid to the total number of Sociable Lapwings in the area, so counts were made at regular intervals (see table 2).

During 23-25 February the weather was sunny, but increasingly hazy, with little or no clouds. The temperature was about 4 °C in the early morning and increased to about 19 °C around noon. Wind force varied between 2-5 Beaufort.

Habitat choiceEven though large parts of Syria were covered during this survey, Sociable Lapwings were only encountered in what we think is original steppe habitat (see for instance figures 17, 24-27). In this habitat at Eiwa, large parts of the heavily grazed areas stood out by their sparse coverage of mosses (e.g. figure 11). In between the mosses there were small patches of grass, standing out like green islands between the reddish or yellowish mosses and these green patches seemed to be frequented more often than the mossy parts. One lower lying (moister?) area was apparently favourite.

The green arable fields, with short vegetation of barley or wheat, were not visited by Sociable Lapwings, nor were the barren cultivated fields or stony or sandy deserts.

General behaviourThe birds spent most of the day feeding in loose flocks (3-76 individuals; average 23 birds, n = 31 flocks, figure 20). Within a flock they seemed only loosely associated, but they reacted as a single flock to disturbance. Several flocks at some distance from each other even reacted to apparent danger at the same time.

Figure 20. Activity of Sociable Lapwings at Eiwa, Syria, 24 February 2007, during the day. The sample

sizes (number of birds) are given above the bars. Since during the activity scans the same flock was

scanned over and over again, sample sizes may be higher than the total number of birds present.

observations in spring 2007


Flock sizes varied continuously, as small flocks flew off and joined other groups. Although the birds seemed to move around within the steppe area, as they were there most of the time, they sometimes disappeared completely. One of these occa-sions was witnessed in the afternoon of 24 February: at 14.35 hr all c. 200 Sociable Lapwings took off without any obvious reason, split into two flocks, then merged into one flock and flew eastward. The large flock again split into several smaller flocks. One of these, of about 50 individuals, was followed; it turned southward. About one hour later part of this flock (35 birds), or another one, was (re)located roosting far away in an empty arable field.

Interaction was observed several times, but was not noted in detail. There were brief skirmishes, both between males, between females and between both sexes. Resting birds lied down on the ground.

On 23 February a flock of twelve Sociable Lapwings at Eiwa were observed after sunset, to see if they would spend the night at the site or elsewhere (for instance, at the nearby lake). Sunset that day was at about 17.12 hr local time. The birds could be observed (through a telescope) until 17.45 hr, when it became too dark to see them; at that time they were still feeding!

Figure 21. Pecking rate of

Sociable Lapwings at Eiwa,

Syria, 24 February 2007.

The number of minutes is

given above the bars, the

lines give the (upper half of

the) standard error.

Figure 22. Guido and David look-

ing for invertebrates on a green

patch where just moments before

Sociable Lapwings were feeding.

Eiwa, Syria, 23 February 2007

(Remco Hofland).

Observations on feedingSociable Lapwings feed like typical plovers: they stand still and look for prey, then walk a few steps and look for prey again. After a prey is detected, they take a short run to capture it. Hence, most time is spent standing still: a flock at first sight there-fore looks like a motionless bunch of birds, with only the occasional one walking a short distance.

A remarkable characteristic was ‘foot pumping’: during foraging a bird would stand still and watch, then start pumping either the right or the left foot forward (during which the whole body would move), then run a few steps and start vigour-ously pecking up to eight times in one place, with just over one peck per second. This was always a few steps away from where the foot pumping had taken place. Foot pumping is not mentioned in Cramp & Simmons (1983), but it is in Glutz von Blotzheim et al. (1975).

All birds were actively feeding in the early morning (observed from 06.15 hr on-wards; figure 20), but increasingly involved in other activities (flying, fighting, preen-ing, resting) after 09.00 hr. Prey catching attempts were done at a rate of 6,5 times per minute on average (figure 21), with highest pecking rates in the early morning. The average success rate was 51%.

DietOn 23 February 29 fresh droppings were collected for dietary information. The drop-pings were collected on three favourite feeding sites at Eiwa: at these sites flocks of Sociable Lapwings were observed feeding for some time; the droppings were col-lected only after the birds had flown away due to disturbance (see above). The drop-pings were definitely from Sociable Lapwings; those of larks (Calandra Lark, Skylark, Short-toed Lark and possibly Lesser Short-toed Lark being abundantly present), the only other birds feeding in the area, were much smaller (figure 23), green and white instead of black and white, and contained a few seeds and vegetable matter (four droppings examined). The few other wader species in the area (Dotterel, Kentish Plover and Greater Sand Plover) were not present at the sites where the droppings were collected. The droppings were studied at home in water under a 40-times mag-nifying stereo-microscope.

The animal contents of the droppings consisted exclusively of arthropod remains (heads, antennae, jaws, thoraces, legs, wings, abdomens). The few sand grains (up

Figure 23. Droppings of Sociable Lap-

wings and larks, collected on the steppe

at Eiwa, Syria, 23 February 2007 (Guido

Keijl).



to 2 mm) present in the samples could have been attached to the droppings or may have been ingested together with the prey. The same goes for the two tiny grass plants with rootlets. There were no stones.

Most identifiable remains referred to beetles Coleoptera (table 4), but note that this may be biased towards this taxon because beetles consist of very hard chitinous parts, which are no doubt less well digested than, for instance, the softer-bodied dipterans. The presence of many beetles is somewhat surprising: while looking for potential food items with the naked eye (figure 22), the ‘most numerous’ – but still very scarce – arthropods were tiny flies (approximately 4 mm). Apart from these, one or two carabid beetles (up to 6 mm) and a single active nest with small ants (up to 5 mm) were seen. Dung beetles (e.g. Aphodiinae) or their larvae were not seen at all, even though we occasionally looked for them in large masses of sheep dung.

The remains were compared with a reference collection (beetles and ants only). Although undoubtedly good food for Sociable Lapwings, the birds probably cannot fatten up quickly, or fatten up at all, on preys of this size.

Dropping intervals were not measured.

InteractionBrief fights were occasionally observed. They took place between males and females, and among males and females respectively. This type of interaction usually con-sisted of short chases, accompanied by a short call. More intensive fights consisted of longer chases with or without puffed feathers and/or jumping in the air. In one particular fight, a female was seen chasing off two males and one female.

Table 4. Contents of 29 droppings of Sociable Lapwings collected on 23 February 2007 at Eiwa, North Syria. The symbols indicate the relative presence of identifiable items (• = few remains, •••• = many remains).

presence estimated adults larvae maximum length

flies Diptera • - 4 mmants Formicidae •• - 5 mmbeetles Coleoptera Carabidae ••• - 6 mm Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae •• •••• 9 mm beetles, 8 mm larvae Curculionidae •••• 6 mm beetles unidentified ••Arthropoda unidentified •plastic • 2 mm

Figures 24-25 (facing page). Two female Sociable Lapwings fighting, Eiwa, 24 February 2007. In the up-

per picture the males (far left and far right) do not appear to be paying attention (Guido Keijl).


RoostingDuring the day several Sociable Lapwing flocks rested in the steppe area. On 24 Febru-ary a flock of 35 individuals roosted in an arable field. These are the only Sociable Lap-wings that we saw roosting at all, apart from the loafing birds in the feeding flocks. On 24 February we spent dusk at the lake in the northwestern part of the steppe area at Eiwa, but no Sociable Lapwings were seen. In the evening of 23 February Socia-ble Lapwings kept feeding until it was too dark for us to continue observations (see above). Association with water (e.g. Cramp & Simmons 1983) was never noticed. Only on 24 February, a flock of twelve individuals was briefly present at the sabkha near Eiwa. After being flushed by a Merlin they returned to feed on the steppe.

MigrationTwo small flocks (12 and 7 individuals respectively) suddenly appeared in the binoc-ular’s view, apparently in a vertical descent from ‘high above’, as opposed to flocks of Sociable Lapwings coming into the binocular’s view from the side. These ‘high’ flocks could have been birds from elsewhere in the Eiwa-area, but it appeared that they were birds coming in from outside the area, for instance, birds on migration.

There are a few other observations which may relate to migration:- in the afternoon of 23 February we counted 62 Sociable Lapwings at Eiwa; this

number had risen to 78 at 06.15 hr the next day and 262 in the late afternoon. In the morning of 25 February there were 267 birds, like in the previous afternoon (but note that all birds had left in the late afternoon of the 24th). Although prob-ably a coincidence, it is possible that about 200 birds arrived during the day on 24 February;

- on 25 February, at 07.40 hr, a flock of 7 Sociable Lapwings passed over the road in an eastnortheasterly direction between Ar Raqqa and Eiwa (36°02’02.76’N, 039°01’28.37’E), approximately 35 kilometres west of Eiwa. These birds flew more or less into the direction of the steppe area at Eiwa;

- the restlessness of the birds. Apart for flying without any obvious reason, some smaller groups left the large flocks: at 14.03 hr 5 + 4 + 4 Sociable Lapwings sud-denly flew away quietly without any obvious reason and were followed by the remaining 89 a while later. The larger flock landed further towards the east, but at 14.35 hr all c. 200 Sociable Lapwings in the area took off, split into smaller flocks and left the steppe area, ascended rather steeply with fast wingbeats (as opposed to slower wingbeats of the birds which merely flew to another site within the Eiwa area) and disappeared in an easterly direction. This behaviour was reminis-cent to that of waders leaving for long-distance migration (e.g. Keijl 2006). It can-not be ruled out however that birds were commuting between areas.

Figure 26 (facing page, above). Presumed second calendar year male Sociable Lapwing. This individual

is probably ageable by the remaining and worn juvenile upperwing coverts and breast feathers, and

sexable by neat head pattern with the sharply demarcated jet-black cap and eye-stripe, and the large

black belly patch, even though the latter still has to develop further. Note that this bird feeds on the green

grassy patch instead of on the yellowish moss (David Hoekstra, Eiwa, 24 February 2007).

Figure 27 (facing page, below). Female Sociable Lapwing, possibly second calendar year, on basis of the

slightly worn and pale-fringed upperwing coverts. However, they could also be winter plumage feathers.

This bird is sexable by the brownish hood, buffish supercilium, browner eye-stripe and relatively small

and chestnut, not black, belly patch (David Hoekstra, Eiwa, 24 February 2007).


Pumage and sex ratioObvious plumage differences between individual birds were noted: some looked like ‘classical’ Sociable Lapwings as depicted in the field guides, while others looked much paler, with especially a less neat-looking head pattern, no or less extensive black belly patch and little or no chestnut on the belly. We interpreted this at that moment as either second-calendar year birds or birds not yet in full summer plum-age. Only after studying the photographs at home and talking to Paul Donald (pers. comm.) and Johannes Kamp (in litt.), who had recently seen pairs on the breeding grounds in Kazakhstan, we realized that the paler birds were likely to be females. A picture of a presumed second-year male proves this (figure 26). Such an apparently clear difference in plumage between the sexes has not previously been described.

Although we scored plumages in the field, it was not possible any more to relate this at home to immatures, winter plumage or female plumages (9% ‘pale’ birds and 87% ‘summer’ plumage). Therefore, we can only identify the percentage of males from photos (61% males, n = 101 birds).

Colour-ringsWe checked as many Sociable Lapwings as possible for colour-rings without trying to disturb them. This was only possible in Eiwa and Al Fedha. The large concentra-tion of 710 birds at northeastern Ar Ruweira was spread out over a large area; at that site we could only check very few birds. Out of a total of 365 individual birds which we could check in detail we saw no colour-rings (28%; 199 at Eiwa, 0 at Al Aumair, 99 at the southwestern part of Ar Ruweira, 147 at the northern part of Ar Ruweira, 92 Al Fedha).

InjuriesOn 25 February, out of 99 Sociable Lapwings checked for colour-rings at the south-western part of Ar Ruweira, two were limping.

DisturbanceEvery now and then the Sociable Lapwings flew away, most often without obvious reason (indicated with a question mark in table 5). On some occasions they took off in panic (some calling, fast flight, rapid climbing), but after disturbance by sheep they flew away more horizontally, with slow wingbeats and at a much slower speed.

On one occasion, (Gulf State) hunters, which were driving a smaller (white) car than our (large, white, noisy four-wheel drive) cars, approached a flock of about 25

Table 5. Reasons for disturbance of Sociable Lapwings at Eiwa, on 24-25 February 2007.? = flying for no obvious reason

Merlin 3sheep 2car 1hunters 1? 7

Sociable Lapwings up to 50 metres and fired a single shot from the car. This prompt-ed a few birds to fly, but only for an alarmingly short distance. The hunters missed (or at least: they did not kill a bird) and then drove on.

Three disturbances by Merlins were noted. Further reasons for potential distur-bance were other raptors and dogs (noted during our stay but not causing distur-bance at that time). Note that 25 February, a Sunday, was noticeably quieter than the previous day, when many more cars passed us on the steppe and more people (including shepherds) were seen on foot.

At Eiwa the Sociable Lapwings flew off from our approaching cars at a distance of about 150 m. For sheep, often with a shepherd and dogs, they were much less afraid: for them they took wing at a distance of only 30 m. The same goes for passing motorcycles. On a few occasions the flying birds landed close to our non-moving car while we were inside. At the other sites the fleeing distance was more or less compa-rable to that at Eiwa, but at the Al Fedha area, south of Deir ez-Zor, fleeing distance was at least 200 m. After disturbance they landed after 50-500 m, but on one occa-sion, after disturbance by a Merlin, they landed on the same spot and this also goes for ‘disturbances’ without obvious cause (Table 5). There appeared to be no relation between the cause of disturbance and the fleeing distance. After flying off, the larger flocks often split into smaller flocks and spread out over the area. Small flocks or sin-gle birds flying off without any clear reason were seen joining other (small or large) flocks.

Figure 28. Sociable Lapwings at Eiwa, Syria, 24 February 2007. This flock appears to hold at least three

males. The bird on the lower left has not yet developed any summer plumage feathers (David Hoekstra).



7. Interviews with villagers and shepherds

All questions were posed by Remco Hofland and translated by Ahmed Abdallah and Adib al-Assaed. Answers given were noted straight away.

Questions posed to people found at Sociable Lapwing habitat

Q to ask shepherds about the birds- Is he familiar with the birds? [Only show lapwing page in Collins Fieldguide – showing all five western Palearctic species of lapwing – and let him point them out.]- When do they arrive and in which numbers?- When do they leave?- Are they being hunted? What (else) is hunted?- Do they stay when it is very cold / when it snows?- Do the birds usually stay in the same area?- For how long in the past have the birds been here? In the same / less / or bigger numbers?

Q to ask shepherds and villagers about the land- Why is the land not converted into barley yet? Are there any plans to convert it to arable land?- Who does the land belong to?- Was there more steppe habitat in the past?- Are the barley fields sprayed (with pesticides / insecticides) and if so, how?- Is there more of this habitat nearby and if so, where? How can this site be reached?- Are the fields being grazed by sheep all year?- How many herds are using the area? Approximately how many sheep per herd?

Answers(1) two shepherds, one of them named Abdallah Hmadh, both in their 30’s, met in the southeastern corner of Eiwa

´we know the Sociable Lapwing well´ [they give an accurate description apart from pointing them out in the Collins Fieldguide]´last year there were more than this year´´they leave approximately end of March, could be even later – when it gets hot´´they arrive approximately in February – in winter it’s very cold here´´the land is owned by the Government´´the birds are also here in autumn, with multiple flocks – when the barley is sown´´we see them in similar habitat, never in barley´´we have seen them for at least the past ten years´´we only graze our sheep in spring´´when there’s much grass in spring, shepherds from far away come here with their sheep and it becomes more crowded´

Figure 29 (facing page). Rommert, Adib, Ahmed, an inhabitant of Eiwa and two boys, enjoying spectacu-

lar Sociable Lapwings through a fine telescope (David Hoekstra, 24 February 2007).

´on average, ten shepherds graze their sheep here, every herd counting about 100 sheep´´we don’t know whether these birds are hunted´´the end of autumn sees the arrival of sandgrouse and plenty of hunters, who focus on the sandgrouse´´we know both Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse; they are equally common´ [they descibe both sandgrouse including their calls]´the Eiwa sabkha was filled completely two months earlier [mid-December 2006] – it will however completely dry out very soon´´on average, it rains here heavily only ten times per year, in both autumn and spring´(2) another shepherd from Eiwa

interviews


Í immediately recognise the Sociable Lapwing´ ´the birds are being hunted here´´the land is owned by the Government´Í graze my sheep here almost all year´Í have only seen the Sociable Lapwing a month ago´ [even though we could see them right from where we were]´the sabkha doesn’t contain this much water every year´

(3) another shepherd from Eiwa

Í recognise the Sociable Lapwing´Í have seen the Sociable Lapwing all winter´ áll birds, including the Sociable Lapwing, have decreased enormously over the past years´Í have seen Sociable Lapwings here every winter for as long as I live´

(4) Aoed Al Basher, 43 years old, lives in the southwestern corner of Eiwa

Í recognise the Sociable Lapwing´Í see the Sociable Lapwing all winter, in flocks – it is easily seen´´since a month ago it’s (more) common´´they arrive in autumn, when people are sowing barley´áll birds used to be more common, such as Great Bustards, who are now finished, and sandgrouse´

´sandgrouse used to be common as grass, one would see them everywhere, in the past´´Stone Curlew has also disappeared´ [none were recorded in the steppe areas sur-veyed]Í have seen Dotterels here ten years ago´ [two were seen at Eiwa that morning]Í also recognise Greater Sand Plover´ [two pairs were seen at Eiwa]´live sandgrouse were, in the past, caught and sold to hunters who used them to catch large falcons with – 1000 Syrian pounds were paid then per sandgrouse caught´´the Sociable Lapwings are not hunted´´Sociable Lapwings are not normally found near water´´Sociable Lapwings are never found singly´´there is another, similar area about 25 km east of Eiwa, south of the highway, at the Raqqa / Hassake state border´ [this turned out to be Al Aumair]

(5) gathering of older men in Eiwa

´ten years ago there was no water in the sabkha, yet we saw Sociable Lapwings then´´my legs were hurting last winter, so I shot two Sociable Lapwings and ate their feet´. – Upon asked if it had helped, the man replied ńo´. When we remarked that he bet-ter not shoot them any more, he laughed.

(6) a shepherd at Al Aumair [on 24 February 2007]

Í recognise the Sociable Lapwing – it is very tasty´Í encountered many here five days ago, in large flocks´´they arrive in autumn´´depending on the weather none, or few (up to ten) remain in winter´´there is no water nearby´´Black-bellied Sandgrouse (also) winters´´Pin-tailed Sandgrouse breeds´

(7) a villager at Al Aumair

´they arrived ten days ago, I’ve seen none this winter´ín autumn they leave the area when it gets cold´Í have seen the Sociable Lapwings since I was a little boy – since 1954´´there were many more in the past´´they are being hunted regularly, (mainly) by Lebanese and Gulf State hunters´´the number of sheep has increased dramatically´

(8) a shepherd at Ar Ruweira Rangeland Reserve

Figure 30 (facing page). Mahmoud showing pointing out birds in the field guide. Local people are not

merely a source of information: they are of vital importance when wanting to protect an area or a species

(as well as supplying thirsty surveyers with tea) (Guido Keijl, Lake Jabbul, 21 February 2007).

interviews


á Qatari hunting party has just arrived´´they are said to stay for a month at least´

(9) a shepherd at Al Cholla village in the Al Fedha area

Í have been in the area for the last four months´´Sociable Lapwings have arrived ten days ago and they occur in flocks of 20-30 birds´ [we saw flocks of 92, 36 and a flock of 15 that flew from one site (presumably) to the other]ín wet winters, when there’s lots of grass, they also stay in winter´´the Qatari hunting party has stayed in this area for a month, and did nothing but hunt´´there are three valleys where the Sociable Lapwings are found most frequently – one is south and two are north of the road´´last year there were the same number of Sociable Lapwings, the year before there were none´

The mukhtar (‘mayor’) of Eiwa village was not at home. Nearby there was a gath-ering of older men, whom we talked to. One was clearly not interested in protecting anything, as he gestured how he would shoot any bird given a chance. Another was very interested and visited us later when we were counting and observing birds. Ahmed took down his contact details.

Note that it was apparent how some people (non-shepherd villagers as well as shepherds) were noticeably interested in wildlife and could give accurate descrip-tions of birds like Great Bustard, sandgrouse, Stone Curlew, Cream-coloured Courser, Little Owl and Hoopoe.

Figure 31. The single Cream-coloured Courser seen during the survey, at Al Fedha, 1 March 2007. In the

relatively dry spring of 2008, higher numbers of Cream-coloured Courser were observed in this area in

February (David Hoekstra).

interviews


8. Summary of present knowledge, reflections and recommended research

As no one had ever searched for wintering Sociable Lapwings in Syria, the idea of a winter survey was quickly developed after the sightings in February 2004 (Murdoch et al. 2005). The present wintering area of this species was unknown until very recently, and therefore it was thought to be valuable to carry out a dedicated survey at the sites where the species had been observed in 2004, and in comparable habitats. How-ever, due to personal time tables of the survey members, it was impossible to visit Syria before mid-February.

The finding of over 1500 Sociable Lapwings in late February 2007 in Syria was a big surprise. The world population was estimated at a maximum number of 1200 in-dividuals by Delany & Scott (2006). However, in the autumn of 2006 a revised popula-tion estimate of 5612 became available (Sheldon et al 2006).

What do we now know about Sociable LapwingsHere we will give the present state of knowledge, based on recent information resulting from this Syrian Sociable Lapwing Survey and information collected by oth-ers (see box 1). Information gathered on the breeding sites, such as breeding success, is left out.

Breeding, migration and wintering sitesThe only remaining breeding sites are located in the Central-north of Kakzakhstan and adjacent South Russia. At least part of these birds migrate through South-west Russia, where they stage in the Stavropol region. Another important stop-over is lo-cated in South-east Turkey. They then fly south through West Saudi Arabia, cross the Red Sea and arrive in Sudan in November, to spend the winter north of Khartoum. They leave Sudan in February, arrive in northern Syria and South Turkey from late February onwards and leave in late March (Rob Sheldon in litt.). They arrive at the breeding sites from mid-April onwards (Cramp & Simmons 1983). Numbers at stag-ing areas may differ between years depending on vegetation due to local climatic conditions. On the staging sites, birds are usually recorded in large concentrations.

HabitatThe birds breed in steppe habitat, with plants like Stipa and Artemisia possibly be-ing characteristic. The feeding areas in the Stavropol region are unknown, but they spend the night in flocks, standing in shallow lagoons.

The majority of Syrian observations were from original steppe during migration north. In contrast to birds seen in Turkey, which appeared to use ‘fallow land and uncultivated fields’ (Bozdogan et al. sine anno). Contrary to what we observed in Syria, the birds thus seem to also make use of arable fields.

DietThe diet in spring apparently consists of invertebrates.

ThreatsApart from destruction of steppe habitat in breeding and stop-over areas, and pos-sibly also in the wintering region, an important threat during migration is hunting.

Box 1. Major observations on Sociable Lapwings prior to and after spring 2007

After the survey in early spring 2007, more information has become available. At the time of finishing this report (October 2008) however, little of this has been published. Prior to 2007, scattered information was available, but again, little was published. In the following part we will summarize these data in chronological or-der, without trying to be exhaustive. Our purpose is to make information available to those trying to gain more knowledge on Sociable Lapwings in order to protect them. With one exception, these data have been collected by others, but the source of information is given where possible. If anyone wants to use these data, we ask not to refer to this report but to the original source and/or to get into contact with the respective scientists.

In 2002, up to 155 Sociable Lapwings were observed at Malazgirt and Bulanık steppe and valleys, North-east Turkey (Eken et al. in Bozdogan et al. sine anno).

In 2004, 22 adults and 94 chicks were colour-ringed on the breeding grounds in Ka-zakhstan (Watson et al. 2006). In total, up to 2007 about 600 birds have been colour-ringed, some with colour-ring combinations (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

Breeding success in 2004 was poor and consistent with an annual population decline of about 15%, but breeding success in 2005 was high enough for the popula-tion to remain stable (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

A dedicated survey in West-India in winter 2004-2005 by the Gujarat Ecological Society yielded 27 birds (J. Kamp in litt.).

Return of colour-ringed birds had been low in four years of field study (5% of juve-niles, 10% of adults (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

In September 2006, an aggregate total of 1013 Sociable Lapwings was counted in the Kuma-Manych Depression, Stavropol Region, South-west Russia, in the area of Cha-graiskoje Reservoir (45°35’) and Dovsun Lake (45°23’), with a maximum of 236 on 9 September (Field et al. 2007). Of 849 checked, two colour-ringed birds, both juveniles, were found. They were ringed in Central Kazakhstan in June 2006. In 2006-2008, all Sociable Lapwings had left the Manych area by 15 September (Jeff and Olga Gordon in litt.).

On 9 November 2006 a flock of 9 Sociable Lapwings were seen in Hingol National Park, Aghore, Baluchistan, Pakistan (Ghulam Rasool Mughal to J. Kamp in litt.)

Upon reading about the spectacular number of Sociable Lapwings in Syria in Febru-ary 2007 on EuroBirdNet e-mail group, Turkish birdwatchers were dispatched to the border area. In early March 2007 they found small numbers of Sociable Lapwings near Ceylanpınar, South-east Turkey. On 7 March 2007, they counted 1017 individu-als in a relatively small area. It was believed that at that time at least 1065 birds were present in Turkey (Bozdogan et al. sine anno). (continued on page 49)

summary of present knowledge


ReflectionsPrior to the Syrian Sociable Lapwing Survey in early spring 2007, it was thought that the Sociable Lapwing might winter in Northern Syria in small numbers. However, at present there is no reason to believe that Sociable Lapwings spend all winter in Syria. The possibility of severe cold, even snow, makes the steppe areas probably un-suitable as feeding areas. The answer as to when the Sociable Lapwings might stay to winter in Syria (or perhaps, choose to leave very late in autumn and return very early in spring) perhaps lies in the annual rainfall and the consequent development of steppe habitat in the Syrian central desert. Where areas of natural steppe habitat appear to be few and far between in the agriculturally developed stretches of north-ern Syria, the desert interior of central Syria can, with rain- or snowfall, quickly turn into quite large stretches of steppe-like habitat, as happened in 2007 and, less so, in 2008.

Available literature and research during the breeding season suggest the main reason for the sharp decline in number of Sociable Lapwings in the past decades might be attributed to converting their preferred breeding habitat, natural steppe, into agricultural land; to predation of Rooks, hedgehogs and dogs, and perhaps the trampling of nests by grazing cattle. However, an important reason could well be climate change, resulting in desertification of the original habitat (Shevchenko 1998). This could well lead to concentration of the birds in the remaining habitat, while increased grazing causes habitat degradation and trampling of clutches.

In our opinion, another important factor in the species’ decline could be uncon-trolled hunting in the staging areas. It is unknown whether this also plays a role in the wintering quarters. During the few days we spent in the areas used by the Sociable Lapwings, hunting was much in evidence. It is obvious that if the Sociable Lapwings concentrate on the ever decreasing patches of remaining steppe habitat, they become more concentrated and are easier to find and to shoot. They are, now that sandgrouse, Stone Curlews and bustards have been eradicated, the only sizeable target in this habitat.

Research prioritiesThere are still many things that we don’t know about Sociable Lapwings and that hinders proper protection. More information is quickly needed on

• wintering areas The breeding areas, as far as known, are now fairly well moni-tored. The wintering areas remain unknown: even though wintering has now been established in Sudan, this is only based on two (satellite-tagged) birds. It goes without saying that, as long as there is no information from the wintering areas, protection only in the breeding region is futile.

• habitat use outside the breeding season The recent information from the satellite-tagged birds, combined with Google Earth-maps, seems to point to the frequent use of arable fields. Considering the species’ fondness of steppe habitat in Syria, we doubt this apparent preference. Could it be possible that there is no more natural habitat available on the traditional stop-over sites and the birds are thus forced to stay on arable fields?

• presence near water We question the reported association with water (for in-stance Cramp & Simmons 1983). In Syria, there seemed to be no association at

Box 1 (continued).In summer 2007, the RSPB / BirdLife team studied almost 200 nests in Central Ka-zakhstan and over 140 in the north of that country. The team satellite-tagged three birds. Of only two birds useful information was obtained (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

In September 2007, 252 Sociable Lapwings were found at the Chagraiskoje Reservoir (194 birds) and Dovsun Lake (56 birds) in the Kuma-Manych Depression, Stavropol Region, South-west Russia. Two other lone individuals were found in the general area (Jeff Gordon in litt.).

In early September 2007 the satellite-tagged birds, that had first migrated west-ward, moved to the northern Caspian plain (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

By late September 2007, at least one of the tagged birds had moved south past the east side of the Caspian Sea (Paul Donald in litt.). Another one apparently passed west of the Caucasus (RSPB press release).

At the same time, the end of September 2007, 189 Sociable Lapwings were counted at the Bulanik Plain, eastern Turkey (Soner Bekir in litt.).

A press release of the RSPB mentioned the sighting of over 3000 Sociable Lapwings in the Ceylanpınar area, South-east Turkey, in October 2007. 1800 were found on 12 October 2007, with 3200 present on 13 October 2007. These birds were found thanks to a satellite tag.

During a modest survey in Syria in autumn 2007, visits by car were paid to Eiwa, Al Aumair, Ar Ruweira and Al Fedha (19 and 20 October 2007) and Eiwa, Al Aumair, Ar Ruweira, Mheimideh, Tal Brak (16 and 17 November 2007), northern Syria, and the areas were scrutinized with binoculars and telescopes. No Sociable Lapwings were found. Local shepherds, part of whom were interviewed in spring of that year, confirmed that Sociable Lapwings were not present yet, but they thought it was too early in the season. At the time of these surveys, the area was very dry (the local shepherds said that there was no grass, no ants and no caterpillars). Based on what the shepherds told them, the team suggested that the first week of January would be more suitable for finding Sociable Lapwings (Ahmed Abdallah, Mahmoud Sheish Abdallah and Osama al Nouri in litt.)

In early October 2007 one of the satellite-tagged birds was located in western Geor-gia (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

The other tagged bird passed the north-east side of the Caspian Sea, but then crossed and moved to Dagestan, on the western side of the Caspian Sea, in October 2007 (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

By mid-November 2007 two satellite-tagged birds had arrived in Sudan, north of Khartoum (Rob Sheldon in litt.). They had passed through West-Saudi Arabia. These

(continued on page 51)



all between Sociable Lapwings and water. In the Stavropol region, South Russia, however, large post-breeding flocks roost in shallow lakes (Jeff Gordon in litt.). This might be related to the period during which the birds are moulting their flight feathers and need protection from ground predators. In the breeding areas how-ever, water does seem important (Kamp 2007). Also in Sudan in winter 2007-2008 the birds were not far from a river (Paul Donald pers. comm.). This latter piece of information was derived from Google Earth satellite images.

• diet Beetles could be important, especially dung beetles (Cramp & Simmons 1983; this report). Possibly, Sociable Lapwings have accompanied the now endangered Saiga Antelopes (Saiga tatarica) in the former breeding area in the past: Saiga Antelopes roamed around in flocks up to 200.000 individuals in the steppe from Kalmukkia through Kazakhstan into China. It is unclear whether the steppe in Syria is favoured by Sociable Lapwings because of dung beetles in sheep dung, or whether it is a coincidence that both birds and sheep prefer the same habitat.

• natural mortality The breeding success seems to be low at present. Hunting could quickly deplete the population.

• differences in habitat choice between years There is possibly a difference in habi-tat choice between years on the stop-over sites: in spring 2007, after a wet winter, the natural steppe areas in northern Syria were well occupied by Sociable Lap-wings, while exactly one year later, in spring 2008, after a dry winter, there were lower numbers. Although this information is based on two years only and during a limited period, the difference is striking. The difference could be related to food, but is poorly understood.

Box 1 (continued).were the first recorded Sociable Lapwings in Sudan since the 1950’s! One of the birds had crossed 1700 km in just three days (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

When Richard Porter visited Eiwa, Syria, on 26 November 2007, he did not find any Sociable Lapwings (Richard Porter in litt.).

In November-December 2007, 45 Sociable Lapwings were observed on arable land in West India (A. Demourari to J. Kamp in litt.)

A tour group of ten Dutch and one Syrian birder visited two natural steppe areas in northern Syria, on 26 February 2008. It had been an unusually dry winter, resulting in low water levels. The areas looked very different from February 2007, with the northern steppes being very dry and clearly heavily overgrazed. No herds of sheep were encountered. Despite extensive fog, a flock of 39 Sociable Lapwings was found at Eiwa. At Ar Ruweira, flocks of 15, 2 and 22 Sociable Lapwings were seen near the hilltop from where 710 were seen in 2007.

On 27 February, at 11.45 hr, a flock of 10 Sociable Lapwings headed straight north over the barren hills south of Lake Khatuniyeh, at 36° 23.346’N, 041°13.906’E (460 m). This is near the village of Al Hawl, less than 5 km west of the Iraqi border. The birds flew about 25 m above ground and were clearly on migration, with a fast, direct flight. On the same date, during a random stop in the steppe-like semi-desert c. 30 km north of Deir ez-Zor, a flock of 8 Sociable Lapwings was seen, all unringed and feeding unconcerned. These birds were at 35°28.762’N, 040°33.099’E.

Finally, a flock of 12 was found at 07.40 hr at Al Fedha on 29 February. These - at times random - sightings, like the ones made during the Syrian Wetland Expedition of 2004, suggest that Sociable Lapwings may be widespread, probably even relative-ly common, in steppe-like habitats in northern and central Syria in late February. All birds encountered were unringed (Remco Hofland pers. obs.).

In early March 2008, after having spent the winter in Sudan, one of the tagged So-ciable Lapwings flew north, probably to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while the other bird was apparently still in Sudan (Rob Sheldon in litt.).

Also in early March 2008, 200 birds were seen at Ceylanpinar, South-east Turkey (Ozge Balkiz via Rob Sheldon in litt.).

In summer 2008 more birds were colour-ringed at the breeding sites and another two birds were satellite-tagged (Jeff and Olga in litt.).

In the afternoon of 9 October 2008 about 95 Sociable Lapwings (and about 40 Cream-coloured Coursers) were observed at Ar Ruweira, Syria. Over 100 individuals were thought to be present in the area. Out of 27 birds checked, none were colour-ringed. There was a hunting party of falconers from Bahrain and Qatar active in the very same area, but they appeared to be hunting (tame) pigeons (David Murdoch, Ian Harrison and Mahmoud Sheish Abdallah in litt.).

Figure 32 (facing page). Large herd of dromedaries inside Talila Reserve near Palmyra, 2 March 2007.

Because vegetation is usually more profuse inside reserves, herds illegally enter (David Hoekstra)



Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus20 February 35 south side of Lake Jabbul,

together with Greater White-fronted Geese

and Greylag Geese. Photographed. Details

are given in tabel below:

21 February 20 Lake Jabbul south-east side

in flock of Greater White-fronted Geese,

coming from roost on lake and flying in

southerly direction. Later on 22 individu-

als, possibly the same, were found in barley

fields near Khanasr, about 20 km south of

the southern freshwater end of Jabbul Lake,

together with 350 Greater White-fronted

Geese (35°8’56.66’N, 037°2’35.71’E). Twenty

of these were in a separate flock, but in

close proximity to the flock of Greater

White-fronted Geese. All were disturbed by

a farmer on a motorcycle driving intently

towards them. When the flock flew off,

another (unchecked) 300 Greater White-

fronted Geese flew off as well.

9. Avifauna

In this chapter an annotated list is given of all bird species observed in Syria be-tween 19 February and 4 March 2007.

Presence of species was usually noted, but not in case of common species (e.g. House Sparrow, Black Redstart, European Skylark). Note that numbers of many species were estimated, also because - in case of waterbirds - many sites had been visited in 2004 and were then scrutinized, while during this visit we were focusing on (Sociable) Lapwings.

The order of species and species names follow Van Duivendijk (2002). Bird guides used in the field were Porter et al. (1996), Mullarney et al. 1999 (Collins Field Guide) and Van Duivendijk (2002). Subspecific names are mentioned only if the subspecific identity of the bird was established in the field.

See appendix 1 for alternative names of wetlands.

date time n with other geese location20 February 16.20 16 75 GW-fG 35˚49’66.5’ N 037˚42’46.9’ E

20 February 16.45 15 21 GW-fG 35˚50’56.4’ N 037˚40’85.7’ E

20 February 16.45 3 43 GW-fG 35˚50’56.4’ N 037˚40’85.7’ E

20 February 17.40 1 4 Greylag 35˚52’16.5’ N 037˚40’39.7’ E

At least six Lesser White-fronted Geese in flock

with Greater White-fronted Geese. Lake Jabbul, 20

February 2007 (Rommert Cazemier).

Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons20 February 825 south side of Lake Jabbul.

20 February c. 100, c. 3 km east of gate of Lake

Jabbul.

21 February 1242 south-east side of Lake

Jabbul, coming from roost on lake. Later

that morning 350 + c. 300 were found feed-

ing near Khanasr together with 22 Lesser

White-fronted Geese. These no doubt in-

clude geese counted coming from the roost

on Lake Jabbul.

22 February 17,000 at the south-east side of

Lake Assad in the early morning (06.00 hrs),

having roosted on the lake and flying north

to barren barley fields to feed; possibly as

many as 20,000 seen later that morning on

the wing further west, along the northern

shores of South-east Lake Assad.

26 February 101 (of which two limping) Lower

Khabur Reservoir in early morning, with

another 70 in the evening.

Greylag Goose Anser anser rubirostris20-21 February 38 Lake Jabbul.

grey goose Anser anser/albifrons20 February 200 south-east side Lake Jabbul.

21 February 367 south side Lake Jabbul.

21 February 5000 Lake Assad.

Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna20 February 500 Lake Jabbul.

22 February 2 with Ruddy Shelducks, in fields

north of South-east Lake Assad.

23 February 50 sabkhat Eiwa.


1 March 40 Sed Wadi Abiad, Palmyra.

3 March 5 in temporary desert pool, Talila

reserve.

Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea21 February 140 Lake Assad. Photographed.

22 February 2900 in fields north of South-east

Lake Assad.



26 February 4 Lake Khatuniyeh.

26 February 100 in single flock roosting on

Lower Khabur Reservoir.

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos19 February 6 pairs, Lake Qattine.

20 February 4 Lake Jabbul, c. 3 km east of gate.

22 February 16 North Lake Assad dam.


26 February recorded Lower Khabur Reservoir.

27 February 10 Mheimideh.

1 March 1 male + 3 females Sed Wadi Abiad.

Gadwall Anas strepera19 February 15 Lake Qattine.

20-21 February 40 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.

22 February 1 pair North Lake Assad dam.



27 February 1 male Mheimideh.

Northern Pintail Anas acuta19 February 1 pair, Lake Qattine.

20-21 February c. 400 Lake Jabbul, c. 3 km east

of gate.





Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata20 February c. 400 Lake Jabbul, c. 3 km east of

gate.

21 February many, Lake Jabbul.





28 February 57 Gharanij.

28 February 15 + 4 at two oxbow lakes along

Euphrates.

1-2 March 20, being hunted, Sed Wadi Abiad.

Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope19 February few Lake Qattine.

20-21 February c. 40 Lake Jabbul.

22 February 1 pair North-east Lake Assad near

Shams ad Dbeen.

avifauna



27 February 2 males 3 females Mheimideh.


Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris20 February 17 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.

21 February 3 Lake Jabbul.

Common Teal Anas crecca19 February 1000’s Lake Qattine.

20-21 February 30 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.




27 February 1 male outskirts of Al Hassake.



28 February 150 in total at two oxbow lakes

along Euphrates.


2 March 1 female in temporary desert pool,

Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

Common Pochard Aythya ferina20 February c. 50 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.


21 February 30 Lake Assad

22 February c. 3100 North-east Lake Assad,

Shams ad Dbeen.

22 February c. 130 North Lake Assad dam.

24 February 1 female sabkhat Eiwa.




1-2 March 130, being hunted, Sed Wadi Abiad,

near Palmyra.

Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina20 February 668 Lake Jabbul.

21 February many Lake Assad.

22 February 1 male and 3 females North-east

Lake Assad.



27 February 1 female outskirts of Al Hassake.

Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca20 February 8 Lake Jabbul north side, just east

of gate.


Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula19 February 153 Lake Qattine.


22 February 17 North-east Lake Assad, Shams

ad Dbeen.



27 February 1 male Mheimideh.

White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala20 February 19 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.

unidentified ducks Aythya / Anas spec.19 February c. 3000 Lake Qattine.

Chukar Alectoris chukar3 March 6 (1 singing male) Jebel al Bilas nature

reserve.

See-see Partridge Ammoperdix griseogularis26 February 5 near Lake Khatuniyeh.

Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus27 February 7 (4 males, 3 females) Mheimideh,

north side of Euphrates. Photographed.

Male and female Black Francolin, Mheimideh, 27

February 2007 (David Hoekstra).

Common Quail Coturnix coturnix28 February 1 flushed, ruin Doura Europos,

south-east of Deir ez-Zor.

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis20 February c. 40, Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.


22 February 1 North-east Lake Assad.



26 February 4 Lower Khabur Reservoir.


28 February 1 oxbow lake along Euphrates.

Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus20 February 50+ Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.






Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis20 February 8 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.


22 February 27 North-east Lake Assad, Shams

ad Dbeen.


26 February 2 Khatuniyeh.


Pygmy Cormorant Microcarbo pygmeus21 February 11 Lake Assad.

22 February 223 flying upstream between

16.25-17.25 hrs, Ba’ath lake, railway bridge

across Euphrates.

Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo19 February 25 Lake Qattine.

20 February 125 Lake Jabbul, c. 3 km east of

gate.







across Euphrates.


Great Bittern Botaurus stellaris20 February 1 north side Lake Jabbul.


Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax20 February 19 north side Lake Jabbul (in

flocks of 9, 8 and 2), leaving the day roost.

22 February 2 between 16.25-17.25 hrs, Ba’ath

lake, railway bridge across Euphrates.

27 February 3 Deir ez-Zor along Euphrates.


Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides27 February 1 adult Mheimideh.

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis19 February 9 Lake Qattine.

Little Egret Egretta garzetta19 February dozens, Lake Qattine.







28 February 1 at oxbow lake along Euphrates.

Great Egret Casmerodius albus19 February 42 Lake Qattine.

20-21 February 91 Lake Jabbul.







28 February 6 at two oxbow lakes along

Euphrates.

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea19 February 166 Lake Qattine.

20 February 14 Lake Jabbul, c. 3 km east of

avifauna


gate.

20 February 4 at roost in reedbeds, north side

Lake Jabbul.




27 February 1 outskirts of Al Hassake.



28 February 8 at two oxbow lakes along

Euphrates.

White Stork Ciconia ciconia20-21 February 1 Lake Jabbul.

Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita1 March 3 near colony at Palmyra. Two of

these have been fitted with satellite tags,

the pair called Sultan and Zenobia. Photo-

graphed.

Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia20-21 February 21 Lake Jabbul, c. 3 km east of

gate.

Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber20-21 February about 10,000 Lake Jabbul.

Black Kite Milvus migrans19 February 3 Lake Qattine.

23 February 3 between Ar Raqqah - Mzireh.

24 February 1 Eiwa.

25 February 1 between Ar Raqqa - Eiwa.

25 February 2 between Ar Raqqa - Eiwa.

27 February 1 Al Hassake - Deir ez-Zor.

27 February 2 Deir ez-Zor, along Euphrates.



28 February 6 at oxbow lakes along Euphrates.

28 February 4 ruin Doura Europos, south-east

of Deir ez-Zor.

1 March 37 at rubbish dump south of Deir ez-

Zor, with another 20 further south along the

road towards Palmyra.

Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus1-2 March 2 adults Sed Wadi Abiad.

3 March 1 adult at Griffon Vulture colony,

cliffs east of Palyra.

Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus3 March 17, of which 1 apparently breeding,

cliffs east of Palmyra. This is the last colony

in Syria, which has been declining during

the past years. Right in front of the cliff a

Croatian oil rig was recently built. This may

have a detrimental effect on the colony.

Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus19 February 19 Lake Qattine. In the evening,

43 were counted on their way to the roost in

the reedbeds.

Griffon Vulture colony in Syria (cliffs at left), with

oil rig in front (Guido Keijl, 3 March 2007).

Two of the three Northern Bald Ibises at Palmyra

(David Hoekstra).

20-21 February 32 Lake Jabbul. From 16.25 hrs

until dusk 130 were counted on their way to

the roost in the reedbeds at the north side

of the lake.





26 February 1 male Lake Khatuniyeh.

27 February 1 male 1 female Mheimideh.


28 February 1 male along Euphrates.

Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus19 February 6 Lake Qattine. 1 joined the roost-

ing Marsh Harriers in the reedbeds.

20 February maximum of 30 Lake Jabbul on

their way to roost in the reedbeds, with

Marsh Harriers. During the day, singles were

seen hunting in the fields around the lake.

21 February 6 males south side Lake Jabbul.

22 February 1 male and 1 female over fields


25 February 1 adult male Ar Ruweira.

26 February 3 females and 1 adult male Lake

Khatuniyeh.


2 March 1 female Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

4 March 1 female between Palmyra - Damascus.

Pallid Harrier Circus macrouros21 February 1 adult male Lake Jabbul.

22 February 1 female east of North Lake Assad.

24 February 1 adult male Eiwa.

24 February 1 adult male Eiwa and 1 female Al

Aumair.

1 March 1 male Al Fedha area, 30 km south of

Deir ez-Zor.

1 March 2 males and 1 female together,

and 1 single male, between Al Fedha area

- Palmyra.

3 March 1 adult male between Talila nature

reserve - Palmyra.

Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus19 February 2 Lake Qattine.

20-21 February 6 around Lake Jabbul.


22 February 2 northern parts Lake Assad.

22 February 1 over garden, north of Shnineh

village.

23-24 February 2 Eiwa.

27 February 1 male, 1 female + 4 Mheimideh.


1 March 1 Al Fedha.

2 March 1 adult female Talila reserve, near

Palmyra.

4 March 1 female Barada valley, near Bloudan.

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo19 February 4 Lake Qattine.


27 February 1 between Al Hassake - Deir ez-

Zor.

All individuals showed characters of the

nominate subspecies B. b. buteo.

Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus19 February 2 Lake Qattine.


23 February 7 around Mzireh.

23-24 February 7 around Eiwa.

25 February 3 between Eiwa - Ar Raqqa.


27 February 6 between Al Hassake - Deir ez-Zor.


1 March 1 Al Fedha area, with 3 between Al

Fedha area - Palmyra.

2 March 1 Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

3 March 3 Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca3 March 1 adult circling overhead, Jebel al

Bilas nature reserve. Photographed.

Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos1 March 1 adult displaying Sed Wadi Abiad.

Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus19 February 5 Lake Qattine.



22 February 5 near village, Ba’ath lake.

22 February 1 northern part Lake Assad.

avifauna


23 February 1 near Mzireh.

24 February 2 Eiwa.

25 February 1 Al Aumair.


28 February 2 near nest in high poplar trees of

north Euphrates.


28 February 1 near oxbow lake along Euphrates.


of Deir ez-Zor.

1 March 1 Al Fedha area.


2 March 1 female Talila reserve, near Palmyra.


4 March 1 between Palmyra - Damascus.

Merlin Falco columbarius19 February 1 male + 5 Lake Qattine.

20 February 2 Lake Jabbul, one belonging to

the pale eastern subspecies F. c. pallidus. The

latter bird was photographed.

20 February 12 around Lake Jabbul. 1 at harrier

roost in reedbeds at north side of lake.

21 February 5 (of which 1 adult male) around

Lake Jabbul.


22 February 1 South-east Lake Assad.

23 February 1 adult male near Mzireh.

24 February 1 female and 1 male Eiwa.

25 February 1 adult male between Al Has-

sake - Eiwa.

26 February 1 female Lake Khatuniyeh and 1

adult male Lower Khabur Reservoir.

27 February 1 female Mheimideh.

1 March 1 adult male Al Fedha area, c. 30 km

south of Deir ez-Zor.


Water Rail Rallus aquaticus20 February at least 5 Lake Jabbul, just east of

gate.


22 February 4 heard between 16.25-17.25 hrs

Ba’ath lake.



rail Porzana spec.

19 February 1 flushed Lake Qattine.

Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus19 February 2 Lake Qattine.








Grey-headed Swamphen (Purple Gallinule) Porphyrio poliocephalus

20 February 3 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.

20 February c. 20 north side Lake Jabbul at

roost in reedbeds.


Eurasian Coot Fulica atra19 February c. 5500 south side of Lake Qattine.

20 February many Lake Jabbul.


22 February c. 8000 North-east Lake Assad.


26 February c. 10,000 Khatuniyeh.



27 February Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor.

27 February c. 150 Mheimideh.

Merlin of pale subspecies F. c. pallidus, Lake Jab-

bul, 20 February 2007 (David Hoekstra).

28 February c. 100 along Euphrates.

1-2 March 120, being hunted, Sed Wadi Abiad.

Common Crane Grus grus19 February 41 thermalling high over the

Lebanese/Syrian border south of Lake Qat-

tine south-west of Homs, in late afternoon.


Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus20-21 February 8 Lake Jabbul.




Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta20-21 February 17 Lake Jabbul.



Stone Curlew Burhinus oedicnemus3 March 1, heard singing several times, Jebel

al Bilas nature reserve, halfway Palmyra and

Hama. The bird could not be found. Inter-

esting to note was that many Isabelline and

Finsch’s Wheatears at that site were imitat-

ing the song and call of Stone Curlews.

Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor1 March 1 Al Fedha area, c. 30 km south of

Deir ez-Zor, towards Palmyra.

Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius19 February 61 Lake Qattine.


Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula20 February 4 Lake Jabbul, near gate.

Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus20 February 11 Lake Jabbul, c. 3 km east of

gate.


23 February 20 steppe at Eiwa.

24 February c. 10 steppe at Eiwa.


Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii23-25 February 2 displaying pairs in summer

plumage Eiwa.

Eurasian Dotterel Charadrius morinellus23-25 February 2 winter plumage Eiwa.

European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria19 February 80 Lake Qattine.


23 February 10 Eiwa.


All birds were in winter plumage.

Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus27 February 8 Mheimideh.


Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus26 February 5 Lake Khatuniyeh. Photographed.

Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregariusSee table 2, page 19 of this report.

White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus21 February 3 Lake Jabbul.

26 February 3 Lake Khatuniyeh. Photographed.



avifauna

White-tailed Lapwing, Lake Khatuniyeh, 26 Febru-

ary 2007 (David Hoekstra).


Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus19 February 1211 (in flocks of 25-163) Lake

Qattine.

20-21 February 127 (in flocks of 4-69) Lake

Jabbul.

20 February 5 Lake Jabbul near gate.

20 February 200+ north side Lake Jabbul,

roosting along water’s edge.

25 February 4 + 3 flying north-east in desert

between Ar Raqqa - Eiwa.

25 February 1 with 710 Sociable Lapwings, Ar

Ruweira.

26 February 8 Lake Khatunyieh.


Dunlin Calidris alpina19 February 3 Lake Qattine.

23 February 1 Eiwa.


Little Stint Calidris minuta19 February 94 Lake Qattine.





Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii20 February 7 Lake Jabbul.

3 March 1 in a puddle along the road between

Palmyra - Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus19 February 5 Lake Qattine.


22 February 2 at reservoirs (near Ar Rusafah).

23-24 February 2 sabkhat Eiwa.





3 March 3 in puddles along the road between


Common Sandpiper Tringa hypoleucos19 February 3 Lake Qattine.

Common Redshank Tringa totanus19 February 74 Lake Qattine.

20-21 February 21 Lake Jabbul.



25 February 1 in puddle along road east of

Eiwa.




Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus19 February 38 Lake Qattine.

20 February 1 Lake Jabbul near gate.





Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia27 February 4 Mheimideh.


Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis28 February 1 Gharanij.

Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa19 February 5 Lake Qattine.


Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquatus19 February 4 Lake Qattine.


27 February 1 Mheimideh. All individuals

belonged to N. a. orientalis, on basis of ex-

tremely long bills and very white axillaries

and underwings.

Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago19 February c. 80 Lake Qattine.





Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus20 February 2 flushed Lake Jabbul.

Ruff Philomachus pugnax19 February 28 Lake Qattine.




26 February 26 males Lower Khabur Reservoir.



3 March 26 in puddles along the road between


Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus19 February 1350 Lake Qattine.







across Euphrates.





Slender-billed Gull Larus genei19 February 1 Lake Qattine.






Black-headed/Slender-billed Gull Larus ridibundus / genei


Common Gull Larus canus26 February 1 ad winter plumage Lower

Khabur Reservoir.

Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans19 February 21 Lake Qattine.


22 February 2 adult North-east Lake Assad.

22 February 11 flying upstream between 16.25-

17.25 hrs, Ba’ath lake, railway bridge across

Euphrates.


Armenian Gull Larus armenicus19 February 3 Lake Qattine.



26 February 3 adults Lower Khabur Reservoir.

27 February 1 adult between Al Hassake - Deir

ez-Zor.

28 February 3 adults oxbow lake along

Euphrates.

Pallas’s Gull Larus ichthyaetus22 February 2 adults summer plumage north-

eastern Lake Assad.

26 February 1 adult summer plumage Lower

Khabur Reservoir.

Caspian Tern Sterna caspia21 February 1 Lake Jabbul.

22 February 2 adults North-east Lake Assad.

Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus19 February c. 500 Lake Qattine.



26 February 3 southern Lower Khabur Reser-

voir.

Black-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis23 February flocks of 5 and 25 Saluq (near

Eiwa) flying overhead.

24 February 30 in one flock, flying overhead,

northwestern Eiwa.

Rock Dove Columba livia28 February 15 Doura Europos, south-east of

Deir ez-Zor.

1 March recorded Sed Wadi Abiad.

Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus21 February 15 Lake Assad.

Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto20 February at least 100 Lake Jabbul.


avifauna


22 February recorded North-east Lake Assad.



4 March c. 30 between Palmyra - Damascus.

4 March common Bloudan.

Probably under-recorded.

Palm Dove Streptopelia senegalensis19 February recorded Damascus.

26 February recorded Al Hassake.

2 March present in small numbers, Palmyra.

4 March recorded Bloudan.

Great Spotted Cuckoo Clamator glandarius3 March 2 adults, feeding on caterpillars,

preening and sunning, Jebel al Bilas nature

reserve. Photographed.

Barn Owl Tyto alba20 February 5 east side Lake Jabbul at dark,

perching and hunting along reed-fringed

channel, visible in head-lights of car.

European Scops Owl Otus scops4 March feathers found of a dead bird (pos-

sibly shot), Barada valley, east of Bloudan.

Little Owl Athene noctua19 February 1 Lake Qattine.


24 February 2 north of Eiwa steppe.


26 February 1 between Lake Khatuniyeh - Al

Hassake.

27 February 2 (1 singing) wadi in upland area

between Ashadada - Deir ez-Zor.


28 February 2 (1 singing) ruin Doura Europos,


1 March 1 along road between Deir ez-Zor - Al

Fedha.


3 March recorded between Palmyra - Jebel al

Bilas nature reserve; 1 dead on road near

Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

Several (but not all!) Little Owls showed char-

acters of the pale subspecies A. n. lilith.

Common Swift Apus apus27 February 1 Mheimideh.

27 February 6 over Deir ez-Zor.

1-2 March c. 30 Sed Wadi Abiad.


4 March 20 Bloudan.

4 March hundreds Damascus.

Pallid Swift Apus pallidus1 March c. 35 Sed Wadi Abiad. Photographed.

2 March c. 5 Sed Wadi Abiad.

Alpine Swift Apus melba1-2 March 2 Sed Wadi Abiad. Photographed.

Little Swift Apus affinis1 March c. 10 Sed Wadi Abiad. Photographed.

Great Spotted Cuckoo, Jebel al Bilas, 3 March 2007

(David Hoekstra).

Little Owls near Palmyra, 3 March 2007 (David

Hoekstra).

White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis26-27 February 1 reed-fringed dirty river at

eastern outskirts of Al Hassake. Photo-

graphed.

Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis19 February 1 male Lake Qattine.


Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis20-21 February 8 Lake Jabbul.



22 February 5 Ba’ath lake, railway bridge

across Euphrates.





28 February 2 oxbow lakes along Euphrates.

28 February 6 along Euphrates at ruin Doura

Europos, south-east of Deir ez-Zor.

Hoopoe Upupa epops20 February 1 Lake Jabbul.

22 February 4 scrub near Ar Rusafah.



24 February 1 Al Aumair.


27 February 1 thorny scrub west of Ashadada.

27 February 1 wadi between Ashadada - Deir

ez-Zor.



3 March 7 between Palmyra - Jebel al Bilas

nature reserve; 1 Talila reserve.


Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus4 March 1 male Bloudan.

Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti26 February 6 Lake Khatuniyeh.

1 March 6, displaying, Sed Wadi Abiad.

3 March recorded Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

Photographed.

Hoopoe Lark Alaemon alaudipes2 March c. 30, some displaying, Talila reserve,

near Palmyra. Photographed.

3 March recorded Talila reserve, some display-

ing.

Calandra Lark Melanocorypha calandra21 February 2 Lake Jabbul south-east side.

22 February 100 (in two flocks of 50) near Ar

Rusafah.

22 February dozens in fields north of South-

east Lake Assad.

22 February hundreds, northern parts of Lake

Assad.

23 February thousands in sown barley fields

near Mzireh.

24 February c. 60 sabkhat Eiwa.

25 February thousands north-east of Ar Ru-

weira.

1 March recorded Al Fedha area.


Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla20-21 February 9 Lake Jabbul.

25 February common, north-east side of Ar

Ruweira.


Lesser Short-toed Lark Calandrella rufescens21 February recorded Al Odani Oryx Reserve,

south of Lake Jabbul.

avifauna

Twelve Pied Kingfishers at Meimideh, 27 February

2007 (David Hoekstra).


22 February 1 near Ar Rusafah.


2 March quite common, Talila reserve, near

Palmyra.

3 March common, Jebel al Bilas reserve.

Probably under-recorded. Photographed.

Crested Lark Galerida cristata19 February recorded Lake Qattine.

20 February c. 100 around Lake Jabbul.

22 February common northern parts Lake

Assad.


26 February recorded Khatuniyeh.

28 February recorded Gharanij.

2 March quite common, Talila reserve, near

Palmyra.

A very common bird. Largely under-recorded.

Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis20 February at least 400 in flocks on arable

fields around Lake Jabbul.

22 February 100 near village Ar Rusafah.

22 February recorded in small numbers,

northern parts Lake Assad.

23 February numerous in barley fields around

Mzireh.

23-25 February numerous around Eiwa and

wide surroundings. On 24 February an esti-

mated 20,000 around sabkhat Eiwa.

25 February numerous north-east side of Ar

Ruweira.


28 February 7 plateau near Doura Europos.

1 March recorded Al Fedha area.

2 March recorded Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

3 March common, Jebel al Bilas nature re-

serve.

A very common bird. Largely under-recorded.

Photographed.

Shorelark Eremophila alpestris bicornis4 March c. 50 Bloudan at about 2000 m alti-

tude.

Temminck’s Lark Eremophila bilopha22 February several on the road between Ar

Rusafah - Bi’ar Rahum.

23 February 3 east of road connecting Ar

Raqqa with M4 highway.

1 March 2 Sed Wadi Abiad.

2 March c. 20 Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

3 March recorded under way between Palmyra

- Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

Photographed.

Sand Martin Riparia riparia22 February 2 Ba’ath lake, railway bridge

across Euphrates.



Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica20 February 5 Lake Jabbul.




22 February 55 Ba’ath lake, railway bridge

across Euphrates.


24 February 4 Eiwa.

25 February 5 north-east side of Ar Ruweira.




1 March c. 20 between Palmyra - Al Fedha.



Temminck’s Lark, Talila reserve, 2 March 2007

(David Hoekstra).

4 March 5 Bloudan.

Red-rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica22 February 2 Ba’ath lake, railway bridge

across Euphrates.


House Martin Delichon urbica26 February 1 Khatuniyeh.


Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris20 February 1 Lake Jabbul.




28 February 7 in single flock Doura Europos,




Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis19 February 1 south side Lake Qattine.

20 February 5 south side Lake Jabbul.

Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus19 February 3 Lake Qattine.

20 February at least 17 at various places

around Lake Jabbul.

22 February several near roost, 16.25-17.25 hrs,

Ba’ath lake, railway bridge across Euphrates.

Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta20-21 February at least 110 around Lake Jab-

bul.


22 February several near roost between 16.25-


Euphrates.



27 February 47 on their way to the roost in the

evening, Mheimideh.


28 February 2 at oxbow lakes along Euphrates

1-2 March 40 Sed Wadi Abiad.

Black-headed (Yellow) Wagtail Motacilla feldegg

20 February Lake Jabbul 1 male, c. 3 km east

of gate.

21 February 1 male Lake Jabbul.


2 March 1 male over Talila reserve, near

Palmyra.

2 March 1 male Sed Wadi Abiad.

‘Yellow’ Wagtail Motacilla feldegg/flava20 February north side Lake Jabbul 1 flying

overhead.

22 February 8 between 16.25-17.25 hrs near

roost, Ba’ath lake, railway bridge across

Euphrates.

Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola20 February 12 at various places around Lake

Jabbul.



Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea22 February 1 North Lake Assad dam.

27 February between Al Hassake - Deir ez-Zor.

White Wagtail Motacilla alba19 February 4 Lake Qattine.

20-21 February common around Lake Jabbul,

for instance 78 on their way to the roost

and over 50 feeding near the gate.


22 February c. 800 at roost in reedbeds be-

tween 16.25-17.25 hrs, Ba’ath lake, railway

bridge across Euphrates.

23 February 2 Eiwa.

24 February 1 Eiwa.

26 February c. 50 lake Khatuniyeh.




28 February c. 10 Gharanij.

28 February 1 oxbow along Euphrates.



3 March several under way from Palmyra to

avifauna


Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.


‘Eastern’ White Wagtail Motacilla alba ‘dukhunensis’27 February 1 at outskirts of Al Hassake.

Readily identified by broad white edges to

secondaries and tertials.

White-cheeked Bulbul Pycnonotus leucogenys1 March 6 Deir ez-Zor, palm garden bordering

Hotel Al Saeed, 2 at restaurant bordering

Euphrates, just west of suspension bridge.

Winter Wren Troglodytes troglodytes22 February 1 reedbeds along Euphrates

22 February 1 Ba’ath lake, heard railway


4 March 2 Barada valley.

Not very common, but probably under-recorded.

European Robin Erithacus rubecula21 February 1 Lake Assad.



4 March 1 Barada valley near Bloudan.

Bluethroat Luscinia svecica19 February 1 male L. s. cyanecula and 10 Lake

Qattine.




Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros19 February 1 Lake Qattine.





24 February 3 Eiwa.





27 February 2 wadi in upland area between

Ashadada - Deir ez-Zor.




Common, definitely under-recorded: present

everywhere along the road near buildings.

Eastern Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros semirufus

22 February 1 adult male along the road east

of northern part Lake Assad.

Eastern Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus samamisicus

2 March 1 adult male Talila reserve, near

Palmyra.

European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola19 February c. 10 Lake Qattine.



22 February 1 male North-east Lake Assad.





28 February 1 near oxbow lake along Euphrates.

1 March 5 Sed Wadi Abiad, Palmyra (but not

identified to species).

3 March recorded Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

4 March 4 Bloudan.

Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maura26 February 1 male Lower Khabur Reservoir.

Female Siberian Stonechat, Gharanij, 28 February

2007 (David Hoekstra).

28 February 1 male Gharanij.

28 February 2 males near oxbow lakes along

Euphrates.

2 March 1 male Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

Caspian Stonechat Saxicola variegata19 February 1 male 2 females Lake Qattine.

26 February 2 males southern side Lake Kha-

tuniyeh.

28 February 1 male Gharanij.

Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina21 February 7 Lake Jabbul.

22 February 2 between Al Mansurah - Ar

Rusafah.


24 February 10, also displaying, Eiwa.

25 February 1 between Ar-Raqqa - Eiwa.


27 February 8 recorded between Al Hassake

- Deir ez-Zor.

28 February 2 plateau near Doura Europos.


of Deir ez-Zor.

1 March c. 5 Al Fedha area, c. 30 km south of

Deir ez-Zor, towards Palmyra.

1 March c. 10 Sed Wadi Abiad.

2 March 60+ Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

3 March 20+, also displaying, Jebel al Bilas

nature reserve.

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe20-21 February 5 around Lake Jabbul.

21 February 1 south of Khanasr in rocky area.


Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca28 February 1 male ruin Doura Europos,

south-east of Deir ez-Zor. Photographed.

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe melanoleuca

28 February 1 male Doura Europos ruins. Pho-

tographed.

Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti2 March 5 males 1 female Talila reserve.

Finsch’s Wheatear Oenanthe finschii20-21 February 3 around Lake Jabbul.

21 February 1 pair near Al Odani Oryx Reserve

south of Lake Jabbul.

22 February 1 near reservoirs near Ar Rusafah.

23 February 1 male east of road connecting Ar

Raqqa with M4 highway.



27 February c. 5 between Al Hassake - Deir

ez-Zor.

28 February 1 plateau south of Euphrates.

1 March 2 Al Fedha area, c. 30 km south of

Deir ez-Zor.




3 March c. 40, also displaying, Jebel al Bilas

nature reserve.

4 March 1 between Palmyra and Damascus.

Mourning Wheatear Oenanthe lugens20 February 5 around Lake Jabbul.


24 February 1 Eiwa.




Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius26 February 1 male rocky area near Lake Kha-

tuniyeh.

28 February 1 first-summer male Doura Europos.

avifauna

Male Cyprus Wheatear, Doura Europos, 28 Febru-



Common Blackbird Turdus merula26 February 2 Lake Khatuniyeh.



Song Thrush Turdus philomelos21 February 1 Lake Assad.


Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus21 February 2 Lake Assad.

Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti19 February 3 Lake Qattine.

20 February fairly common around Lake Jab-

bul.


22 February recorded North-east Lake Assad.


27 February recorded Deir-az-Zor along

Euphrates.

27 February common Mheimideh.



Graceful Prinia Prinia gracilis19 February 1 pair Lake Qattine.

20 February 5+ reedy edges and scrub around

Lake Jabbul.

22 February 2 reedbeds, Ba’ath lake, heard

railway bridge across Euphrates.





28 February heard Gharanij.

28 February 1 singing oxbow lake along

Euphrates.


Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon20-21 February c. 20, also singing, Lake Jabbul.

26 February c. 20, also singing, Lake Khatuni-

yeh.

27 February 6 Mheimideh, also singing.


Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus20 February c. 30 heard singing Lake Jabbul.

Even in retrospect, we still think that these

birds were Reed Warblers, not Moustached

Warblers. Both in February 2004 and Febru-

ary 2008 singing Reed Warblers were heard

at the same spot (R. Hofland pers. obs.)

Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundi-naceus

20 February 1 heard only, Lake Jabbul.

Spectacled Warbler Sylvia conspicillata2 March 3 Talila reserve, near Palmyra.


Menetries’s Warbler Sylvia mystacea22 February 1 male scrub near Ar Rusafah.

2 March 1 male, Sed Wadi Abiad.

Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala3 March 1 female Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca2 March 1 of one of the small (desert) races

cf. S. c. minula, Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

Female Finsch’s Wheatear, Lake Jabbul, 28 Febru-


Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla19 February 1 female, garden Al Majed Hotel,

Damascus.

27 February 1 Deir ez-Zor, garden Ziad Hotel.

4 March 1 male Bloudan.

Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita19 February 1 in reedbed Lake Qattine




22 February 1 singing North-east Lake Assad.

26 February 1 outskirts Al Hassake.

27 February recorded between Al Hassake

- Deir ez-Zor.



1-2 March c. 15, Sed Wadi Abiad.



Fairly common, probably under-recorded.

None were heard singing.

Siberian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus (collybita) tristis

28 February 1 heard, Doura Europos, south-

east of Deir ez-Zor, calling intensely in reed

and woody area on island in Euphrates.

Bearded Reedling Panurus biarmicus20-21 February 8, Lake Jabbul.

26 February 1 heard Lake Khatuniyeh.

28 February 1 heard oxbow lake along Euphra-

tes.

Iraq Babbler Turdoides altirostris

21 February a few heard south-east side Lake

Jabbul.


22 February c. 20 along Euphrates. Photo-

graphed.

22 February c. 20 Ba’ath lake, railway bridge

across Euphrates.


27 February 3 Deir ez-Zor, at restaurant bor-

dering Euphrates river just west of suspen-

sion bridge.



28 February 6 at oxbow lakes along Euphrates.

Common bird in tall reeds along Euphrates

river, less common at Lake Jabbul.

Great Tit Parus major terraesanctae19 February 2 in reedbed Lake Qattine.

4 March recorded Bloudan.

Western Rock Nuthatch Sitta neumayer4 March 2 Bloudan at about 2000 m altitude.

Eurasian Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus21 February 1 heard Lake Jabbul.

26 February c. 20 Lake Khatuniyeh.

‘isabelline shrike’ Lanius isabellinus / phoenicuroides / arenarius

19 February 1 Lake Qattine in reedbed.

Daurian Shrike Lanius isabellinus20 February 1 Lake Jabbul.

27 February 1 Mheimideh. Photographed.

Chinese Shrike Lanius arenarius28 February 1 Gharanij. Photographed. Specific

identification not certain.

Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis aucheri

27 February 1 between Al Hassake - Deir ez-

Zor.

3 March 1 Talila nature reserve. Photographed.

avifauna

Iraq Babbler, Euphrates, 20 February 2007 (David

Hoekstra).


Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius atricapillus27 February 1 between Al Hassake - Deir ez-

Zor.


Common Magpie Pica pica20 February 2 Lake Jabbul.









28 February 4 near oxbow lakes along Euphrates.

Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax1-2 March flock of 30 Sed Wadi Abiad.

Western Jackdaw Corvus monedula soemer-ringii


22 February c. 150 along road east of northern

Lake Assad, with Rooks.

22 February c. 100 on their way to roost be-

tween 16.25-17.25 hrs, Ba’ath lake, railway



Rook Corvus frugilegus22 February 32 along road east of northern

Lake Assad, with Jackdaws.

22 February 250 on their way to roost between


across Euphrates.

Hooded Crow Corvus cornix19 February 16 Lake Qattine.

22 February 15 flying to roost between 16.25-


Euphrates.


27 February 2 Deir-az-Zor along Euphrates.



of Deir ez-Zor.

4 March 2 Bloudan.

Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollis22 February 2 desert towards Ar Rusafah.

26 February 1 between Lake Khatuniyeh - Al

Hassake.


Common Raven Corvus corax1-2 March 2 Sed Wadi Abiad.

3 March 1 between Palmyra - Jebel al Bilas

nature reserve.

4 March 2 gorge near Bloudan.

Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris19 February c. 1000 Lake Qattine.

20-21 February seen at several places around

Lake Jabbul. An impressive flock of c. three

million leaving the roost at the south-east

side of the lake, early morning of the 21st.

22 February c. 300,000 northern parts Lake

Assad.

23 February near Mzireh.



27 February c. 2000 going to roost, Mheimideh.


House Sparrow Passer domesticus21 February many Lake Jabbul.Spanish Sparrows in feeding reedbed, Lake Jabbul,

20 February 2007 (David Hoekstra).

22 February common northern parts Lake As-

sad, including at Shams ad Dbeen village.

26 February present Lower Khabur Reservoir.

26 February present Khatuniyeh.

27 February 500+ Mheimideh.

28 February present Gharanij.

2 March recorded Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

Common bird in larger villages and cities.

Definitely under-recorded. Also mixed with

Spanish and Dead Sea Sparrows.

Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis20 February 50 Lake Jabbul.

22 February c. 50 northern parts Lake Assad.

26 February common Lake Khatuniyeh.


28 February 25 oxbow along Euphrates.

Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus20 February 4 Lake Jabbul, just east of gate.

20 February 40 Lake Jabbul in reed fringed

channel.

26 February 15 Lake Khatuniyeh. Photo-

graphed. Around this lake at least 58 nests

counted from one spot, about one every ten

metres.


Rock Sparrow Petronia petronia3 March 1 Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

4 March 2 Bloudan at about 2000 m altitude.

Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs19 February 7 Lake Qattine.



27 February recorded between Al Hassake -

Deir ez-Zor.



European Serin Serinus serinus19 February c. 10 singing in villages

(south)east of Lake Qattine.

Syrian Serin Serinus syriacus4 March 1 male and 4 in flight Bloudan town.

Several at c. 2000 m above Bloudan.

Greenfinch Carduelis chloris19 February 4 Lake Qattine.


4 March 2 Bloudan.

European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis19 February 1 Lake Qattine.

22 February 15 south of Abu Rdany village,


Linnet Carduelis cannabina19 February c. 10 Lake Qattine.


21 February small flocks coming from roost,

south-east side Lake Jabbul.


22 February 30 at roost, north of Shnineh.


of Deir ez-Zor.

4 March c. 15 Bloudan.

avifauna

Nest of Dead Sea Sparrow, Lake Khatuniyeh, 26

February 2007 (Guido Keijl).


Twite Carduelis flavirostris20 February 17 south side of Lake Jabbul,

heard calling and seen flying overhead. The

observers (RC, DH) were well aware that

this constituted a new species for Syria, but

were positive about the identification. Both

observers are familiar with the species.

Desert Finch Rhodospiza obsoleta21 February 5 Lake Assad.


22 February 119 at roadside garden roost,

north of Shnineh village. Photographed.

21 February 3 + 3 just after Khanasr feeding in

the road-side verges.


3 March 3, nest building, Jebel al Bilas nature

reserve. Photographed.

Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus1 March 2 males 2 females Sed Wadi Abiad.

3 March 1 singing male Jebel al Bilas nature

reserve.

Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalus4 March at least 4 males Bloudan at about

2000 m altitude in flock of Yellowhammers.

Photographed. New for Syria. At least 8 were

found here in February 2008 (R. Hofland

pers. obs.).

Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella4 March c. 20 Bloudan in orchards at about

2000 m altitude.

Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus19 February 1 Lake Qattine.

20 February 11 spread out along Lake Jabbul.


22 February c. 8, Ba’ath lake, railway bridge

across Euphrates.


27 February 6 dirty outskirts of Al Hassake.


28 February 7 oxbows along Euphrates.

Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra20 February c. 1000 Lake Jabbul.

22 February hundreds flying to roost between


across Euphrates.

23 February common near Mzireh.

26 February present Lower Khabur Reservoir.

27 February impressive roost migration (hun-

dreds to thousands) Mheimideh.


of Deir ez-Zor.

1 March c. 30 drinking along the road in Al

Fedha area.

3 March present Jebel al Bilas nature reserve.

Common, ubiquitous bird. Under-recorded.

Desert Finches at nest, Jebel al Bilas, 3 March 2007

(David Hoekstra).

Male Dead Sea Sparrow, Lake Khatuniyeh, 26

February 2007 (David Hoekstra).

AEWA 2004. International Single Species

Action Plan for the Conservation of the

Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius. AEWA

Technical Series No. 2, sine loco.

Baumgart W. & B. Stephan 1986. Ergebnisse

ornithologischer Beobachtungen in der

Syrischen Arabischen Republik. Teil 1:

Non-Passeriformes. Mitteilungen aus

dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 62.

Supplement Annalen für Ornithologie 10:

69-110.

Belik V.V. 1998. Current population status of

rare and protected waders in Russia. Inter-

national Wader Studies 10: 273-280.

BirdLife 2001. Threatened birds of Asia: the

BirdLife International Red Data Book.

Cambridge, UK.

BirdLife 2002. International Action Plan for the

Sociable Lapwing Chettusia gregaria. AEWA

Technical Series No. 2. Amsterdam, The

Netherlands.

BirdLife 2007. Sociable Lapwing - BirdLife Spe-

cies Factsheet. www.birdlife.org/datazone/

species/index.html. [Visited 15 June 2008.]

Bozdogan, M, Ö. Balkız, J. Tavares & D. Derngi

sine anno [2007]. Survey of Sociable lapwing

(Vanellus gregarius) in Southeastern Anato-

lia during early Spring 2007. Published by

Doga Dernegi sine loco.

Cramp S. & K.E.L. Simmons 1983. The birds of

the western Palearctic. Volume III. Waders

to Gulls. Oxford University Press.

Delany S. & D. Scott 2006. Waterbird Popula-

tion Estimates. Fourth Edition. Wagenin-

gen, The Netherlands.

Eichhorn G. & T. Heinicke 2000. Notable obser-

vations of the Sociable lapwing Vanellus

gregarius from the Tengiz - Korgalzhyn

area / central Kazakhstan. Wader Study

Group Bulletin 93: 73-76.

Eichhorn G. & Khrokov V.V. 2002. Decline

in breeding Sociable lapwing Chettusia

gregaria in the steppes of Naurzum and

Korgalzhyn, Kazakhstan. Sandgrouse 24:

22-27.

Evans M.I. 1994. Important Bird Areas in the

Middle East. Birdlife Conservation Series

No. 2. Birdlife International, Cambridge,

UK.

Glutz von Blotzheim, U.N., K.M. Bauer & E.

Bezzel 1975. Handbuch der Vögel Mitte-

leuropas. Band 6 (1. Teil). Charadriiformes.

Wiesbaden.

Kamp J. 2007. Habitat selection of the Sociable

Lapwing Vanellus gregarius in Central Ka-

zakhstan - a modelling approach. Diploma

thesis Universität Oldenburg.

Keijl G.O. 2006. Northward migration of Cur-

lew Sandpipers Calidris ferruginea through

the Persian Gulf. International Wader

avifauna

Desert Finches, Khatuniyeh, 26 Febru-


10. References


Studies 19: 76-81.

Kumerloeve H 1968. Recherches sur l’avifaune

de la république Arabe Syrienne, essai

d’un aperçu. Alauda 36: 1-26.

Mullarney, K., L. Svensson, D. Zetterström

& P.J. Grant 1999. Collins Bird Guide. The

most complete fieldguide of birds of Brit-

ain and Europe. Harper Collins Publishers.

Murdoch, D.A., R. Vos, A. Abdallah, M. Ab-

dallah, I. Andrews, A. al-Asaad, R. van

Beusekom, R. Hofland, T. Roth, B. Saveyn,

G. Serra & G. Wells 2005. A winter survey of

Syrian wetlands. Final report of the Syrian

Wetland Expedition, January - February

2004. Privately published. London.

Nikolaus, G. & D.M. Hamed 1984. Distinct

status changes of certain palaearctic mi-

grants in Sudan. Scopus 8: 36-38.

Piersma T., P. Wiersma & J. van Gils 1997.

The many unknowns about plovers and

sandpipers of the world: introduction to

a wealth of research opportunities highly

relevant for shorebird conservation. Wader

Study Group Bulletin 82: 23-33.

Piersma T. & P. Wiersma 1996. Family

Charadriidae (Plovers): 284-443. In: J del

Hoyo, A Elliot & J Sargatal (eds). Hand-

book of the birds of the world. Volume 3.

Hoatzin to auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Porter R.F., S. Christense & P. Schiermacker-

Hansen 1996. Field guide to the birds of

the Middle East. Poyser.

Serra G., M. Abdallah, A. Asaad. G. al Qaim and

A. Abdallah 2005. A long-term bird survey

in the central Syrian desert (2000-2003)

- Part 1. Sandgrouse 27: 9-23.

Sheldon R.D., K.V. Grishina, J. Kamp, V.V.

Khrokov, A. Knight & M.A. Koshkin 2006.

Revising the breeding population estimate

and distribution of the Critically Endan-

gered Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregar-

ius. Poster presented at the Wader Study

Group Conference, Sweden.

Shevchenko V.L. 1998. The Sociable lapwing

Chettusia gregaria north of the Caspian Sea.

Wader Study Group Bulletin 87: 48-50.

Tohidifar M. & A. Zarei 2007. Occurrence of the

Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius in Iran,

with a new record in Meyghan wetland,

Arak, Markazi Province. Podoces 2: 39-41.

Van Duivendijk N. 2002. Dutch Birding Ken-

merkengids van vogels van Europa, Noord-

Afrika en het Midden-Oosten. Dutch Bird-

ing, Amsterdam.

Watson M., J.M. Wilson, M. Koshkin, B. Sherba-

kov, F. Karpov, A. Gavrilov, H. Schielzeth, M.

Brom bacher, N.J. Collar & W. Cresswell

2006. Nest survival and productivity of the

critically endangered Sociable Lapwing

Vanellus gregarius. Ibis 148: 489-502.

Appendix 1. Wetlands visited between 18 February and 5 March 2007

During the Syrian Sociable Lapwing Survey, eleven wetlands were visited for reasons explained

in the methods of this report. IBA Inventory numbers according to Evans (1994) and Important

Bird Areas (IBA’s) are given. The wetlands are dealt with in order of date of visiting. Text has

been partly copied from Murdoch et al. (2005). Like in Murdoch et al. (2005), ‘Wxx’ refers to a

unique number to identify a waterbody along the Euphrates river, usually an old oxbow.

Note that waterbirds included in appendix 2 only include those that have been counted in

the wetlands dealt with below. They are also mentioned in chapter 9 (Avifauna). Waterbirds

seen elsewhere (e.g. along the Euphrates river), are exclusively mentioned in chapter 9.

Lake Qattine (Lake of Homs, IBA 017)A eutrophic reservoir 15 km south-west of Homs close to the Lebanese border; the extent of

open water varies from 3000 ha in summer to 5300 ha in winter, with a water depth of 4-8 m.

It was visited because of the sighting of a single Sociable Lapwing amongst 2000 Northern

Lapwings on 18 February 2004. During our visit on 19 February 2007 we counted a total of 1211

Northern, mainly in small flocks, but no Sociable Lapwings. The most notable records were 80

Eurasian Golden Plovers and an unidentified Isabelline Shrike.

Sabkhat al-Jabbul (Jabbul Salt-lake; IBA 006 and a Ramsar site)A large salt lake south of Jabbul village and 35 km south-east of Aleppo. It used to dry out in

most summers but the water level is presently higher and more stable; the lake is now said to

measure 20 x 5 km. It has developed reedbeds on the shores of its northern and southern fresh-

water areas. We added to the recent winter observations of Marbled and White-headed Ducks,

though numbers of the latter were not as impressive as the 725 recorded by Richard Porter in

2005. Large numbers of Greater Flamingos were much in evidence. Its international importance

has led to the site being given Ramsar status in 1998. We were hoping to find roosting lapwings

(or plovers) in the evening of 20 February 2007, but these were recorded on neither side of the

lake. An important find however was the internationally significant number of at least 35 Lesser

White-fronted Geese amongst larger numbers of Greater White-fronted Geese. Both roost on

the southern side of the lake and feed on barren barley fields south of it.

In the early morning of 21 February 2007, 1262 Greater White-fronted Geese left the roost

at a great distance from the observers, accompanied by 20 smaller geese thought to have been

Lesser White-fronted Geese. See also under Lesser White-fronted Goose in chapter 9 (Avifauna)

for more information.

Lake Assad (Buhayrat al-Assad; IBA 007)Lake Assad is a reservoir of 63,000 ha that was constructed in the 1960’s. On its northern side,

the lake is bordered by extensive barren barley fields and it is here that good numbers of

Greater White-fronted Geese feed. A staggering 17,000 – 20,000 of them were counted leaving

their roost site on the lake in the early morning of 22 February 2007, visible from a peninsula

just east of Qala’at Jabar on the north-eastern side (357.5 m asl). While searching for flocks of

(Lesser) White-fronted Geese, a flock of 2900 Ruddy Shelduck was found north of Lake Assad

(393 m asl). In this same general area, large flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese were seen in

flight. We suspect that these were other birds (than the 17,000 seen earlier), that had roosted

further west on Lake Assad. The number of Greater White-fronted Geese roosting on Lake As-

sad could therefore easily exceed 25,000 birds.

appendices


The northern part of Lake Assad is visible from the village of Shams ad Dbeen (just north

of the northern dam). This area held good numbers of waterfowl on 22 February 2007. Among

these were 27 Black-necked Grebes, 3100 Common Pochards, 8000 Coot, few Pallas’s and Cas-

pian and larger numbers of Armenian, Black-headed and Slender-billed Gulls, 2 adult Caspian

Terns and 1800 Whiskered Terns. A rather small reedbed just outside the village held 4 Water

Rails, 18 Water Pipit, 1 Citrine Wagtail and 9 Iraq Babblers.

Ba’ath Lake (IBA 008)Ba’ath Lake is a shallow reservoir 10 km long, just east of the dam that forms Lake Assad. It

was surveyed in November 1992 and February 2004. On 22 February 2007, an evening roost

count was conducted from the railway bridge crossing the Euphrates river, in the eastern part

of the area, during which 223 Pygmy Cormorants and 111 Great Cormorants were noted.

Sabkhat Eiwa (N 36 ˚27’14.5´ E 39 ˚ 29’14.9´)This sabkha (seasonal lake) is only filled during the wet winter months, though not every year.

On 23-24 February 2007 it measured about 1.5 km x 200 m, though it had been at least 2 km x

500 m until recently. The sabkha is found in the northwestern corner of the Eiwa natural steppe

area and attracted good numbers of wildfowl. These were very shy and clearly frequently

hunted (cartridge cases were found).

Maximum numbers on 23-24 February 2007 included 300 Ruddy Shelducks, 50 Common

Shelducks, 3 Red-crested Pochards, 75 Northern Shovelers, 175 Common Teals, 7 Gadwalls, 2

Mallards, 2 Tufted Ducks, 1 Green Sandpiper, 13 Ruffs, 3 Redshanks, 20 Little Stints, 1 Dunlin, 2

Kentish Plovers, 1 Merlin and 4 Long-legged Buzzards, quite a few Calandra Larks and a stagger-

ing 20,000 Common Skylarks.

Twelve Sociable Lapwings were briefly present feeding at an area of natural steppe within

100 m of the sabkha but quickly disappeared when disturbed by a Merlin. No Sociable Lapwings

were seen at the sabkha in the evening of 24 February 2007.

Lake Khatuniyeh (Buhayrat al-Khatuniyah or Al Hawl; IBA 005; 36˚4’24,15’N, 041˚3’24,

33’E, 434 m)

This is a small spring-fed eutrophic lake located approximately 50 km eastsoutheast of Al Has-

sake, about five km west of the Iraqi border. It was visited on 26 February 2007. It held about 5000

Coots, 10 Little, 2 Black-necked and 2 Great Crested Grebes, 12 Pintails, 120 Common and 150 Red-

crested Pochards, White-tailed and Red-wattled Lapwings, Graceful Prinias, Moustached Warblers,

Penduline Tits, Spanish and Dead Sea Sparrows. The latter is a common breeder, as its obvious

nests were found at the northern side of the lake. Caspian Stonechats were found wintering. See-

see Par- tridges and Blue Rock Thrushes were found in the barren hills just southeast of the lake.

The (seasonal) steppe habitat on the southwestern side of the lake held 8 Northern Lapwings on

26 February 2007.

Lower Khabur Reservoir (36°14.42´N, 40°49.06´E - south-east point, 295 m)A large reservoir about twenty km long and estimated to vary in width between 5-8 km. It was

formed by damming the Khabur River, halfway between the cities of Al Hassake and Ashadada.

Further south, the Khabur River peters out into a filthy stream of two metres wide. Several

villages were submerged when the reservoir was filled; ruined houses now act as perches for

Great Cormorants. Reason for visiting this reservoir on 26 February 2007, was the sighting of

several Lesser White-fronted Geese several weeks earlier (Anssi Kullberg pers. comm.). We how-

ever only recorded flocks of 101 and 70 Greater White-fronted Geese.

Mheimideh / Sfeira Tahtani (W18, 35°25’55.2Ń, 40°05’32.1É)This is a small wetland site of roughly one square km, located 25 km northwest of Deir ez-Zor

locked in by the villages of Mheimideh and Sfeira Tahtani. Though White-headed and Marbled

Duck are known to occur, they were not recorded during this survey. Ferruginous Duck, Black

Francolin and Iraq Babbler were, however, common.

Al Ashara Pool (34°53’39.7Ń, 40°32’48.2É, 182 m)A moderately large oxbow, measuring about two kilometres (west-east), found south-east of

Deir ez-Zor on the south side of the Euphrates river. There are two lagoons about 300 m apart,

connected by wet grassland. The northern one is about 50 m wide and contains more water

than the southern one, which is about 20 m wide. Both lagoons are fringed by three metre wide

reedbeds. Open areas in the reeds give access to and views over the open water. The northern

lagoon is more accessible and holds both dry and wet grassland bordering the reedbeds, provid-

ing habitat for dry grassland species such as Stonechats and (isabelline) Shrikes. As in most

oxbows in Syria, the western (non-connected) ends of the lagoons peter out into extensive and

apparently pure tracts of reeds. We saw very little on our brief visit on 28 February 2007 and no

waterbirds (hence this area is left out in the table in appendix 2).

Gharanij (W30-32, 34°47’27Ń, 40°43’56É, 180 m)As ‘Gharanij’ means flamingo in Arabic, it is likely that this area once flooded regularly but it

has now been drained. During the Syrian Wetland Expedition 2004 the area held several wad-

ers, reason to also visit it during the Sociable Lapwing Survey. The area consists of a large, flat

area of low-density agriculture, patches of reeds, tamarisk scrub and other wetland vegetation

and saltpans, with scattered houses on the north side of the Euphrates river, south-east of Deir

ez-Zor. Its apparent salinity is probably the reason why it is not turned into agricultural land.

Our visit on 28 February 2007 did not result in spectacular sightings; we did however record

Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Little Ringed and Kentish Plover, Spur-winged, White-tailed and

Northern Lapwing, Little Stint, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Ruff and Marsh Sandpiper. Other nota-

ble records include a male Siberian and a male Caspian Stonechat, Moustached Warbler, Iraq

Babbler and a probable Chinese Shrike.

Sed Wadi AbiadThe importance of this man-made wetland, roughly 800 m x 700 m in size, lies not in its size

but its position; it is located about 10 km north-west of Palmyra, where it provides a welcome

place for migrating birds to find food and water. Though there are other reservoirs in the

steppes and mountains surrounding Palmyra, the size of Sed Wadi Abiad is likely to keep it

in better condition throughout the year. The site is not specifically included in the IBA Inven-

tory. Its importance for migrating birds was stressed on our visit on 1 March 2007, when mixed

flocks of Common, Pallid, Alpine and House Swift, along with Barn and Red-rumped Swallow,

House and Sand Martin were seen. Nearby cliffs held Golden Eagle, Egyptian Vulture and Red-

billed Chough.

appendices


Appendix 4. Itinerary

Sunday 18 February: The Dutch team members David, Guido, Remco and Rommert arrived in

Damascus 19.30 hr local time. Met with Syrian team members Ahmed and Adib. Overnight

stay in Damascus.

Monday 19 February: Sampled fields south of Lake Qattine, west of Homs. Met with Syrian team

member Mahmoud. Overnight stay in Homs.

Tuesday 20 February: Lake Jabbul (team 1: north of lake; team 2: south of lake). Discovery of 35

Lesser White-fronted Geese by team 2. Overnight stay at Mr. Yaseen Mujawer, Jabbul village.

Wednesday 21 February: Lake Jabbul (team 1: fields south of lake and Al Odani reserve south-

west of lake; team 2: fields east of lake). Overnight stay in Ar Raqqa.

Thursday 22 February: Team 1: dawn roost count at northeast part of Lake Assad; sampling

barley fields north of Lake Assad; counting waterfowl at northern parts of Lake Assad;

returning to Ar Raqqa through Ein Issa and Tal As Samin. Team 2 sampled fields south of

Euphrates through Al Mansurah - Ar Rusafah - Bi’ar ar Rahum - Jabal al Bishri - Abu Hamad,

with an evening roost count at Ba’ath Lake. Overnight stay in Ar Raqqa.

Friday 23 February: Team 1: sampled barley fields south of M4 highway – from ´6´ north of Ar

Raqqa turned off east towards Mzireh following tracks between villages. Team 2: sampled

(barley) fields north of M4 highway, focusing on sabkha surroundings after, at 11.15, seeing

a flock of 40 Sociable Lapwings fly west from there; both teams concentrating on Eiwa sur-

roundings all afternoon. Overnight stay in Ar Raqqa.

Saturday 24 February: Plotting of steppe near Eiwa, studying Sociable Lapwings, finding more

Sociable Lapwings at Al Aumair. Overnight stay in Ar Raqqa.

Sunday 25 February: Simultaneous count of Sociable Lapwings at steppe areas of Eiwa, Al

Aumair and Ar Ruweira rangeland reserve. Upon finding a party of hunters at latter site,

Remco, Ahmed and Adib met with government officials in the evening to explain about the

rarity of Sociable Lapwings and to express concern about the hunters’ presence. Overnight

stay in Al Hassake.

Monday 26 February: Team 1 sampled fields at (south)eastern side of Lower Khabur Reservoir;

team 2 sampled fields between Al Hassake and Qamishli, including areas surrounding

Tal Brak. No natural steppe areas were found. Teams met up at Lake Khatuniyeh. Remco,

Ahmed and Adib returned to Ar Ruweira rangeland reserve to check out the situation, while

the others did afternoon and dusk roost counts at (south)eastern side of Lower Khabur Res-

ervoir. Overnight stay in Al Hassake.

Tuesday 27 February: Teams left for Deir ez-Zor; Adib staying behind to return to Ar Ruweira

to guard the Sociable Lapwings. Team 1 sampled wetlands and drylands (including wheat

fields) just west of Ashadada, an Atriplex reserve west of ´7´ and visited Khabur River near

Shamsani. Team 2 sampled fields along ´87´ between Ashadada and Deir ez-Zor. Teams met

in Deir ez-Zor for lunch and jointly visited Mheimideh wetland in afternoon. Mahmoud left

for Palmyra in evening. Overnight stay in Deir ez-Zor.

Wednesday 28 February: Because of one car breaking down in Deir ez-Zor early morning, all left

using the other car. Sampled areas south-east of Deir ez-Zor such as surroundings of Ghara-

nij, northern bank of Euphrates; Al Ashara oxbow lake on southern bank and nearby semi-

desert areas. Late afternoon visit to ruins of Doura Europos. Overnight stay in Deir ez-Zor.

Thursday 1 March: Deir ez-Zor to Palmyra in (at times heavy) rains. Sociable Lapwings found

at Al Shola village, Al Fedha area 30 km southwest of Deir ez-Zor. Heavy rainfall created massive flooding of desert, huge lakes and even rapids, overflooding the main

appendices

In the surroundings of Lake Jabbul some villages consist entirely of peculiarly built houses.

25 February 2007 (David Hoekstra).

highway at times. Visit to Arak reservoir impossible due to difficulties reaching it. Afternoon

visit to Sed Wadi Abiad and Bald Ibis cliff (where met with Mahmoud). Overnight stay in

Palmyra.

Friday 2 March: Sampled parts of Talila Reserve, visited Palmyra ruins and returned to Sed Wadi

Abiad. Overnight stay in Palmyra.

Saturday 3 March: Birding at Jebel al Bilas and Talila Reserve. Met with Sharif Al Jbour and his

assistant (BirdLife Middle East) and Anssi Kullberg, Finnish diploomat residing in Damascus,

in evening. Overnight stay in Palmyra.

Sunday 4 March: Ahmed, David, Guido, Remco and Rommert departed from Palmyra in early

morning for birding at Bloudan, in mountains west of Damascus. Met with Dr. Akram Dar-

wish, director of Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife, over dinner. Overnight stay

at Damascus.

Monday 5 March: David, Guido, Remco and Rommert departed Damascus in early morning; ar-

rival in Holland.


Appendix 2. Waterbirds counted between 18 February and 5 March 2007

This table presents all waterbirds counted during the Syrian Sociable Lapwing Sur-vey. The counting dates per wetland, estimated coverage and totals per species (far right column) and wetland (below site name) are given. Raptors are included only when they were found close to the wetlands (e.g. hunting near water’s edge, roosting in reedbeds). The sightings are also found in chapter 9 (Avifauna). During the survey more wetland birds have been seen, but if they were not in one of these wetlands, they are only mentioned in chapter 9. Note that Al Ashara Pool (see appendix 1) is left out, as during our visit no waterbirds were seen.

Lake Sabkhat Lake Ba’ath Sabkhat Lake L. Khabur Mheimideh Gharanij Sed total Qattine al-Jabbul Assad Lake Eiwa Khatuniyeh Reservoir Wadi Abiaddate 19/02 20-21/2 21-22/2 22/02 23-25/2 26/02 26/02 27/02 28/02 1-2/03estimated coverage (%) 75 30 30 50 100 100 20 100 80 100

Little Grebe - 40+ 33 - - 10 4 40 - - 127Great Crested Grebe - 50+ 22 - - 5 97 2 - - 176Black-necked Grebe - 8 169 - - 2 - - 1 - 180Great Cormorant 25 200 124 111 - - - - - - 460Pygmy Cormorant - 11 - 223 - - - - - - 234Great Bittern - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 2Black-crowned Night Heron - 19 - 2 - - - - 5 - 26Squacco Heron - - - - - - - 1 - - 1Cattle Egret 9 - - - - - - - - - 9Little Egret + 4 - 2 - - 3 25 17 - 51Great White Egret 42 91 7 3 - - 17 21 1 - 182Grey Heron 166 18 37 - - 20 49 45 26 - 361White Stork - 1 - - - - - - - - 1Eurasian Spoonbill - 21 - - - - - - - - 21Greater Flamingo - 10,000 - - - - - - - - 10,000Greater White-fronted Goose - 1242 17,000 - - - 171 - - - 18,413Lesser White-fronted Goose - 35 - - - - - - - - 35Greylag Goose - 38 - - - - - - - - 38grey goose - 367 5000 - - - - - - - 5367Common Shelduck - 500 2 - 50 - - - - 40 592Ruddy Shelduck - - 3140 - 300 4 100 - - - 3544Mallard 12 4 16 - 2 + - 10 - 4 48Gadwall 15 40 2 - 9 - - 1 - - 67Northern Pintail 2 400 - - - 12 + 20 - 120 554Northern Shoveler 400 + - - 75 5 - 80 57 20 637Eurasian Wigeon + 40 2 - - 1 - 5 - 2 50Marbled Teal - 20 - - - - - - - - 20Common Teal + 30 - - 51 18 + 200 2 - 301Common Pochard - 64 3260 - 1 120 - 181 1 130 3757Red-crested Pochard 668 4+ - 3 150 - - - - 825


Little Grebe - 40+ 33 - - 10 4 40 - - 127Great Crested Grebe - 50+ 22 - - 5 97 2 - - 176Black-necked Grebe - 8 169 - - 2 - - 1 - 180Great Cormorant 25 200 124 111 - - - - - - 460Pygmy Cormorant - 11 - 223 - - - - - - 234Great Bittern - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 2Black-crowned Night Heron - 19 - 2 - - - - 5 - 26Squacco Heron - - - - - - - 1 - - 1Cattle Egret 9 - - - - - - - - - 9Little Egret + 4 - 2 - - 3 25 17 - 51Great White Egret 42 91 7 3 - - 17 21 1 - 182Grey Heron 166 18 37 - - 20 49 45 26 - 361White Stork - 1 - - - - - - - - 1Eurasian Spoonbill - 21 - - - - - - - - 21Greater Flamingo - 10,000 - - - - - - - - 10,000Greater White-fronted Goose - 1242 17,000 - - - 171 - - - 18,413Lesser White-fronted Goose - 35 - - - - - - - - 35Greylag Goose - 38 - - - - - - - - 38grey goose - 367 5000 - - - - - - - 5367Common Shelduck - 500 2 - 50 - - - - 40 592Ruddy Shelduck - - 3140 - 300 4 100 - - - 3544Mallard 12 4 16 - 2 + - 10 - 4 48Gadwall 15 40 2 - 9 - - 1 - - 67Northern Pintail 2 400 - - - 12 + 20 - 120 554Northern Shoveler 400 + - - 75 5 - 80 57 20 637Eurasian Wigeon + 40 2 - - 1 - 5 - 2 50Marbled Teal - 20 - - - - - - - - 20Common Teal + 30 - - 51 18 + 200 2 - 301Common Pochard - 64 3260 - 1 120 - 181 1 130 3757Red-crested Pochard 668 4+ - 3 150 - - - - 825

appendices



Ferruginous Duck - 8 - - - - - 22 - - 30Tufted Duck 153 - 53+ - 2 - - 1 - - 209White-headed Duck - 19 - - - - - - - - 19unidentified duck 3000 - - - - - - - - - 3000Water Rail - 5+ 4 4 - - - - 1 - 14Porzana sp. 1 - - - - - - - - - 1Moorhen 2 21 6 - - - - 5 6 - 40Grey-headed Swamphen - 23 - - - - - 6 - - 29Eurasian Coot 5500 + 13,400+ - - 10,000 + 150 - 120 29,170Black-winged Stilt - 8 - - - 1 - 7 5 - 21Pied Avocet - 17 - - - - 3 - 5 - 25Little Ringed Plover 61 - - - - - - - 2 - 63Ringed Plover - 4 - - - - - - - - 4Kentish Plover - 46 - - - - - - 25 - 71Eur. Golden Plover 80 3 - - - - - - - - 83Spur-winged Lapwing - - - - - - - 8 2 - 10Red-wattled Lapwing - - - - - 5 - - - - 5Sociable Lapwing - - - - 12 - - - - - 12White-tailed Lapwing - 3 - - - 3 - 14 4 - 24Northern Lapwing 1211 332+ - - - 8 - - 1 - 1552Dunlin 3 - - - 1 - - - 6 - 10Little Stint 94 20 - - 20 - - - 15 - 149Temminck’s Stint - 7 - - - - - - - - 7Green Sandpiper 5 3 - - 2 - - 4 18 1 33Common Sandpiper 3 - - - - - - - - - 3Common Redshank 74+ 21 6 - 3 1 - 15 9 - 129Spotted Redshank 38 1 - - - - 1 12 1 - 53Common Greenshank - - - - - - - 4 1 - 5Marsh Sandpiper - - - - - - - - 1 - 1Black-tailed Godwit 5 - - - - - - 37 - - 42Eurasian Curlew 4 46 - - - - - 1 - - 51Common Snipe 80 18 - - - 1 - 4 7 - 110Jack Snipe - 2 - - - - - - - - 2Ruff 28 37 - - 4 26 - 42 105 - 242Black-headed Gull 1350 97 55 280 2 1 6 - - 13 1804Slender-billed Gull 1 40 50 - 1 - 118 - - - 210Black-headed/Slender-billed Gull - - 500 - - - - - - - 500Common Gull - - - - - - 1 - - - 1Caspian Gull 21 2 2 11 - - 1 - - - 37Armenian Gull 3 22 25 - - - - - - - 50


Ferruginous Duck - 8 - - - - - 22 - - 30Tufted Duck 153 - 53+ - 2 - - 1 - - 209White-headed Duck - 19 - - - - - - - - 19unidentified duck 3000 - - - - - - - - - 3000Water Rail - 5+ 4 4 - - - - 1 - 14Porzana sp. 1 - - - - - - - - - 1Moorhen 2 21 6 - - - - 5 6 - 40Grey-headed Swamphen - 23 - - - - - 6 - - 29Eurasian Coot 5500 + 13,400+ - - 10,000 + 150 - 120 29,170Black-winged Stilt - 8 - - - 1 - 7 5 - 21Pied Avocet - 17 - - - - 3 - 5 - 25Little Ringed Plover 61 - - - - - - - 2 - 63Ringed Plover - 4 - - - - - - - - 4Kentish Plover - 46 - - - - - - 25 - 71Eur. Golden Plover 80 3 - - - - - - - - 83Spur-winged Lapwing - - - - - - - 8 2 - 10Red-wattled Lapwing - - - - - 5 - - - - 5Sociable Lapwing - - - - 12 - - - - - 12White-tailed Lapwing - 3 - - - 3 - 14 4 - 24Northern Lapwing 1211 332+ - - - 8 - - 1 - 1552Dunlin 3 - - - 1 - - - 6 - 10Little Stint 94 20 - - 20 - - - 15 - 149Temminck’s Stint - 7 - - - - - - - - 7Green Sandpiper 5 3 - - 2 - - 4 18 1 33Common Sandpiper 3 - - - - - - - - - 3Common Redshank 74+ 21 6 - 3 1 - 15 9 - 129Spotted Redshank 38 1 - - - - 1 12 1 - 53Common Greenshank - - - - - - - 4 1 - 5Marsh Sandpiper - - - - - - - - 1 - 1Black-tailed Godwit 5 - - - - - - 37 - - 42Eurasian Curlew 4 46 - - - - - 1 - - 51Common Snipe 80 18 - - - 1 - 4 7 - 110Jack Snipe - 2 - - - - - - - - 2Ruff 28 37 - - 4 26 - 42 105 - 242Black-headed Gull 1350 97 55 280 2 1 6 - - 13 1804Slender-billed Gull 1 40 50 - 1 - 118 - - - 210Black-headed/Slender-billed Gull - - 500 - - - - - - - 500Common Gull - - - - - - 1 - - - 1Caspian Gull 21 2 2 11 - - 1 - - - 37Armenian Gull 3 22 25 - - - - - - - 50

appendices


Lake Sabkhat Lake Ba’ath Sabkhat Lake Lower. Khabur Mheimideh Gharanij Sed total Qattine al-Jabbul Assad Lake Eiwa Khatuniyeh Reservoir Wadi Abiaddate 19-02 20-21/2 21-22/2 22-02 23-25/2 26-02 26-02 27-02 28-02 1/2-03estimated coverage (%) 75 30 30 50 100 100 20 100 80 100

Pallas’s Gull - - 2 - - - 1 - - - 3Caspian Tern - 1 2 - - - - - - - 3Whiskered Tern 500 7 1800 - - - 3 - - - 2310Eurasian Kingfisher 1 2 - - - - - - - - 3Pied Kingfisher 8 20 2 5 - 1 - 25 - - 61Marsh Harrier 19 130 3 31 - 1 - 2 3 - 189Hen Harrier 6 30 - - - 3 - 1 - - 40Pallid Harrier 1 1 - - 1 - - - - - 3Sparrowhawk 2 6 5 - - - - 6 - - 19Common Buzzard 4 3 - - - - - - - - 7Long-legged Buzzard 2 4 - - 1 1 - - 2 - 10Common Kestrel 5 3 3 - - 8 - - 1 - 20Merlin 6 12 4 - - 1 1 1 - - 25

12,942 14,936 44,740 672 540 10,408 576 999 330 450 86,593

Lake Sabkhat Lake Ba’ath Sabkhat Lake Lower. Khabur Mheimideh Gharanij Sed total Qattine al-Jabbul Assad Lake Eiwa Khatuniyeh Reservoir Wadi Abiaddate 19-02 20-21/2 21-22/2 22-02 23-25/2 26-02 26-02 27-02 28-02 1/2-03estimated coverage (%) 75 30 30 50 100 100 20 100 80 100

Pallas’s Gull - - 2 - - - 1 - - - 3Caspian Tern - 1 2 - - - - - - - 3Whiskered Tern 500 7 1800 - - - 3 - - - 2310Eurasian Kingfisher 1 2 - - - - - - - - 3Pied Kingfisher 8 20 2 5 - 1 - 25 - - 61Marsh Harrier 19 130 3 31 - 1 - 2 3 - 189Hen Harrier 6 30 - - - 3 - 1 - - 40Pallid Harrier 1 1 - - 1 - - - - - 3Sparrowhawk 2 6 5 - - - - 6 - - 19Common Buzzard 4 3 - - - - - - - - 7Long-legged Buzzard 2 4 - - 1 1 - - 2 - 10Common Kestrel 5 3 3 - - 8 - - 1 - 20Merlin 6 12 4 - - 1 1 1 - - 25

12,942 14,936 44,740 672 540 10,408 576 999 330 450 86,593

appendices


Appendix 3. GPS waypoints of locations visited between 18 February and

3 March 2007

waypoint latitude longitude altitude (masl)

W 142 N34°5’48,21 E036°2’34,93 507,2W 143 N34°5’14,90 E036°1’35,87 509,4 W 144 N34°5’49,75 E036°1’52,50 508,9 W 145 N34°4’47,95 E036°8’37,18 513,0 W 146 N34°5’34,51 E036°9’13,73 511,8 W 147 N34°6’26,52 E036°9’39,90 507,2 W 148 N36°3’51,61 E037°2’31,97 315,9 W 149 N36°2’42,25 E037°3’04,61 322,4 W 150 N36°4’54,34 E037°4’45,40 297,4 W 151 N36°5’09,78 E037°3’20,59 308,0 W 152 N35°7’30,24 E037°1’11,28 359,7 W 153 N35°1’21,77 E037°3’12,77 327,5 W 154 N35°9’24,88 E037°1’32,19 326,7 W 155 N35°8’56,66 E037°2’35,71 342,4 W 156 N35°7’54,68 E037°4’55,22 332,3 W 158 N35°4’48,74 E038°2’43,31 357,5 W 159 N36°4’53,70 E038°8’29,01 392,8 W 160 N36°4’27,45 E038°1’48,31 306,3 W 161 N36°4’15,72 E038°1’12,51 280,8 W 162 N36°2’37,01 E038°1’57,12 364,5 W 163 N36°3’43,45 E039°5’01,72 256,6 W 164 N36°0’40,96 E039°5’26,17 321,9 W 165 N36°1’27,21 E039°2’10,52 402,2 W 166 N36°8’27,58 E039°5’55,30 428,1 W 167 N36°2’05,85 E039°5’33,30 395,7 W 168 N36°4’40,96 E039°3’30,85 369,0 W 169 N36°6’54,27 E039°9’41,67 361,8 W 170 N36°5’57,49 E039°0’07,80 377,9 W 171 N36°6’14,91 E039°7’54,23 320,2 W 172 N36°7’33,95 E039°7’20,60 350,3 W 173 N36°8’06,77 E039°7’04,90 344,0 W 174 N36°8’21,14 E039°6’57,88 351,5 W 175 N36°9’03,39 E039°8’23,03 352,7 W 176 N36°8’51,68 E039°9’17,44 353,9 W 177 N36°8’35,48 E039°9’30,89 357,7 W 178 N36°8’18,41 E039°9’42,78 355,1 W 179 N36°7’30,85 E039°0’10,39 370,0 W 180 N36°6’44,52 E039°0’20,10 373,4 W 181 N36°7’09,14 E039°9’29,20 362,8 W 182 N36°6’37,39 E039°0’42,93 421,9

W 183 N36°5’45,19 E039°0’22,20 420,7 W 184 N36°6’25,67 E039°9’15,62 418,1 W 185 N36°5’49,44 E039°8’52,60 413,2 W 186 N36°5’17,86 E039°8’26,69 421,7 W 187 N36°5’03,69 E039°7’59,40 424,1 W 188 N36°5’25,25 E039°8’03,92 420,0 W 189 N36°8’33,63 E039°9’46,37 391,6 W 190 N36°2’02,76 E039°1’28,37 287,6 W 191 N36°8’42,95 E039°8’34,13 464,9 W 192 N36°8’01,55 E039°8’49,84 479,3 W 193 N36°7’10,74 E039°9’10,69 467,1 W 194 N36°4’22,28 E039°0’38,84 463,0 W 195 N36°3’51,94 E039°1’25,50 502,2 W 196 N36°8’00,10 E039°0’29,41 462,5 W 197 N36°9’53,48 E039°1’57,14 500,7 W 198 N36°8’29,72 E039°3’18,17 515,4 W 199 N36°3’06,21 E039°3’10,59 424,3 W 200 N36°4’24,15 E041°3’24,33 433,9 W 201 N36°8’28,77 E040°0’21,90 291,9 W 202 N36°0’41,24 E040°6’25,50 291,2 W 203 N35°1’29,12 E040°0’18,58 253,0 W 204 N35°0’24,91 E040°0’17,82 253,0 W 205 N35°0’22,71 E040°7’15,50 290,7 W 206 N34°5’33,65 E040°5’25,57 204,9 W 207 N35°2’18,15 E039°4’32,62 294,5 W 208 N35°4’08,34 E039°3’57,22 319,8 W 209 N34°0’12,65 E038°0’32,14 387,1 W 210 N34°9’58,74 E038°6’58,07 370,2 W 211 N33°4’55,52 E036°9’00,09 1901,6

appendices


Appendix 5. Observations on mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects

between 18 February and 5 March 2007

Mammals

Long-eared Hedgehog Hemiechinus aethiopicus22 February 1 in scrub (near Ar Rusafah). Pho-

tographed.

23 February 1 dead on road near Mzireh.

Palestine Mole-rat Nannospalax ehrenbergiCommon in north: hills visible along road and

in arable fields.

Lesser Sand Jerboa Jaculus jaculus22 February 1 dead on road between Ar Rusa-

fah - Bi’ar ar Rahum. Photographed.

Lybian Jird Meriones lybicus2 March 1 Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

Cape Hare Lepus capensis2 March 1 Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

Guenther’s Vole Microtus guentheri4 March plentiful in Barada valley.

Sand Cat Felis margarita2 March 1 sunning at entrance of den in early

morning sun, Talila reserve, near Palmyra.

Photographed.

Common Jackal Canis aureus19 February 5 Lake Qattine.

28 February 1 Doura Europos ruin, south-east

of Deir ez-Zor.

2 March 4 Talila reserve near Palmyra.

Red Fox Vulpes vulpes20 February 3 Lake Jabbul.

21 February 1 south-east side of Lake Jabbul.

2 March 1 Talila reserve near Palmyra.

Jackal, Lake Qattine, 19 February 2007 (David

Hoekstra).

appendices

(facing page). Sandcats are among the most difficult mammals in the world to observe. For instance, this

individual was Ahmed’s second sighting - he has been working in this area for over ten years. This adult

individual was enjoying the morning sun on 2 March 2007, Talila reserve (David Hoekstra).

Amphibians

Mediterranean Tree Frog Hyla meridionalis22 February 1 heard, Ba’ath lake, railway


27 February several heard, Mheimideh.

28 February 2 singing during day along

Euphrates.

Green Toad Bufo viridis27 February several heard, Mheimideh.

Reptiles

False Cobra Malpolon moilensis22 February 1 dead on road (near Ar Rusafah).

Moths and butterflies

Hummingbird Hawkmoth Macroglosum stellatarum23 February 2 near Mzireh.

28 February 1 Gharanij, salt lakes with tama-

risk scrub north side Euphrates, south-east

of Deir ez-Zor.

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui28 February 2 Gharanij, salt lakes with tama-


of Deir ez-Zor.

Dragonflies

Vagrant Emperor Anax ephippiger19 February 1 Lake Qattine south side.

28 February 10 Gharanij, salt lakes with tama-


of Deir ez-Zor.

Unidentified scorpion, Jebel al Bilas, 3 March 2007

(Guido Keijl).

Sociable Lapwings in Syria appendices

Appendix 6. Some publications resulting from the Syrian Sociable Lapwing

Survey between 18 February and 5 March 2007

appendices


Sociable Lapwing: The Sociable Lapwing discovery was made in the short grass-lands of Northern Syria (photo: Koshkin Maxim).

A small expedition team travelling across Syria today announced the discovery of the largest wintering population of one of Eurasia’s most endangered birds, the Sociable Lapwing.

Previous estimates placed the global population of this Critically Endangered species at between 400 and 1500 individuals. However the expedition team reported seeing over 1200 birds in one day and over 1500 in total during the trip, all within a few grassland sites in Northern Syria.

The finding gives tremendous encouragement to conservationists working to save the bird across Central Asia (where it is a summer resident) and the Middle East (where the bird winters).

“It’s a finding that every ornithologist dreams of when starting out on an expedi-tion like this.” said Remco Hofland, a Dutch ornithologist who led the Syrian Sociable Lapwing Team, made up of Dutch and Syrian birdwatchers. “We had spent the morn-ing looking at a number of areas that were yielding good numbers of the species; almost 400. We were delighted - here we were looking at one of the rarest birds on Earth, and in such good numbers!”

“It was after these that we looked at one more area, which turned out to be the jackpot. Our team split into two and we saw 838 Sociable Lapwings, of which 700 were from a single vantage point.” Remco said.

“It’s an incredible discovery, which gives real encouragement to global conser-vation efforts to save this Critically Endangered species,” said Dr Stuart Butchart, Global Species Programme Coordinator at BirdLife International. “Site protection is the crucial next step though: species that rely on a few small sites are particularly vulnerable to change - if this site isn’t adequately protected then the continued sur-vival of Sociable Lapwing remains uncertain.”

Ornithologists “Hit Jackpot” on Sightings of Critically Endangered Bird

appendices

The two major causes of biodiversity loss in the Syrian desert are illegal hunt-ing and habitat degradation - both of which are thought to pose a threat to Sociable Lapwing in the region. Conservationists in the Middle East are now working urgently to ensure that the wintering population can be afforded immediate protection from these twin threats.

“In order to safeguard this newly-discovered wintering population of Sociable Lapwing we have had to act quickly, working with local government agencies and the Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife to help secure the site and its vitally important bird populations,” said Sharif Jbour of BirdLife Middle East, who are among those coordinating actions in the region.

The expedition by the Syrian Sociable Lapwing Team was partly funded via a number of organisations: the RSPB (through a grant from the UK government’s Darwin Initiative), the Ornithological Society of the Middle East and the Dutch Van Tienhoven Foundation.

BirdLife International press releaseFriday 2nd March 2007


List of WIWO-reports

The WIWO-report series intends to be a regular medium by which occasional reports of ornithological expeditions or journeys can be published. In this way regular dis-tribution and availability are guaranteed. Quality differences are accepted, since the authors remain responsible.

1. Altenburg W., M. Engelmoer, R. Mes & T. Piersma 1982. Wintering waders at the Banc d’Arguin,

Mauritania. Comm. 6 Wadden Sea Working Group. Leiden, The Netherlands. Sold out.

2. Kersten M., T. Piersma, C. Smit & P. Zegers 1983. Wader migration along the Atlantic coast of

Morocco, March 1981. Texel, The Netherlands. € 12,-

3. Philippona J. 1985. Waterbirds at some wetlands in Turkey and Greece. Zeist, The Netherlands.

€ 1,75

4. Bijlsma R.G. & F.E. de Roder 1985. Waders along the coast of Thailand during November and

December 1984. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 4,75

5. De Roder F.E. 1985. Waterbirds on some Turkish wetlands, October/November 1983. Zeist, The

Netherlands. € 3,75

6. Van den Berk V., N. van den Berk, R.G. Bijlsma & F.E. de Roder 1985. The importance of some

wetlands in Turkey for transient and wintering birds in Turkey. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 4,75

7. Piersma T. 1985. Wader studies and waterbirds in the Nakdong Estuary, South Korea, in Sep-

tember 1984. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 5,75

8. Chalabi B., J. Harrison & G. van Dijk 1985. Les zones humides du Nord-Est Algerien en 1984.

Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold out

9. Ens B. 1985. Tussen Sahara en Siberië. Ewijk, The Netherlands. € 2,25

9. Ens B. 1985. Entre Sahara et Siberie. Ewijk, The Netherlands. Sold out.

10. Van den Berk V., D. van Dorp, O. van Hoorn & R. Vos 1986. Cranes and waterfowl counts of

some Turkish wetlands. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 3,50

11. Van Dijk A.J., K. van Dijk, L. Dijksen, T. van Spanje & E. Wymenga 1986. Wintering waders and

waterfowl in the Gulf of Gabès, Tunisia, January-March 1984. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 14,-

12. Bijlsma R.G. & F.E. de Roder 1986. Notes on the birds of some wetlands in Turkey. Zeist, The

Netherlands. Sold out.

13. Dijksen L.J. & F.J. Koning 1986. Mid-winter waterfowl census, Turkey 1986. Zeist, The Nether-

lands. € 4,75

14. Schilperoord L. & M. Schilperoord-Huisman 1986. Observations of waterbirds in some wet-

lands in Turkey, July/August 1986. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 3,50

15. Altenburg W. 1987. Waterfowl in West African coastal wetlands: a summary of current

knowledge. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 4,75

16. Bennet C.A., R.G. Bijlsma & R. Stouthamer 1982. Survey of waterbirds on Egyptian wetlands,

autumn 1981. Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold out.

17. Schekkerman H. & J.C.J. van Wetten 1987. An ornithological winter survey of Lake Turkana,

Kenya. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 3,50

18. Dijksen L.J. & P. van der Wolf 1987. Mid-winter waterfowl census Turkey January 1987. Zeist,

The Netherlands. € 3,50

19. Lensink R. 1987. Notes on the birds of some wetlands in North-East Greece and Turkey. Zeist,


20. Meininger P.L. (ed.) 1990. Birds of the wetlands in North-East Greece, spring 1987. Zeist, The

Netherlands. € 14,-

21. Dijksen L.J. & A-M.C. Blomert 1988. Mid-winter waterfowl census Turkey, January 1988. Zeist,

WIWO-reports

The Netherlands. Sold out.

22. Van der Have T., V.M. van den Berk, J.P. Cronau & M.J. Langeveld (eds.) 1988. South Turkey

Project. A survey of waders and waterfowl in the Çukurova deltas, spring 1987. Zeist, The


23. Altenburg W. & J. van der Kamp 1989. Etude ornithologique préliminaire de la zone côtière

du nord-ouest de la Guinée. Joint report of WIWO and ICBP. WIWO-report 23, ICBP study re-

port 30, Zeist, The Netherlands and Cambridge, England. Sold out.

24. Chalabi B. & G. van Dijk 1988. Les zones humides dans la region de Anaba et El Kala en Mai

1987. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 3,50

25. Ens B.J., T. Piersma, W.J. Wolff, L. Zwarts (eds.) 1989. Report of the Dutch-Mauritanian project

Banc d’Arguin 85/86. WIWO-report 25, RIN-report 25, Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold out.

26. Altenburg W., E. Wymenga & L. Zwarts 1992. Ornithological importance of the coastal wet-

lands of Guinea-Bissau. Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold out.

27. Ens B.J., T. Piersma, W.J. Wolff & L. Zwarts 1990. Homeward bound: Problems waders face

when migrating from the Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, to their northern breeding grounds in

spring. WIWO-report 27, RIN-report 27, Zeist & Texel. € 25,-

28. Van Winden A., K. Mostert, P. Ruiters, M. Sıkı & H. de Waard 1989. Waders and waterfowl in

spring 1988 at Eber Gölü. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 4,75

29. Van den Berg A.B. 1988. Moroccan Slender-billed Curlew survey, winter 1987-88. WIWO-re-

port 29, ICBP-report 29, Zeist, The Netherlands and Cambridge, England. Sold out.

30. Keijl G.O., M.W.J. van Roomen, P.S. Ruiters & A. Wijker 1992. Migration of waders and other

waterbirds along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, spring 1989. Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold

out.

31. Dijksen L.J. & A-M. Blomert 1989. Mid-winter waterfowl census Turkey January 1989. Zeist,


32. Schekkerman H. & M.W.J. van Roomen (eds.) 1993. Migration of waterbirds through wetlands

in Central Anatolia, spring 1988. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 7,-

33. Spiekman H. & N. Groen 1993. Survey of breeding waders and relations between breeding

performance and lemming densities, North-East Taimyr, Siberia, 1992. Zeist, The Netherlands.

Sold out.

34. Van den Berk V.M., J.P. Cronau & T.M. van der Have 1993. Waterbirds in the Van Province,

eastern Turkey, May 1989. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 7,-

35. Altenburg W. & J. van der Kamp 1991. Ornithological importance of coastal wetlands in

Guinea. Joint report of WIWO and ICBP. WIWO-report 35, ICBP study report 47, Zeist, The

Netherlands & Cambridge, England. Sold out.

36. Van der Have T.M., S. van der Sant, Y. Verkuil & J. van der Winden (eds.) 1994. Waterbirds in

the Sivash, Ukraine, spring 1992. Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold out.

37. Dijksen L.J. & A-M. Blomert 1993. Mid-winter waterfowl census Turkey January 1990. Zeist,

The Netherlands. € 7,-

38. Spiekman H.W., G.O. Keijl & P.S. Ruiters (eds.) 1993. Waterbirds in the Kneiss area and other

wetlands, Tunisia. Eastern Mediterranean Wader Project, spring 1990. Zeist, The Netherlands.

€ 12,-

39. Wolff W.J. (ed.) 1998. Waders in Guinea-Bissau, October 1992-May 1993. The end of the East

Atlantic Flyway. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 12,-

40. Meininger P.L. & G.A.M. Atta (eds.) 1994. Ornithological studies in Egyptian wetlands 1989/90.

WIWO-report 40, FORE-report 94.01, Zeist, The Netherlands. € 16,-

41. Schepers F.J. & E.C.L. Marteijn (eds.) 1993. Coastal waterbirds in Gabon. Zeist, The Nether-


lands. € 14,-

42. Hirschfeld E., S.A. Mohamed & T. Stawarczyk 1992. Bahrain wader study 1991. Zeist, The


43. Brehme S., T. Müller & J. Redlich 1992. Bird observations in the Danube delta and in the Do-

brodgea (Romania). Zeist, The Netherlands. € 4,75

44. Spiekman H. 1992. Wader ringing in Tunisia 1962-1986. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 4,75

45. Hustings F. (ed.) 1994. Bird census in the Kızılırmak delta, Turkey, in 1992. Zeist, The Nether-

lands. € 12,-

46. Meininger P.L., P.A. Wolf, D.A. Hadoud & M.F.A. Essghaier 1994. Ornithological survey of the

coast of Libya, July 1993. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 7,-

47. Groen N.M. & P.J. Zomerdijk (eds.) 1994. Waders and waterbirds along part of the Atlantic

coast of Morocco, autumn 1991 - spring 1992. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

48. Kivit H.A., H. Nijmeijer & A. Ovaa (eds.) 1994. Wader and waterfowl migration in the Çuku-

rova deltas, South Turkey, spring 1990. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 12,-

49. Hagemeijer W.J.M. (ed.) 1994. Wintering waterbirds in the coastal wetlands of Albania, 1993.

Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold out.

50. Dijksen L.J. & M.C.M. Klemann 1994. Wintering geese in Turkey, January 1992. Zeist, The


51. Gerritsen G.J. & N.M. Groen 1995. Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit project 1993. Zeist, The Neth-

erlands. Sold out.

52. Vonk, H. 2003 Breeding Waders of Cape Wastochnia, Pyassina Delta, Taimyr, Russia, in 1994.

Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

53. De Nobel W.T. (ed.) 1995. Birds of the Messolonghi wetlands. Eastern Mediterranean Wader

Project, spring 1990. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 12,-

54. Van der Have T.M., N. Baccetti, G.O. Keijl & M. Zenatello 1997. Waterbirds in Kneiss, Tunisia,

February-March 1994. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 12,-

55. Schekkerman H. & M. van Roomen 1995. Breeding waders at Pronchishcheva Lake, North-

eastern Taimyr, Siberia, in 1991. Zeist, The Netherlands. Sold out.

56. Van den Brink B., R.G. Bijlsma & T.M. van der Have (eds.) 1998. European Swallows Hirundo

rustica in Botswana. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

57. Tulp I., L.W. Bruinzeel, J. Jukema & O. Stepanova 1997. Breeding waders at Medusa Bay, west-

ern Taimyr, in 1996. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

58. Van den Brink B., R.G. Bijlsma & T.M. van der Have (eds.) 1998. European songbirds and Barn

Swallows Hirundo rustica in Ghana: a quest for Constant Effort Sites and swallow roosts in

December/January 1996/97. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 7,-

59. Veerman T. & H. Wessels 1998. Cranes Grus grus in NW-Russia, autumn 1996. Zeist, The

Netherlands. € 4,75

60. Willems F.J. & E. de Vries 1998. Ecological aspects of Pygmy Cormorants Phalacrocorax pyg-

meus in Prespa, Greece, May-August 1996. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 12,-

61. Tulp I., H. Schekkerman, T. Piersma, J. Jukema, P. de Goeij & J. van de Kam 1998. Breeding

waders at Cape Sterlegova, northern Taimyr, in 1994. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 12,-

62. Keijl G.O., P.S. Ruiters, T.M. van der Have, A. bij de Vaate, E.C.L. Marteijn & R. Noordhuis 1998.

Waders and other waterbirds in the United Arab Emirates, autumn 1994 and spring 1995.


63. Schepers F.J., G.O. Keijl, P.L. Meininger & J.B. Rigoulot 1998. Oiseaux d’eau dans le Delta du

Sine-Saloum et la Petite Côte, Sénégal, janvier 1997. WIWO, Zeist, The Netherlands & Direc-

tion Parcs Nationaux du Sénégal, Dakar, Sénégal. Sold out.

WIWO-reports

64. Zekhuis M.J. & D. Tempelman (eds.) 1998. Breeding birds of the Albanian wetlands, spring

1996. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 12,-

65. Wieland A. 2000. Surveys of flora and fauna in the Senné fishponds area, Slovakia, spring

1997. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

66. Khomenko S., S. Rosenfeld & S. Dyluk 2000. Birds of Medusa Bay, NW Taimyr, in 1997. Zeist,

The Netherlands. € 9,-

67. Van Wetten, J.C.J. & P. Spierenburg 1998. Waders and waterfowl in the floodplains of the

Logone, Cameroun, January 1993. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

68. Keijl G.O., A. Brenninkmeijer, F.J. Schepers, R.E. Brasseur, A. Ndiaye, E.W.M. Stienen & J. Veen

2000. Oiseaux nicheurs sur les côtes du Parc National du Sine-Saloum et du Parc National

Langue de Barbarie, Sénégal, 1998. WIWO-report 68, IBN-DLO-report 99/6. Zeist, The Nether-

lands. € 9,-

69. Exo, K.-M. & O. Stepanova 2000. Ecology of Grey Plovers Pluvialis squatarola breeding in the

Lena Delta, The Sakha Republic/Yakutia, in 1997. Report on a pilot study. Zeist, The Nether-

lands. € 14,-

70. Overdijk O, C. de le Court & A. Gueye 2001. Spoonbill count on the Banc d’Arguin, Maurita-

nia, January 2000. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

71. Van der Winden J., E.A. Diadecheva, W.T. de Nobel & M.W.J. van Roomen (eds.) 2001. Counts

and ecology of waterbirds in the Sivash, Ukraine, August 1998. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 14,-

72. Van der Have T.M., G.O. Keijl, J. Mansoori & V.V. Morozov 2001. Searching for Slender-billed

Curlews in Iran, January-February 2000. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 9,-

73. Geene R. (ed.) 2001. Waterbird count of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, Tanzania, January 1998.


74. Bos J.F.F.P., G.M. van der Geest, N.L.M. Gilissen, R.A.J. Pahlplatz, I. Essetti & F. Ayache 2001.

Waterbirds in the Gulf of Gabès and other wetlands in Tunisia, autumn 1999. Zeist, The Neth-

erlands. € 12,-

75. Dijkstra A.J., W. Ganzevles, G.J. Gerritsen & S. de Kort 2002. Waders and waterbirds in the

floodplains of the Logone, Cameroon and Chad, January - February 1999. Zeist, The Nether-

lands. € 9,-

76. Heunks C. & E. Heunks 2002. Distribution and status of Great Bustards Otis tarda in the

Konya Basin, Turkey, spring 2000. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 7,-

77. Willems F., C. van Turnhout, H. van Kleef & R. Felix (eds.) 2002. Breeding birds of Medusa Bay,

Taimyr, Russia. Methods for biological monitoring in the Arctic, with results of 1998 and 1999.


78. Klaassen R.H.G., H. Schekkerman, I. Tulp, M. Berezin, A.G. Bublichenko, J.N. Bublichenko, S.P.

Kharinotov, S. Rosenfeld & S. Khomenko 2003. Monitoring and breeding ecology of arctic birds

at Medusa bay, Taimyr, Russia, in 2000. Zeist, The Netherlands. € 14,-

79. Jalving, R.J.G. & R.T. Vos. 2003. Waterbirds in Lake Orumieh, Iran. September 2000. Zeist, The


80. Deuzeman S.B.,T.M. van der Have, W.T. de Nobel & B. van den Brink 2004. European swal-

lows Hirundo rustica and other songbirds of wetlands in Ghana, December 1997. Zeist, The


81. Hagemeijer E.J.M., C.J. Smit, P. de Boer, A.J. van Dijk, N. Ravenscroft, M.W.J. van Roomen &

M. Wright 2004. Wader and waterbird census at the Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, January 2000.

Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands. € 12,-

82. Ganzevles W. & J. Bredenbeek (eds.) 2004. Waders and waterbirds in the floodplains of the

Logone, Cameroon and Chad, February 2000. Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands. € 8,-


83. Van der Waarde J.J. (ed.) 2007. Waterbird census of coastal Cameroon and Sanaga river, Janu-

ary - March 2007. Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands. € 12,-

84. Van der Winden J., A. Siaka, S. Dirksen & M.J.M. Poot 2007. Waterbirds in coastal wetlands of

Sierra Leone, January - February 2005. Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands. € 8,-

85. Hofland R. & G.O. Keijl 2008. Syrian Sociable Lapwing Survey, 18 February - 5 March 2007.

Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands. € 12,-

These reports can be ordered by paying the mentioned amounts for each required copy, plus € 7,- administration costs for each separate order of WIWO-reports, to postal giro account 2.666.009 or to ABN-Amro bank account 57.02.16.613 of Stichting WIWO, Utrecht, The Netherlands. It is important to mention the numbers of the re-quired reports. Postage for surface mail is included in the prices. The administration costs are required to cover the bank costs for payments from abroad. They are not due for payments from Dutch accounts.

WIWO

Foundation Working Group International Waterbird and Wetland Research

WIWO, a foundation under Dutch law, was established in 1983 to form a unifying centre for Dutch ornithologists participating in ornithological expeditions to West-Africa. The aims of WIWO are to initiate, stimulate and organise scientific research on waterbirds and wetlands worldwide and to transfer the gathered knowledge for the protection of the habitats and bird populations involved. WIWO is an organisa-tion exclusively working with unpaid volunteers with a miscellaneous scientific background. The data collected in the field during WIWO-projects often require laborious efforts at home to evaluate, analyse and report them. Up to 2005 over 80 projects have been carried out in more than 20 countries and over 80 reports pub-lished.

During the expeditions much information has been collected on waterbirds in a large number of wetlands along the entire East Atlantic Flyway, the Mediterranean Flyway, the East-African Flyway, and in the Eurasian Arctic. Furthermore, informa-tion has been collected on function, importance and extent of protection and threats to the wetlands visited. WIWO’s main role is to gather information that will provide a sound basis for the protection of the populations and areas concerned. The results are made available to all organisations and individuals active in nature conservation through a series of reports, as well as through scientific and popular papers. WIWO does not act as co-ordinating organisation such as Birdlife International or IUCN. The main strength of WIWO is its capability to mobilize volunteers with a professional attitude for ornithological research expeditions.

All correspondence should be sent toWIWO, Rijksstraatweg 178, 6573 DG Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands.

For more information, visit us at www.wiwo.org

Back cover: flowering crocus, Ar Ruweira, Syria, 25 February 2007 (Guido Keijl).

During a survey by four Dutch and three Syrian birdwatchers in Syria in February - March 2007, unprecedented numbers of the globally threatened Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius were discovered in the north of the country. A grand total of 1579 was counted at four sites of natural steppe, among which a scattered flock of 710. On 8-9 March about 2000 Sociable Lapwings were reported from this area. This was close to the maximum of the estimated world population (600-1800 birds) at that time. Loss of steppe habitat, intensive grazing, climate change and hunting are probably the main threats for this critically endangered species.

WIWO-report 85

2008

syrian sociable lapwing survey - van tienhoven …syrian sociable lapwing survey 18 february - 5...

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