LOCAL SERVICES

BIRDS IN SARIGERME

I am not a Bird Expert , nor I do know a Bird Watch Guide in this region. However, I will be more then happy if you share your knowledge on this page regarding Birds Species in South West Turkey. I have tried my best to gather some information about the birds seen in and around Sarigerme, I hope this will help. Also just a quick note, past last few summers I have spotted vast amount of King Fishers at Dalyan River, it was absolute great joy to watch these fantastic hunters.

Oh, i must mention the Storks in area too as they visit between mid April to late August and dominate the skys, rather georgeous birds..

Storks, are probabely the migratory birds which can feel the safest in Anatolia. In the countries which they cross on migration they are hunted everywhere. However, they are known as "pilgrim birds" in Turkey, so that they are regarded as guests in Anatolia.

Unlike other birds they build their nests on village houses, mosques and electric poles and they are likely to accept nests manufactured by human hand (on the roofs) for living.

We can divide the complete European population (90% of the world population is in Europe) into two separate groups, the western one and the eastern one. The western population breeds in Western and Northern Europe.

It spends the winters between the regions of Chad and Senegal. The eastern group which comes also here into Turkey spends its winters in East and South Africa.The estimated number of couples which come for breeding to Turkeyamounts to 15,000 - 35,000 approximately, the number of the European couples altogether amounts to 120,000 - 150.000. The breeding grounds in our country are usually situated in low wetlands at brooks or fields (preferred regions are nearby rivers and seas) and the food consists mainly of frogs, earthworms, beetles and beetle larvae as well as lizards and mice. Of course such food can be found best in wetlands . A strong fall in the stork population was noticed in Turkey in the last decade. We saw more and more empty nests in the villages every year. The most important reason for this decay was that the breeding places were destroyed as well as wetlands were drained and later used for agricultural purposes.

The enormous increase of the use of Pesticides in the agriculture in the consequence also led to a lower population of the storks in Turkey. The high voltage wires and the masts which have been provided for the villages are another reason. The animals came to death if they approached their nests. As population falls as well as in our country as in all of Eastern Europe,a more conscious use of Pesticides, the intensification of the conservation work and an improved protection of the wetlands could help the storks .

Further knowledge, public awareness and protection work are required in Turkey. Improved knowledge and support of the public are necessary to secure the future of the storks.

Species List in and around Sarigerme :

King Fisher - not as common (however, I have seen almost every day on Dalyan River in 2007 and 2008)
Greater Flamingo - not as common as you'd expect
Purple Heron - very common around the whole area
Grey Heron - not as common as Purple Herons
Squacco Heron - not as common as you'd expect
Little Egret - very common in the area; seen regularly in the wetlands
White Stork - extremely common everywhere in and around Sarigerme.
Mallard - not as common as you'd expect
Golden Eagle – Very rare
Long Legged Buzzard - not as common as you'd expect
Common Buzzard - not as common as you'd expect
Lanner Falcon - not as common as you'd expect
Red Footed Falcon - not as common as you'd expect
Kestrel - very common; seen most days and in most areas around sarigerme
Lesser Kestrel - not as common as you'd expect
Little Owl - common around Sarigerme
Scops Owl - common; heard all over the place (even in daylight)
Coot - not as common as you'd expect
Kentish Plover - not as common as you'd expect
Woodpigeon - fairly common in the farmland areas
Collared Dove - very common everywhere!
Swift - small numbers
Alpine Swift - not as common as you'd expect
Swallow – Very Common ,nesting everywhere
House Martin - common in amongst the swallows.
Roller - not as common as you'd expect
Jay - not as common as you'd expect
Red Backed Shrike - not as common as you'd expect (they were everywhere in the past)
Crested Lark - common on farmland areas
Isabelline Wheatear - not as common as you'd expect
Yellow Wagtail - not as common as you'd expect
Rufus Bushchat - common in the farmland areas.
Reed Warbler - common everywhere
Black-headed Bunting - not as common as you'd expect
Blue Rock Thrush - not as common as you'd expect
Rock Nuthatch - not as common as you'd expect
Spotted Flycatcher - not as common as you'd expect
Raven - not as common as you'd expect
Hooded Crow - very common and seen everywhere, especially farmland and rubbish dump.
Penduline Tit –Unfortunately not as common as you'd expect
Great Tit - common.
Greenfinch - 1 or 2 seen in trees .
Goldfinch - common in the fields.
Redpoll - not as common as you'd expect
House Sparrow - very common everywhere.

KOYCEGIZ LAKE (about 45 minutes away from Sarigerme)

Surface Area : 8000
Altitude: Sea level
Protection: Yes
Bird Species in Koycegiz Lake : It hosts huge number of wintering water birds, including cormorant, little cormorant, red crested pochard (Macar ördegi in turkish) and wildgoose (sakarmekesi in turkish) (max. 34.120).
Main Characteristics: sweet water lake, swamp

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