TEHRAN – Ghouri Gol international wetland in the northwestern East Azarbaijan province is hosting flocks of migratory birds.

Stretching 200 hectares, Ghouri Gol together with the adjacent reed marshes is an important breeding area for waterfowl. A site measuring 1.2 square kilometers was designated as a Ramsar Convention wetland protection site on June 23, 1975.

It is of national and international importance due to being host to a large number of migratory birds.

Birds such as flamingos, coots, ruddy shelduck, and white-headed ducks came to inhibit the wetland, Hassan Abbasnejad, head of the provincial department of environment, said, IRIB reported on Tuesday.

Flamingos are migratory birds that have chosen this area due to the favorable conditions, security, and good water quality of Ghouri Gol wetland, and they are likely to stay for more than a month, he further stated.

Flamingos of the Northern Hemisphere migrate to southern parts after their stay, and due to the temporary resistance, it is not possible for them to reproduce here, Abbasnejad said.

Iran’s bird species

Hosting over 600 species of birds, Iran is a climatically rich country, so it is said that the number of bird species in Iran is higher than in the whole of Europe. A wide range of wetlands is the reason behind migratory birds choosing Iran for an annual wintering habitat, as a large number of birds fly a thousand miles each year to benefit from this rich climate.

Every year, from early September to late February, Iran hosts rare species of migratory birds heading from north to the southern countries due to reduced seasonal temperatures and food availability.

It is estimated that there are about 50 billion birds in the world out of 9,000 species, many of which are migratory. Accordingly, about five to seven million birds migrate to Iran in different seasons. There are about 530 species of birds in Iran, 320 of which are migratory species, some of which are native species.

Among the various groups of migratory birds wintering in Iran, the largest population belongs to the group of geese, swans, and ducks amounting to 781,499 and the smallest population of seven are the long-tailed ducks or oldsquaw.

The provinces of Mazandaran and Golestan are the first provinces with the highest number of migratory birds for having sufficient resources, as the movement of migratory birds is closely linked to the seasonal availability of resources.

FB/MG