TEHRAN–The tourism directorate of Rey is set to launch a photography contest on the migratory birds taking refuge in a local wetland.

The Eshqabad Wetland receives birds from the northern countries of Iran in the second half of the year, said Rey’s tourism chief on Saturday.

Birdwatching is one of the main capacities of the region to attract tourists and travelers during the mentioned time, Noruz Taqipur added.

Birdwatching, the observation of live birds in their natural habitat, is a popular pastime and scientific sport that developed almost entirely in the 20th century.

The south Caspian Sea retreats are amongst the most famed heavens for birdwatchers in Iran, usually being dominated by its northerly guests until about mid-May, when the migration season comes to an end. In a wider scene, the mid-winter population of migratory birds is estimated to exceed a million in the whole southern sandy shorelines of the Caspian Sea that spans some 700km.

Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of birds migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by humans, and is driven primarily by the availability of food.

Unsustainable development in Iran has resulted in habitat fragmentation posing a serious threat to migratory birds. Also, anthropogenic disturbances such as agricultural expansion have resulted in dramatic global habitat loss and fragmentation.

Moreover, poaching, overgrazing, and long-standing drought spells have also impacted habitat destruction, which ultimately results in birds’ total extinction.

The most tragic of these was the death of over 30,000 migratory birds in Miankaleh international wetland in late January 2020, which was announced by the veterinary organization that the birds have been killed due to the “botulinum toxin”, but it was finally announced that some fishermen, landowners or hunters may have thrown poison into the water and killed these species.

Dalmatian pelican, Siberian crane, lesser white-fronted goose, and white-headed duck are among the endangered migratory birds which migrate to Iran.

ABU/AM