Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!eru!hagbard!sunic!news.funet.fi!ra!misan From: misan@ra.abo.fi (Annika Forsten DC) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: Bird War Victims Message-ID: Date: 29 Jan 91 14:25:39 GMT References: <11153@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> <339@tivoli.UUCP> Sender: misan@ra.abo.fi Organization: Abo Academy, Finland Lines: 64 In-reply-to: lark@tivoli.UUCP's message of 28 Jan 91 22:48:14 GMT In article <339@tivoli.UUCP> lark@tivoli.UUCP (Lar Kaufman) writes: > Another potential problem is one that we (unfortunately) have plenty > of experience of in Texas. Birds, particularly waterfowl and the hawks > that prey on them, mistake pools of oil for pools of water. The toll is > hard to evaluate, because the owners of these oil pits here are in > violation of certain laws. However, if pools of oil appear on a migration > path where water is generally scarce, you can expect that many birds > will be lost. This oil is in the sea though, not on land, so hopefully there won't be mistakes like that. But there may be, if the war lasts through the spring. The area is on an important migration route and if it is likely that there will be oil pools before long, isn't it? > I am not aware of the flyways used by birds migrating between Africa and > Europe and Asia, but I'd like to know more about this. The most important for Europe is by way of Sinai and Israel. Eilat is a great place to watch the migration. Part of the birds, especially those that breed in Asia, fly via the Arabian peninsula. Where they cross depends on the size of the bird, whether they soar or not and whether it is spring or autumn. Part of the birds flying north cross from the tip of Oman to south Iran, others probably follow the Arabian shore northwards and fly straight into the war zone. To get to the Arabian peninsula they'll have to cross from Djibouti to Yemen first, those that fly to Egypt and cross the Sinai are probably safer, but part of those will be going east after passing Eilat, hopefully their route will take them north of the war zone. I don't think there are any Pygmy Cormorants in the area, they breed in Israel and Turkey. Here's some of the info in Twitching 11/87 and Birding World 1/88. There is one large area of mudflats mentioned, the Sulaibikhat, which is situated immediately west of Kuwait City (in the bay). If the maps they've shown of the spill are correct, this area is not (yet) in danger. Kubbar Island is situated north-east of Ahmadi (south of Kuwait City) and is a breeding bird island. Species include Bridled and Lesser Crested Terns. This island may already be polluted, but it may have escaped so far. It is rather far away from land, about directly south of the Iranian border. All the other sites mentioned in the article seem to be more inland and thus hopefully out of danger. Another island is mentioned as a possible breeding site for Red-billed Tropicbird, Crab Plover, herons, Flamingo, but the island is inaccesible so this information has not been updated. This island, Bubiyan, is situated in the north end of the gulf, between Kuwait and Iraq. Swift and White-cheeked Terns as well as Socotra Cormorants are seen offshore in the summer. At Sulaibikhat there are Crab Plovers (hundreds), Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers, Marsh and Terek Sandpipers, Slender-billed Gulls, Great Black-headed Gull, Caspian, Gull-billed and White-cheeked Terns and sometimes Pacific Golden Plover. I've no info about the Arabian coast. Correction to my Egyptian report. In the itinerary section I mentioned Egyptian Plover, it should of course be Kittlitz Plover, Egyptian Plover is extinct in Egypt. (Kittlitz Plover is Egyptintylli (Egyptian Plover) in Finnish, hence the mistake.) Annika Forsten, Finland