Abstract
Th e marshlands of Lower Mesopotamia witnessed severe draining programs during late 1980s and early 2000s, which turned vast areas of the former water body into desert areas. New fi eld surveys of birds and their habitats in the marshes of southern Iraq were launched in 2005 through a national and international partnership of non-government organizations, ministries and donor agencies. Th is has resulted in the collection and collation of new data on the status, distribution and habitat requirements of birds and other biota in Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Iraq from 2005 to 2008. Th is paper summarizes the bird data obtained in these surveys in the southern marshes, during which 159 species of birds were recorded; of these 34 are considered to be of conservation concern, including eight that are globally threatened.
Highlights
The focus on birdsBirds have become an important component of the Iraq Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Project that has been conducted by Nature Iraq (NI) since 2004
Salim (2004a, b, c) has previously recorded Marbled Duck in recent years and it is likely that the southern marshes are a major global stronghold for both breeding and wintering birds of this species
Unrecorded in the southern marshes of Iraq, this observation clearly indicates the importance of the area, at least in winter, for a species identified by BirdLife International as globally endangered
Summary
The focus on birdsBirds have become an important component of the Iraq Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Project that has been conducted by Nature Iraq (NI) since 2004. Salim (2004a, b, c) has previously recorded Marbled Duck in recent years and it is likely that the southern marshes are a major global stronghold for both breeding and wintering birds of this species.
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