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 In
August/September 2006
AEWA reported of Sultan, Salam and Zenobia, three
Northern Bald Ibises (Geronticus eremita)
of a critically endangered bird family and members of a
recently discovered wild population of bird species in Syria.
The three species are also research subjects of a RSPB and
National Geographic Society survey aiming to reveal the
mystery of where these birds spend their winter.
RSPB now announced the results of the nine-months
tracking project, in which the three birds were fitted with
satellite tags. Sultan, Salam and Zenobia re-appeared in
Palmyra, Syria after having flown more than 3800 miles across
seven countries on their migration route spending the winter
in the Ethiopian highlands 50 miles from the country’s
capital Addis Ababa. “The birds’ return is fantastic
news and a huge relief”, says Dr Ken Smith, a senior
scientist at the RSPB. “Knowing the migration route
is a major breakthrough and means we can now tackle the
huge challenge of protecting the birds throughout the year.
The next riddle we must solve is where the young birds go
and how we can safeguard them as well!” Tagging a
young bird in Palmyra is the task for the summer.
 RSPB
had registered nine young Northern Bald Ibis in Syria last
summer, but none of them were recognized in the wintering
grounds, so it is supposed that they are using different
over-wintering sites. “Tracking a young bird should
solve this new mystery and perhaps broaden the level of
the protection the colony needs.” said Paul Buckley,
International Officer at the RSPB.
Most of the Northern Bald Ibises known
to still live in the wild come from the western population
primarily found in Morocco. The three birds currently being
tracked via satellite are from the eastern population, which
was first discovered in 2002 and primarily found in Syria.
Yet until now very little is known about where these birds
migrate to and where they spend the winter.
AEWA is one of the donors of this project,
which will contribute to filling an important knowledge
gap regarding the annual migration route of this small eastern
population. The new scientific results will hopefully also
help focus conservation efforts and indirectly give some
attention to all the few remaining populations of Northern
Bald Ibises mainly found in Morocco, Syria and Turkey.
Further Information:
- RSPBs satellite tracking map for the three NBIs
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