Census studies for the endangered White-headed duck, common pochard, and ferruginous duck have begun in Van. Water bird counting in the Van Lake basin began during the protection-control and monitoring activities included in the Van Nature Conservation and National Parks Provincial Branch Directorate’s 2022 activity plan. Bird Specialist Biologist Ömral Ünsal Özkoç started bird counting in the Çelebibağ wetland area within the borders of Erciş district.
Bird Specialist-Biologist Ömral Ünsal Özkoç, who carry out the bird counts, said, “We are conducting a study for endangered species in Van Lake and all the wetlands around it. Our target species are 3 duck species for this region. These are White-headed duck, common pochard, and ferruginous duck. Especially for White-headed duck, Van stands at an important point both for the geography we are in and for the world. It has a sizeable breeding population here,” he said.
The counting will take more than a week, Özkoç added.
Şükrü Akyüz – Murat Kalkan