Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Mornaguia reservoir is a recently built reservoir, located 12 km west of Tunis and surrounded by agricultural land. Water is pumped into it from dams in the national water grid, so that water-levels fluctuate considerably and there is little natural vegetation except where a stream flows in; here stands of
Phragmites australis,
Typha angustifolia,
Inula viscosa and
Juncus species occur. As one of the few freshwater lakes in the area it attracts a variety of migrants, especially in late summer when other sites are dry.
See Box for key species.
Oxyura leucocephala is present throughout the year and may breed, although numbers are often highest in late summer and autumn, suggesting through-passage.
Marmaronetta angustirostris is regularly present in summer and probably breeds, as do
Tachybaptus ruficollis,
Podiceps cristatus and
Fulica atra. In late summer there are considerable concentrations of waders,
Glareola pratincola,
Chlidonias niger and
Sterna nilotica;
S. nilotica and
G. pratincola may breed in favourable years. Up to several hundred
Aythya nyroca occur in late summer, presumably migrants stopping to moult, and a few (up to 20) stay through the winter. Other wintering waterbirds include
Aythya ferina,
Anas platyrhynchos,
A. strepera,
A. acuta,
A. crecca and
Fulica atra.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Hunting of waterbirds on the reservoir, although illegal, occurs and is the main threat.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Barrage Mornaguia (Tunisia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/barrage-mornaguia-iba-tunisia on 23/11/2024.
