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Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
The Boðaziçi strait runs north-south for c.33 km, and is c.1.5 km wide. The site includes the forested areas east (Polonezköy Nature Park) and west (Belgrade forest) of the strait, which are known to be of importance to roosting migrants. It does not include the çamlýca hills and the islands in the Sea of Marmara, which would qualify as an IBA in their own right due to the large numbers of migrants passing over, but which provide limited scope for bird conservation.
The site is a major migratory bottleneck, where more than 20,000 storks and raptors regularly pass in spring and autumn. Few counts covering the entire migration period have been undertaken. Total counts made in the mid-1960s and early 1970s and covering the entire autumn migration period are as follows:
Ciconia nigra (8,318),
Ciconia ciconia (338,353),
Pernis apivorus (25,751),
Milvus migrans (2,707),
Buteo buteo (32,895) and
Aquila pomarina (18,898). More recent autumn records include 11,703
Aquila pomarina at çamlýca and 11,379 of the same species at Sarýyer, both on the same day in September 1990.
Ciconia sp. often roost in flocks of thousands in fields outside the city. Disturbance by
Larus cachinnans and possibly pollution are thought to be behind a drastic decline in numbers of breeding
Milvus migrans.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threat is the rapid urban and industrial expansion of Ýstanbul. Mining and road building also result in the loss of natural habitats. The conservation of forested areas on both sides of the strait is crucial, in order to preserve raptor roosting sites. There are isolated instances of raptor persecution.
National Partial
International None3,006 ha of IBA covered by Nature Park (Polonezköy, 3,006 ha). 2,338 ha of IBA covered by Permanent Wildlife Reserve (Sarýyer, 2,338 ha). 5,296 ha of IBA covered by Preservation Forest (Belgrad Ormaný, 5,296 ha). IBA also overlaps with SÝT (Boðaziçi).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Bosphorus (Türkiye). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/bosphorus-iba-türkiye on 23/12/2024.
