Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The Chott de Tinnsilt (‘Les Lacs’) lies about 60 km south of the town of Constantine in the depression between the coastal range of mountains to the north (the Petite Kabylie) and the Massif de l’Aurès to the south. It consists of a shallow basin fed by springs and rainwater run-off and fringed with
Salicornia sp., and contains islands also covered in
Salicornia sp. The southern end of the site runs into an extensive marsh around Chott Gadaine/Taricht, and lies very close to another wetland, Sebkhet Ez-Zemoul (site DZ012), from which it is separated by the main N3 road running south from Constantine to Batna. The water is saline and salt is harvested on the western shore of the basin: there are also abandoned salines to the south-east. Generally flat arable land and stony desert surround the site.
See Box for key species. Although there is only one count of
Tadorna tadorna which exceeds the IBA threshold, this is a recent record and it seems likely that the site will prove to be regularly important for this species if repeat winter surveys are carried out. In the winter of 1991/92, significant numbers of
Tadorna tadorna were also counted on the neighbouring wetland, Sebkhet Ez-Zemoul (site DZ012). It is likely that birds move between these two sites due to their proximity and the fact that they may be disturbed from Sebkhet Ez-Zemoul by hunting. Other wintering ducks include
Anas penelope (up to 3,000),
A. crecca (up to 5,500),
A. acuta (2,400) and
A. clypeata (up to 2,000). Other species observed wintering on the site in 1991 included 34
Phoenicopterus ruber. There were also several hundred ‘small waders’
Calidris/
Charadrius spp. on this site, combined with the connected marsh (Gadaine/Taricht) to the south, including c.900
Calidris minuta and c.70
Charadrius alexandrinus on Gadaine/Taricht.
Numenius tenuirostris was also reported from nearby Chott Gadaine in 1989 (no information on numbers), but the record remains unconfirmed.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Hunting was observed on the neighbouring wetland of Sebkhet Ez-Zemoul (site DZ012) in winter 1990 and 1991; it is probable that these two sites (sites DZ011 and DZ012) are linked ornithologically, as they are separated only by a main road and birds may move between the two sites, especially if disturbed.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Chott de Tinnsilt (Algeria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/chott-de-tinnsilt-iba-algeria on 23/11/2024.
