• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

The site was identified as important in 1994 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List1	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Sand Partridge Ammoperdix heyi	LC	resident	1991	50 breeding pairs	B3
Common Crane Grus grus	LC	passage	1991	250-400 individuals	A4i, B1i
Asian Houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii	VU	resident	1991	3 breeding pairs	B2
Black Stork Ciconia nigra	LC	passage	1991	200 individuals	B1i
White Stork Ciconia ciconia	LC	passage	1991	8,200-33,400 individuals	A4i, B1i, B2
Pallid Scops-owl Otus brucei	LC	winter	1991	1-5 individuals	B3
Desert Tawny Owl Strix hadorami	LC	resident	1991	2-5 breeding pairs	B3
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus	EN	breeding	1991	24 breeding pairs	B2
Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus	LC	resident	1991	3 breeding pairs	B2
Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus	LC	winter	1991	60-100 individuals	B2
Sooty Falcon Falco concolor	VU	breeding	1991	20 breeding pairs	B2
Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus	LC	resident	1991	3-7 breeding pairs	B2
Arabian Babbler Argya squamiceps	LC	resident	1991	7 breeding pairs	B3
Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe monacha	LC	winter	1991	4 individuals	B3
Sinai Rosefinch Carpodacus synoicus	LC	resident	1991	10 breeding pairs	B2
A4iv Species group - soaring birds/cranes	n/a	passage	1991	36,000 individuals	A4iv, B1iv

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (1994) may differ.

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1966	Avdat	National Park	1
1972	En Avdat	National Park	2
1984	Helmoniyyot Rekhes Boqer	Nature Reserve	<1
1989	Mazuq HaZinnim	Nature Reserve	52
1989	Har Ha Negev	Nature Reserve	-
2007	Gan Hapsalim	National Park	9

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Desert		98
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land, Plantations	2
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		minor (<10)
Wetlands (inland)	Freshwater springs & oases	minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	54
military	major (>10)
tourism/recreation	major (>10)
rangeland/pastureland	minor (<10)
agriculture	minor (<10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cliffs of Zin and the Negev highlands (Israel). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cliffs-of-zin-and-the-negev-highlands-iba-israel on 23/11/2024.