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

The site was identified as important in 2004 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
Great White Egret Ardea alba	LC	breeding	2003-2004	200-500 individuals	A4i
Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus	NT	breeding	2003	50-100 individuals	A1
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo	LC	breeding	2003-2004	1,500-4,000 individuals	A4i
Pallas's Gull Larus ichthyaetus	LC	breeding	2003-2004	2,000-4,500 individuals	A4i

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2004) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2004. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Mute Swan Cygnus olor	1,008	352	individuals	35	very unfavourable
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula	200	50	individuals	25	very unfavourable
Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna	163	688	individuals	100	favourable
Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina	1,470	720	individuals	49	unfavourable
Garganey Spatula querquedula	1	10	individuals	100	favourable
Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata	1	300	individuals	100	favourable
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos	50	2	individuals	4	very unfavourable
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus	1	600	individuals	100	favourable
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra	990	220	individuals	23	very unfavourable
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea	160	306	individuals	100	favourable
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea	20	30	individuals	100	favourable
Great White Egret Ardea alba	843	720	individuals	86	near favourable
Little Egret Egretta garzetta	99	50	individuals	51	unfavourable
Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus	1,725	60	individuals	4	very unfavourable
Pygmy Cormorant Microcarbo pygmaeus	2,000	2,650	individuals	100	favourable
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo	1,291	420	individuals	33	very unfavourable
Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa	1	230	individuals	100	favourable
Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus	2,210	480	individuals	22	very unfavourable
Pallas's Gull Larus ichthyaetus	5,035	1,050	individuals	21	very unfavourable
Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans	781	167	individuals	22	very unfavourable
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia	3,000	200	individuals	7	very unfavourable
Western Marsh-harrier Circus aeruginosus	2	2	individuals	100	favourable

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	negligible

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1978	Northen Part of Caspian Sea	State Reservation	15
2009	Ural River Delta and adjacent Caspian Sea coast	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	82
2009	Akzhayik	State Nature Reserve	82

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Wetlands (inland)	Rivers & streams, Standing fresh water, Water-fringe vegetation, Standing brackish & salt water	85
Desert	Desert & semi-desert - clay	15

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	100
fisheries/aquaculture	50

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Delta of the Ural River (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/delta-of-the-ural-river-iba-kazakhstan on 23/11/2024.