Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A shallow (0.5-1.2 m) lake with vast reedbeds on its western side in the Khachmas coastal lowland. It is leased by the Hunters' Society of Azerbaijan. The lake area varies from 1,600 to 7,000 ha depending on irrigation and rainfall.
Among breeding species are large colonies of herons (including
Botaurus stellaris,
Ixobrychus minutus and
Ardea purpurea). Porzana parva and
Porphyrio porphyrio also breed. The site is especially important for the autumn migration of waterbirds, more than 70,000-80,000 pass each year, with about 5,000 wildfowl wintering (
Anas platyrhynchos,
A. clypeata,
A. crecca,
A. querquedula,
A. strepera,
Aythya fuligula,
Netta rufina), and up to 5,000
Fulica atra. Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria:
Marmaronetta angustirostris (very rare passage visitor),
Aythya nyroca (two estimates: 5+ breeding pairs; several hundreds breeding).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threat comes from very intensive hunting, this being one of the most visited sites in Azerbaijan (about 225,000 shots per year). There are frequent changes in the water-level (`Other' threat), and it was probably polluted by pesticides from agricultural run-off.
National None
International None
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Divichi liman (or Lake Akzibir) (Azerbaijan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/divichi-liman-(or-lake-akzibir)-iba-azerbaijan on 23/11/2024.
