Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
An area of reclaimed marshland on the Great Plain, bordered by the River Berettyó in the east, the River Körös in the south, the Hortobágy-Berettyó Canal in the west, and the ó-Berettyó Canal in the north. Secondary saline grasslands and arable lands exist on poor soil. Human activities include cattle- and sheep-grazing, haymaking, goose-farming and arable farming.
An important area for farmland birds, associated with extensive forms of land-use, including the most significant local population of
Otis tarda in Hungary. Daily maximum totals of between 1,500 and 2,000
Grus grus have been recorded migrating over the Hortobágy-Berettyó Canal. Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria:
Haliaeetus albicilla (4-12 wintering birds).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The conservation authority runs a farming business within the National Park, and is therefore able to minimize the threat posed to
Otis tarda by mechanical cultivation. Drainage and drought threaten wetlands, whilst farmland habitats could be lost if agriculture were to become economically viable. Two artificially flooded meadows provide habitat for waders, and there is a management plan dating from the late 1970s.
National Partial
International None12,144 ha of IBA covered by National Park (Körös-Maros, 42,636 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ecseg Pusztas of Dévaványa (Hungary). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ecseg-pusztas-of-dévaványa-iba-hungary on 23/11/2024.
