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

Site description (1994 baseline)
A relatively well-wooded mountain area, centred on the village of Slenfeh c.20 km north-east of Al-Ladhiqiyah (Lattakia), on the western slopes of the Jibal al-Nusayriyah range. The woodland is dominated by Abies and Cedrus. The area is generally densely populated with small settlements.

Key biodiversity
Pyman (1953) estimated ('probably conservatively') that several hundred large raptors per day passed south through the area during late September. The raptor stream observed here is presumably a continuation of that which passes through the bottleneck site of Belen in southern Turkey, where at least 30,000 raptors and more than 100,000 Ciconia ciconia pass through per autumn (Sutherland and Brooks 1981), and birds have been seen moving on south from Jibal al-Nusayriyah into the Lebanese mountains. The predominant raptors in September are Pernis apivorus, Aquila pomarina and Accipiter brevipes. The raptor migration also occurs in spring. Breeding species include Hieraaetus fasciatus (common in the 1940s but no recent records), Alectoris chukar, Coturnix coturnix, Tachymarptis melba, Lullula arborea, Luscinia megarhynchos, Sylvia communis, Lanius nubicus (very common), Corvus corax, Emberiza caesia and E. melanocephala.

Non-bird biodiversity: No information available to BirdLife International.

Acknowledgements
Data-sheet compiled by M. I. Evans.

Attributes
Raptors MOU - IBA listed under Table 3 of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Jabal Slenfeh (Syria). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jabal-slenfeh-iba-syria on 23/12/2024.