Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
Lake Kobi (Ghopi Bob Ali) is a shallow, eutrophic, fresh to brackish lake with seasonally flooded marshes, on the plains 30 km south of Lake Uromiyeh and c.25 km north-east of Mahabad. The wetland receives its water from local rainfall, several springs, seepages and temporary watercourses fed by snow-melt, overflowing when full into marshland to the north and west. It regularly freezes in winter. The lake supports abundant submerged vegetation; there are extensive sedge marshes around much of the shore, and
Phragmites beds occur in the south and to the north-west, together with some grassland. The whole area is surrounded by rolling steppic hills, with scattered settlements and cultivation to the north and south. Grazing of livestock and wildfowl hunting occur. Land ownership is public.
See box for key species. The marshes support a variety of breeding waterfowl, notably
Nycticorax nycticorax,
Ardeola ralloides,
Egretta garzetta,
Plegadis falcinellus and
Aythya nyroca, and there was a breeding colony of
Podiceps nigricollis at the lake in 1972. The lake is an extremely important staging area for ducks,
Fulica atra and shorebirds in autumn, regularly holding in excess of 100,000 birds. Species in especially high numbers have included
Phoenicopterus ruber,
Anas querquedula,
A. clypeata,
Aythya ferina and
F. atra. Large numbers of ducks and
F. atra stay on through very mild winters when the lake remains unfrozen. However the figures for
F. atra given below date from the 1970s, and in recent years less than 2,000 have been recorded, a major decline.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The lake was designated a Ramsar Site in 1975, but there is no legal protection. No threats to the site are known.
Data-sheet compiled by Dr D. A. Scott, reviewed by Dept of Environment.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lake Kobi (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lake-kobi-iba-iran-islamic-republic-of on 23/12/2024.
