Izmir Kuscenneti, a coastal wetland, located on Gediz Delta. This wetland exhibits an enormous variety of water birds, despite the city in the vicinity, including breeding colonies of Pelicans and Greater Flamingoes. Other species can be named here black vulture (kara akbaba ) and golden eagle (kaya kartali).
Yumurtalik, Akyatan and Agyatan habitats are also wetlands places of extreme importance for wintering waterfowl in cold winters.
Egirdir and Beysehir lakes, are located to the Northwest of Taurus mountains, part of the seven lakes region, and are resting points for migratory birds. Eregli Sazliklari (marshland) on the North of middle Taurus range, has fresh and salt water ecosystems and of course a variety of bird species. The lakes of Karamuk, Eber and Aksehir are freshwater wetlands at the west part of Central Anatolia. They are the favorite localities of wintering geese.
Tuz Gölü, a saltwater lake and the second largest lake of the country, is a place to look for Greater Flamingoes, Cranes, Avocets, Geese, Gulls and other waterbirds.
Rivers
There are a number of major river systems in Turkey, including the world famous Euphrates and many lesser known ones. Many of these have deltas including the Kyzylyrmak and the Göksu which are very important habitats.
Mountains
Turkey has many mountain ranges, where the alpine meadows and forested lower slopes are home to many species of bird. The Kackar mountains in the North East of the country are particularly interesting, with many endemic wildflower species, as well as many woodland and alpine bird species.
Many of the mountains are extensively forested, especially those in the black sea region. One forest of particular importance is located at Soguksu National park, close to the capital Ankara. Another is the large Olympos national park near Antalya, an extensive pine forest that extends from the mountains down to the sea.
Sea Shores
Turkey has over 8000 km of coastline, covering sandy beaches, cliffs, salt marshes and more. These coastline are home to many species of sea bird, including many species of gull, cormorants and waders of all kinds. Despite encroachment by tourist industry development, you can still find many areas where birds outnumber sunburned tourists.
Spring Time
Spring is the best time to see Turkey' s birds. The season also falls outside of peak holiday season, and therefore cheaper and less hassle. Spring is also the time to experience the best weather, before the real hot summer sunshine, makes activity seem less appealing.
Mid March to mid April, millions of birds will make their way across the sea from Africa, and for a few short months, add their numbers to those birds already here. Courtship, nesting and hatching will fill the air with birdsong.
Turkey's position, being at the interfaces of Europe, Asia and Africa, has made it a unique place in the world with marshes, swamps, lakes, fresh and saltwater lakes and rivers for watching birds. Being on the way of two of the four main bird migration routes, in spring and autumn millions of many species such as dalmatian Pelican, night heron, squacco heron, spoonbill, cormorant, ruddy duck, flamingos, black vulture, black vulture, wetland, and more fly over or stop in Turkey. The migrating birds alone make the country an exceptional place for bird watchers. In spring migratory birds fly northwards from Africa to Asia and Europe, and in autumn they leave their breeding grounds to fly south to Africa again. One of these migration routes leads south from Hopa in northeast Turkey along the Çoruh river valley into Eastern Anatolia, passing through Kahramanmaras and Antakya in Southeast Turkey. Most of the birds which take this route through the Coruh River valley are birds of prey, and at around 250,000. This is the largest migratory group of birds of prey in the world.
However, the most spectacular migration in Turkey is the flight of storks down the Bosphorus in Istanbul in spring and autumn. Over a quarter million storks fly in clouds over the city in the course of a few weeks. Some species of birds of prey also migrate along the Bosphorus.
