Critically Endangered Northern bald ibis rear two healthy young

Syrian unrest doesn't hamper recovery of Middle East's rarest bird

July 2011. Conservationists have feared that Syria's current political unrest may have affected the fortunes of the northern bald ibis - currently the most threatened bird in the Middle East with just one breeding pair left.

There are just 3 remaining wild Northern Bald ibis in Syria. Credit RSPBimages.com

But counter to the trepidation, for the first time in the last three years the remaining pair has successfully reared two healthy young, which have left the nest and have begun their migration to the highlands of Ethiopia.

Teetering on the verge of extinction
Chris Bowden is the RSPB's international species recovery officer, coordinating the northern bald ibis programme for BirdLife International. He said: "This species has teetered on the brink of extinction in the Middle East for several years, but we're delighted to report that the fledging of two chicks has reignited our hopes for the recovery of this bird." The Syrian Desert Commission has successfully protected the birds. The northern bald ibis - named for its distinctive bald-headed appearance - is distantly related to storks, herons and spoonbills.

Symbol of the Pharaohs
Chris Bowden added: "This species has been an important cultural and religious icon in the Middle East and it had special significance to the Egyptian Pharaohs, but now it has become a symbol of optimism too.

Tracing their migration
"As we trace their migration route across the Middle East, we have colleagues across the region poised to monitor them on their journey. However, difficulties, such as petrol shortages are confounding our efforts. One of our Yemeni colleagues was forced to wait nine-hours for fuel before starting to search for the birds!"

Feared extinct until 2002

The wild population of northern bald ibis was feared extinct in the Middle East, when in 2002 birds were found nesting in the mountains of Syria, near Palmyra - after not being seen in Syria for 70 years. Since then conservationists have sought to give the birds protection by working with local people and by using state-of-the-art technology to track the birds' movements. This research has identified that the Syrian adult birds head to the highlands of Ethiopia to spend the winter, but where the juveniles go still remains a mystery.

Critically Endangered
The Critically Endangered northern bald ibis was once widespread across North Africa and the Middle East. Aside from Syria, the only other nesting population occurs in Morocco, where just over 100 breeding pairs still occur in two coastal locations near Agadir, on the Atlantic coast. The outlying birds in Syria will be an important addition but only if the population can be sustained.

Two of the three adult birds carry tracking devices and their daily progress can be followed by visiting the following website: www.rspb.org.uk/ibistracking and for more background visit www.iagnbi.org

Captive birds released in 2010

Despite apparently breeding well, and rearing plnety of chicks, the colony has dwindled from 7 birds in 2002 to just 3 in 2011. So in 2010 2 birds from the small captive population in Turkey were relased alongside the Syrian birds, but sadly it appears that they didn't survive their first winter migration, though it is possible that they have just got lost - Their transmitters stopped working last autumn. The lone chick reared by the wild birds in 2010 was found dead during the migration - He was very undernourished.

Two birds have fledged from the nest in 2011 and they both seemed healthy when they left on their migration, so it is hoped that they will survive their winter migration.

Their were unconfirmed reports of 3 unringed birds spotted in Ethiopa last winter - It is just possible that they are juveniles that fledged in 2007 in Syria but have not (yet) returned there.