Eurasia’s Most Underrated Destination For Birdwatching

Throughout a visit to Azerbaijan, guests to the capital metropolis of Baku can discover eccentric fashionable structure, vibrant bazaars, and a historic walled metropolis—however past the municipality’s borders, there’s a wealth of wildlife simply ready to be found. Whereas ibex, wildcats, and brown bears are only a few of the mammals that decision the nation dwelling, Azerbaijan can be a very underrated vacation spot for birdwatching, drawing avian-focused organizations from throughout the globe to come across uncommon species firsthand.

“Azerbaijan has an unimaginable variety of habitats and fowl species crammed into a really small nation,” says Tomas Axén Haraldsson, a Swedish worldwide birdwatching tourism professional. “Inside a few hours driving from the capital Baku you attain each excessive alpine zones within the Higher Caucasus, desert-like steppe, enormous wetlands, flowering foothills and dense forests. All with its set of engaging birds and through per week in Could you possibly can see as much as 230 totally different species, a lot of that are very tough to see elsewhere.”

Along with the wealthy avian biodiversity discovered throughout the nation, Haraldsson additionally notes that Azerbaijan is a very viable vacation spot for recognizing species which have been pushed from components of Western Europe by habitat loss, together with the Eurasian hoopoe and European curler. Past these few species, the exclave of Nakhchivan presents the chance to identify the Mongolian finch and see-see partridge, whereas the Caucasus area as a complete is dwelling to endemics starting from the Caucasian black grouse to the Caucasian snowcock—however throughout autumn specifically, there’s one pure characteristic that’s an absolute must-visit for seasoned birders.

Often known as Besh Barmag, this 1,253-foot-tall mountain serves as an necessary stopover level for migratory species, with greater than 100,000 particular person birds showing within the space in simply sooner or later. Whereas the height attracts guests from all throughout the globe, it’s additionally a very in style web site for native birders—a lot of which supply excursions to visiting naturalists and outside adventurers alike.

“At Besh we noticed primarily wetland species and passerine migrants,” states Zülfü Ferecli, an Azerbaijani native who’s been providing birding excursions of the world for the previous 5 years. “Nevertheless, for me, the enjoyable is the sudden ‘popping up’ of uncommon species just like the houbara bustard and black-winged kite.”

Whereas these two varieties are significantly uncommon to identify, they’re removed from the one megaticks discovered throughout the area. For fellow regional tour information Abdin Abbasov, earlier uncommon sightings have ranged from the pallid harrier—a raptor that sometimes spends its winters in South Asia—to the black stork, whereas garganeys and all kinds of terns, gulls, and wagtails may be noticed regularly throughout migration season.

Although Besh Barmag is actually considered one of Azerbaijan’s most coveted locations for birding, it’s removed from the one spot value visiting throughout a visit to the nation. For Abbasov, preserves just like the wetland-rich Agh Gol Nationwide Park, picturesque Ajinohur Lake, and flamingo-laden Ghizil-Agaj State Reserve are all useful locations for these wishing so as to add to their life listing, whereas Ferecli is a fan of his dwelling area specifically.

“As a ‘native’ man from Nakhchivan, I’ve to vote for Nakhchivan for its native ‘style’ and specific birds,” he says. “Nevertheless, the Caucasus mountains [including the district of Quba] in addition to Lerik within the far south are additionally particular.”