Ornithologists “hit jackpot” on sightings of Critically
Endangered bird Damascus, Syria: A small expedition team
travelling across Syria today announced the discovery of the
largest wintering population of one of Eurasia’s most endangered
birds, the Sociable Lapwing.  Previous estimates placed the
global population of this Critically Endangered species at
between 400 and 1500 individuals. However the expedition team
reported seeing over 1200 birds in one day and over 1500 in
total during the trip, all within a few grassland sites in
Northern Syria. The finding gives tremendous encouragement to
conservationists working to save the bird across Central Asia
(where it is a summer resident) and the Middle East (where the
bird winters). “It’s a finding that every ornithologist dreams
of when starting out on an expedition like this.” said Remco
Hofland, a Dutch ornithologist who led the Syrian Sociable
Lapwing Team, made up of Dutch and Syrian birdwatchers. “We had
spent the morning looking at a number of areas that