A Tour du Valat ornithologist travelled to the Kuriat Islands in Tunisia to complete a mission from 13 to 15 April 2018 on the avifauna of this archipelago made up of two small islands (270 and 50 hectares), located about 20 kilometres from the Cape of Monastir, off the eastern coast of the country.
This mission was organised by the Friends of Birds Association (AAO/BirdLife Tunisia), on behalf of the RAC/SPA (Regional Activity Center for Specially Protected Areas), which is based in Tunis, and the Tunisian coastal protection and development agency (APAL).
Fifteen people participated in the mission, during which over 44 bird species were sighted, scores of migratory birds were ringed, and a census was made for Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) populations, as well as for three priority species under the Barcelona Convention: Scopoli’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), the Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), and the Slender-billed Gull (Chroicocephalus genei).
The AAO is a close and long-standing partner of the Tour du Valat, with which it has regularly conducted bird conservation projects in Tunisia, particularly in the framework of the Mediterranean Waterbird Network (MWO).
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