Ongoing Middle East conflict certain to take its toll on nature - including birds of many species

                                                

Birdlife in jeopardy - the zone of conflict (image: Wikimedia Commons)

THE spring conflict in the Middle East has brought needless of life for many entirely innocent humans.

And once the hostilities are over, ornithologists will doubtless seek to assess the impact on nature and birdlife.

At this time of year, thousands of northerly-heading migrants are settling - to feed and roost - in the area around Strait of Hormuz which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.

Kharg  Island - which President Trump has in his sights - is a particular hotspot because it provides not just vegetation habitat but also fresh water.

It is feared that hundreds of  birds will already have lost their lives to ballistic missile explosions or as a result of plumage contamination from tankers leaking oil into waterways having been damaged by explosives.

The most conspicuous bird on Kharg Island is the House Crow, but other birds to be seen in and around this part of the region include Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit and Black-tailed Godwit which may be familiar in many parts of Britain but were already regarded as "near threatened" in this part of Arabia even before the current troubles.

Another wader, the Curlew-sandpiper, is deemed vulnerable.

Meanwhile, hereabouts the  Wilson's Petrel, Persian Shearwater and Lesser Frigatebird are classified as rare/accidental.

Normally more conspicuous, at least on migration, are likely to be the following: 

Gray Francolin

Collared-Dove

Laughing Dove

Crowned Sandgrouse

Alpine Swift

Common Swift

Pallid Swift

Little Swift

Eurasian Thick-knee

Black-winged Stilt

Black-bellied Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Red-wattled Lapwing

Tibetan Sand-Plover

Greater Sand-Plover

Kentish Plover

Terek Sandpiper

Whimbrel

Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Marsh Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Greenshank

Sanderling

Slender-billed Gull

Pallas's Gull

Bridled Tern

Little Tern

Saunders's Tern

Whiskered Tern

Lesser Crested Tern

Greater Flamingo

Glossy Ibis

Little Heron

Squacco Heron

Dalmatian Pelican

Osprey

Egyptian Vulture

Pallid Harrier

Spotted Owlet

Common Hoopoe

Asian Green Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

White-throated Kingfisher

Red-tailed Shrike

Isabelline Shrike

Woodchat Shrike

 Brown-necked Raven

Desert Lark

Crested Lark

White-eared Bulbul

Asian Desert Warbler

Spotted Flycatcher

Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin

Bluethroat

Black Redstart

Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush

Isabelline Wheatear

Hooded Wheatear

Desert Wheatear

Purple Sunbird

Citrine Wagtail

Tawny Pipit

Common Chaffinch

Mongolian Finch

Striolated Bunting

To a lesser or greater extent, all birdlife in around the Gulf regionwill inevitably be affected if the conflict continues.

Whimbrel - one of the wader species to be seen in the Gulf