of all species. Ilhami Kiziroglu's book was published by the Hacetepe University 
and is primarily for students' use. 
Nihat Turn published his book privately, but as he is president of Turke/ s largest 
hunters' club, hunters are the main address for the book. Although neither book 
is free of inaccuracies and mistakes, it is encouraging to see the growing interest 
in birds in Turkey even among organisations which do not have close contacts 
with international bodies. 
M Kasparek 
Menderes-Delta. Zustand und Gefahrdungen elnes ostmediterranen 
FluBdeltas. By R Brinkmann, J-U Heins, B Kohler and S Rosier (1990) 
privately published. 240 pages 
The Menderes Delta is one of the largest river deltas in the eastern Mediterranean. 
Extensive lagoons, salt marshes, old river branches and fallow land form a 
unique landscape with a very rich wildlife. The authors carried out faunistic and 
floristic surveys during eight months in 1988 and 1989 and give a detailed 
description of the area and of the factors which threaten it. The most outstanding 
breeding bird is the Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus, of which 42 pairs bred 
in 1989. Other breeding species include Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Collared 
Pratincole Glareola pratincola, Spur-winged Plover Hoplopterus spinosus, Caspian 
Tern Sterna caspia, Little Tern Sterna albifrons and Mediterranean Gull Larus 
melanocephalus. Thousands of waders, ducks and Flamingos Phoenicopterus ruber 
winter in the area. The authors describe breeding, migration and wintering of 85 
selected species. 
The Menderes delta is visited by a good number of birdwatchers every year. 
Unfortunately, the authors made no attempt to include the results of others; not 
even the IWRB midwinter counts nor those observations published eg in the 
Turkish Bird Reports by OST/OSME were used. 
The wetland system of the Menderes Delta forms more or less a unit with Lake 
Bafa, a former bay sea. Many bird species use both wetlands for roosting and 
feeding. Although there is a thorough study on Lake Bafa by the reviewer, the 
authors did not take this opportunity to make comparisons in order to show the 
close relations between both areas. 
A certain laxity runs through the text: "Fohre" (German) is Finns sylvestris (Scots 
Pine)(which is confined to northern Anatolia) and not P brutia (p. 19). The 
Collared Dove is Steptopeliadecaocto and not Chlidonias leucopterus (White-winged 
Black Tern) (p.87) etc. The authors present a lot of "migration diagrams", even 
for species which are definitively not migrants (eg Magpie Pica pica or House 
Sparrow Passer domesticus). 
The authors come to the conclusion that the Menderes Delta should be protected 
as national park "according to international criteria" and they define several 
zones for the degree of protection . Unfortunately, this recommendation does not 
49 
