Some notes on the breeding of 
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus 
ruber and White Pelican Pelecanus 
onocrotalus in Turkey 
Gernant Magnin and Murat Yarar 
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber 
Eregli Marshes 
Kirwan (1992) briefly summarized the status of the Greater Hamingo in 
Turkey and reported the discovery on 1 June 1991 by Guy Kirwan and 
Gernant Magnin of a flamingo colony in Eregli Marshes, a chiefly fresh- 
water marsh in Central Anatolia. Of 217 newly constructed nests, 68 
contained one egg each. This was the first documented breeding record 
of flamingoes away from saline wetlands. An aerial survey of the area on 
13 June 1991 revealed that the colony had been abandoned. There is no 
information on whether flamingoes bred at Eregli during 1992. 
On 16 and 17 June 1993, the authors visited the Eregli Marshes and 
counted a total of 1,500 flamingoes; most birds were in the eastern and 
central part of the marsh complex. Birds sitting on what looked like nests 
were discovered in roughly the same area as in 1991, but breeding could 
not be verified due to the large distance and heat-haze. Subsequently the 
site was visited by boat and breeding was confirmed at the 1991 location. 
In 1991, only one of the three islands with nests also had breeding 
flamingoes, but in 1992 four islands had birds on eggs. In order to reduce 
disturbance, only two islands were visited quickly and nests counted. 
One island measured 1x5 m, was sparsely vegetated with Phragmites and 
held 14 nests of which four had eggs, eight had young and two were 
empty. The second island visited was only 10m away from the first, 
measured c. 4x15m, was also sparsely vegetated with Phragmites and 
held some 90 flamingo nests: 25 held chicks, 50 contained one egg, and c. 
15 were empty. All young were more or less the same size and were 
estimated to be at most one week old. The third and fourth islands, not 
visited, were some 75m to the east of the others and were estimated to 
hold some 100 nests each; on one of them eggs and young could be seen. 
All birds started returning to their nests just minutes after our departure 
from the site. 
About 300 pairs of flamingo are estimated to have bred at the Eregli 
Marshes during 1993. There were no further visits to the site later in the 
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