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Important Bird Areas in Turkey 
Turk-lye* nin Onemli Kus Alanlari is a Turkish language book covering the 
important bird areas of Turkey. It is written by Asaf Ertan, Ayglin Kilic 
and Max Kasparek and pubLished by Dogal Hayati Koruma Dernegi (DHKD) and 
ICBP. It was launched at the ICBP European Section Conference in Adana in 
May. It is an important publication because it makes the information 
available in Grimmett & Jones available in Turkey. The book is available 
from Dogal Hayati Koruma Dernegi, P.K. 18, Bebek, 81810 Istanbul, Turkey. 
Countries of the Middle East in CITES 
The following countries in the Middle East are party to the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as of 22 August 1989: 
Afghanistan Israel 
Cyprus Jordan 
Egypt Somalia 
Iran Sudan 
Slender-billed Curlew - Conservation Programme 
Sightings of this critically threatened species remain very sparce. 
Spring 1989 sightings include records from Puglia, Italy, in March and the 
Danube Delta in April. Unexpectedly, two individuals have been reported 
from the Cosmoledo Islands near Aldabra in the Indian Ocean. This may 
involve birds overshooting from wintering grounds in the Middle East. 
Further details of the autumn 1988 records from North Yemen are available. 
Two Slender-billed Curlews were seen on 6 October (not November as 
reported in Bulletin 22) with four Whimbrel on the beach at Al Mukha. 
Another two birds (possibly the same) were seen the following day with 
seven Whimbrel on the beach at Al Khawkhah which is 50 Km farther north. 
Previous breeding grounds in Siberia were surveyed without success in 
June. The species had been recorded in 1914 but the area has been 
fragmented by the creation of farmland. 
If anyone has relevant information past or present please send it to: Adam 
Gretton, ICBP, 32 Cambridge Road, Girton, Cambridge, CB3 OPJ , Great 
Britain. Tel. 0223-277318. 
Indian Silverbill breeding in Israel 
News comes from Hadorara Shirihai of the possible addition of a new species 
to the west Palearctic list an an established breeder, albeit presumably a 
feral one. The first Indian Silverbills Euodice malabarica , including 
some youn-j birds, were recorded near Eilat in summer and autumn 1988, and 
the same autumn at least 100 were found in other areas as well: the Dead 
Sea, Jordan valley and Lake Tiberias. This spring, five pairs bred 
successfully at Eilat and courtship behaviour was seen elsewhere. 
