Earlier this month a flock of 3,000 Sociable Lapwings was discovered in Turkey. It was the largest flock of this endangered bird seen in over 100 years. The flock was discovered when BirdLIfe in Turkey followed a Lapwing that had been tagged in Kazakhstan.
Sociable Lapwing by Alastair Rae, Creative Commons on Flickr
Just a few years ago the total Sociable Lapwing population was thought to be as few as 400 individual birds. BirdLife partners in several different countries, including Syria, Kazakhstan and Turkey, have been working hard during the past few years to protect this species by preserving winter, summer and stopover sites for the migratory Sociable Lapwing.