Ya’qub Rakhsh-Bahar said that the migratory white pelicans will spend the winter in the reserved park located in the east of Guilan.
“The small group of birds is the plenipotentiary of a larger group that will soon arrive in the park to spend the winter,” he said.
The official said that every year hundreds of white and gray pelicans arrive in the wetland to spend the winter.
The National Reserved Park of Bujagh also hosts other bird species including different types of indigenous ducks like Khutka.
“The climatic condition, decline in weather temperature, and increase in the level of water entering the wetland have caused the number of birds arriving at the wetland to increase,” he said, adding that 240 types of birds have been identified in the wetland.
More than 30,000 hectares of Guilan are wetlands, 80 percent of which, in the form of three wetlands — Anzali, Amir Kolayeh, and Bujagh — have been recorded under the Convention of Ramsar.
Bujagh, spreading over 3,360 hectares, is one of the most important regions under the protection of Iran’s Department of the Environment. Bujagh is the country’s only dry-marine national park and is of high ecological importance.
As the wetland hosts many migratory birds every year, it is considered a unique ecosystem at both the national and international levels.
Two types of pelicans – white and gray – live in Iran, both of which are found in Guilan, with Bujagh being their main habitat for spending the winter.
