Authors: Martin S. Adamian and Daniel Klem Jr.
220pp. Yerevan, American University of Armenia.

Armenia (a country the size of Belgium or the U.S. State of Maryland) has an extraordinary 346 species of birds whereas the whole of Europe has 550 and the area encompassed be the former Soviet Union has 750 species. But every year, as trees are cut down and wetlands are destroyed, the environmental health of the country is slowly deteriorating. At the forefront of preserving the habitat for future generations is Pennsylvania resident, Sarkis Acopian, whose tireless commitment to conservation in Armenia began many years ago and culminated with a major donation to the AGBU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) to establish the Sarkis Acopian Chair in Conservation and Environmental Management at AUA (American University of Armenia) in 1996.

Birds have long been a part of Armenia’s history. Magnificent miniatures created by medieval Armenian artists were included in ecclesiastical manuscripts, and a great deal of bird information is mentioned in the philosophical tracts written by Armenian historians during the fourth to eighteenth centuries.

For conservationist Mr. Acopian, featuring the birds of Armenia is just his latest way to introduce the importance of environmental conservation to the general public. Leading a global team of experts, Mr. Acopian published "A Field Guide to Birds of Armenia" – aimed not just to update the level of knowledge on Armenia’s bird population, which was last done 40 years ago, and provide practical assistance to an international contingent of bird enthusiasts, but also to introduce the beauty and utility of Armenia’s birds to Armenian communities world-wide. " I wanted to accomplish something for Armenia that was lasting – that would be good for many years from now. And to do something that has international interest," says Mr. Acopian.

From the AGBU publication "Acopian’s Legacy Soars High"

In 1993, the Birds of Armenia Project was launched, and specialists, primarily from the United States of America, Russia, and United Kingdom were invited to the Republic to ensure an optimal professional effort and a field guide that would meet the highest international standards. I believe these joint efforts, completed in 1997, are successful. This book comprehensively documents the bird life of Armenia using published, previously unpublished, and new records. It is presented in a way that the entire Birds of Armenia Project Team believes will be a major contribution and reference for anyone interested in the birds of the region known as Little Caucasus. I am extremely enthusiastic about what this book will do to introduce birds, and more importantly, the ideas of conserving and preserving all our natural treasures for us, but most importantly, for those that will come after us. Especially for our children to enjoy and appreciate and hopefully it will further encourage all of us to better appreciate birds, these special riches that are not always so obvious to the struggling citizens that work so hard just to survive. But conservation is a wise and worthy cause, and struggles are easier when you acquire practical and spiritual strength from the pride receive in knowing that Armenia has national treasures that are worth protecting, not just for Armenians, but for all world’s people everywhere.

Martin S. Adamian, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist and Curator of Vertebrates Institute
of Zoology, Armenian National Academy of Sciences

Martin Scott (Birding World, Volume 10, N 5, May 1997)

The former Soviet Republic of Armenia lies at the southeastern corner of the Western Pale- arctic, between Turkey and the Caucasus Mountains. It is mountainous throughout, Topping 4.000m at Mount Aragats and drop- ping to 600m in the Arax Valley by the Iranian border, Armenia's western landscape is over- shadowed and dominated by the biblical Mount Ararat in Turkey. Its avifauna is amazingly unspoiled and rich in diversity, due to the mainly traditional farming methods still employed and the large areas of semi-natural habitat remaining,
I visited Armenia from May to December 1995 as a part of the 'Birds of Armenia Project', The results of the fieldwork of this project, relating primarily to distribution and status, are to be published in two forthcoming books. During my seven-month stay, six other British birders visited as volunteers. We were the first westerners known to have extensively surveyed the country, and the only westerners known to have birded the country apart from a British group for two weeks in the 1970s and two German groups in the 1980s.
The Armenian bird list currently stands at346 species, and many of these are muchsought-after by Western Palearctic birders -notably Caspian Snowcock, Caucasian BlackGrouse, Radde's Accentor, Red-tailedWheatear, Upcher's Warbler and Red-fronted Serin. There is also the added prize of Armenian Gull, which breeds on the alpinelakes.Although internal travel can be rough, thespecies encountered are certainly worth theeffort. I recorded 301 species during my stayand II new species were added to the nationallist in the same period. This indicates that muchis still to be learnt in Armenia. It has much moreto offer than simply lending its name to a gulland a stonechat.Armenia is only just opening up to westerners, but it is a safe country and visiting isstraightforward (although a visa is required).the international airport is in the capital, Yerevan. Car hire is readily available and quiteinexpensive, and whilst hotels and cafes can befound in almost all areas, camping also presentsno problems.

Lake Sevan
The world's second largest alpine lake (the first is Lake Geneva in Switzerland), covering an area of nearly 1,300 square kilometres. Lake Sevan plays host to an impressive wealth of species. Breeding birds are rather limited, but the area does hold a substantial colony of Armenian Gulls (mainly along the northwes-tern shore). They remain at the lake all year round, even in late winter when a total freeze-over is the norm. For gull enthusiasts, the winter period is of special interest with the added bonus of large numbers of Great Black-headed Gulls (eg over 600 in December 1995), concentrated mainly around Cape Noratoos on the northwestern shore.
In autumn and early winter, wildfowl num-bers peak, with internationally important numbers of Red-crested Pochards and Bewick's Swans. Passage migrants such as Ruddy Shel-ducks and Broad-billed Sandpipers are also drawn-in, especially to the muddy southern shores, while the adjacent reedbeds are alive with Penduline Tits, Marsh Warblers and Mountain Chiff chaffs. Large numbers of the last species were seen between September and November 1995, with up to 400 estimated around the lake. The wintering zone of this species remains unknown but this record cer-tainly acts as an important piece of the jigsaw.
Next to the lake, near the village of Lichk, two ponds with fringing reedbeds and adjacent scrub and trees provide a migrant haven. Large numbers of herons, Acrocephalus warblers and Spotted Crakes were present in September 1995, and roosts of Yellow Wagtails, Reed Buntings and Sand Martins attracted a number of Hobbies. At the southeast corner of Lake Sevan lies Gilli Marsh, an expanse of open ground where Demoiselle Cranes stop off on their southward migration. In 1995, over 1,000 passed through the area during 2nd-9th September - a significant count for this globally-declining species.

Meghri and the south
The city of Meghri lies on the north bank of theRiver Arax, at Armenia's southern extremity.The surrounding landscape is primarily sub-desert, intersected with a maze of steep-sideddry river valleys and alleviated only by occa-sional fig, peach, and pomegranate orchards.Summer temperatures are blistering in thisregion, reaching 49°C during July. Finsch's,Black-eared, and Red-tailed Wheatear (the lastof the eastern race chrysopygia) breed here,whilst other residents include Black Francolin,Sombre Tit and the duo of Western and EasternRock Nuthatches, which breed side-by-side inmany rocky gorges in the region.
Gegham range Running north to south and separating Yerevanand the Arax Valley from the Lake Sevan basin,the Gegham mountain range acts as a tremendous natural barrier: roads go into themountains but do not cross them. At thesouthern tip of the range lies the KhosrovReserve, an area of mountainous cliffs sparselycovered in open scrub woodland. Breedingbirds here include four species of vulture,Lesser Spotted Eagle, Lanner Falcon, MountainChiffchaff and Green Warbler. Due to humanpressure, mammals are now decreasing, butBrown Bear and Wild Boar are still present andLeopards are still occasionally reported. The village of Hatis lies on the western side of the range on the edge of a huge alpine meadow and boulder field. Here White-throated Robin, Rock Thrush, Barred Warbler, Rose-coloured Starling and Black-headed Bunting breed in numbers and Common Rosefinches are abundant.
The western side of the Sevan basin was found to be the best location for raptor watch-ing in autumn 1995. On one day, 17th September, counts of 167 Steppe Eagles, 61 Lesser Spotted Eagles, 16 Pallid Harriers and 18 Levant Sparrowhawks were made from Gree Gorge, five miles west of Kamo city. The divers-ity of species in this gorge was outstanding, with Radde's Accentors and Crimson-winged Finches being the highlights (a flock of 330 of the latter was seen here in early December 1995) whilst migrants included Marsh Warbler, Green Warbler, Red-breasted Flycatcher and Snow-finch. The last are likely to breed in the higher peaks in the range, where there are old records of Caspian Snowcock and Wallcreeper.

Northeastern forests
To the north of Lake Sevan and to the east of Stepanavan, the northeastern forests comprise a large, but rather fragmented expanse of ancient beech forest, with oaks and hornbeams. Red-breasted and Semi-collared Flycatchers breed in the dense canopies, whilst Green Warblers are abundant in the Dilijan area - picked out by their explosive song and hyper-active behavior. Woodpeckers are well represented by Black, Green, Great, Middle, and Lesser Spotted, and there is one old record of White-backed (from near the Georgian border). Rap-tors include breeding Lesser Spotted and Short-toed Eagles, whilst one Spotted Eagle was seen in the region in June. The only record of Black Stork breeding in Armenia comes from this area, and Spanish Sparrows were found in one orchard near the Azerbaijan border. Caucasian Black Grouse remains a great prize for visiting birders. Despite extensive searching, it was located at only two sites in 1995, both near Hrazdan city. The easier birds to find were those at the track-side (suitable for 4-wheel drive only and not for the faint-hearted!) on the saddle of Mount Tezhier. Several were seen here, feeding in the grassy alpine zone above the tree line on the north-facing slopes. There are also old records of Caspian Snowcocks in this area.

Fish-ponds
Running through the Arax Valley is a chain of fish farms and marshes near the villages of Yeghegnoot, Masees, and Armash. Combined, they cover nearly 350km square. Each fish farm can only be entered through security gates, and proper authorization is best obtained for entry. although a bottle of vodka can certainly ease the way! Vast quantities of insect repellent are also recommended. Little Bitterns and Night and Squacco Herons are common breeding species, while Pygmy Cormorants are resident (particu larly around their island colony at Armash); counts of the last species neared 2,000 at timesin 1995. Waterfowl include Ferruginous andWhite-headed Ducks and Marbled Teal, whilstLesser White-fronted Geese make regular visits.Six species of terns occur regularly andArmenian and Slender-billed Gulls are com-mon. Perhaps the main attraction of the pondsis wader migration. Spring brings a few GreatSnipe, whilst other sought-after but regularspecies include Black-winged Pratincole, Soci-able Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Broad-billed,Marsh and Terek Sandpipers and Red-neckedPhalaropes. Almost anything is possible, as proven by the White-tailed Plover recorded in1989 and the Spur-winged Plover in November1995. The three species of crake visit and PurpleGallinule is a rare visitor, presumably frompopulations to the east. Great Reed Warblersabound in the reedbeds, whilst PaddyfieldWarbler breeds in small numbers. MoustachedWarblers, Mountain Chiffchaffs and PendulineTits make use of the reedbeds on autumnpassage, whilst stonechats of four forms occur(including armenica and variegata). The drierareas around the fish ponds are scattered withtamarisk bushes which hold Rufous BushRobins as well as Menetries' and Olivaceous Warblers; Menetries' is particularly common here, with many breeding. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater remains one of the jewels of the east. In late summer, numbers build up at both Masees and Armash; a peak of 145 was recorded at the latter in 1995.

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank to all those involved with the Birds of Armenia Project, John Muddeman for the many months he endured with me, the other British volunteers - especially James Siddle and John O'Sullivan who made useful comments on this article in the draft stage. I am also grateful to the American team, in particular Peter Saenger and the project sponsor, Sarkis Acopian, for their time and patience. The field work could not have been carried out without Dr. Martin S. Adamian of the Institute of Zoology, Academy of Sciences, in Yerevan and his Armenia team.

Martin Scott, Angus

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