OSME

Although OSME does not (yet) have a presence on Instagram, mainly due to limited capacity as a small volunteer-based council, many of our partners, collaborators and funding recipients do! You can find many of them there, with many being more active on that platform than on Facebook. Our very active partners in Central Asia are there, as are Birding Azerbaijan, the raptor counts at Galala, Batumi, Galugah, our Corporate Partners in the birding tour business such as Birding Ecotours, Rubythroat and Oriole Birding. And of course many active birders and conservationists of the

You instagrammers - feel very free to talk about you find useful, and to link people to our FB and web. Until we have sorted our own IG presence 🙂

Attached is an example from the very active and attractive IG account of Kyrgyz conservation group Nature Foundation.

Here is a nice greeting from OSME partners in Lebanon where, despite ongoing conflict, conservation and awareness-raising efforts take place! This was part of a larger grant to tackle illegal bird killing that was carried out with great success by the Lebanese Association for Migratory Birds.

”In 2024, the Lebanese Association for Migratory Birds (LAMB) organized an environmental competition aimed at cleaning natural areas of empty shotgun cartridges left behind by hunters. The initiative was implemented through a project funded by BirdLife Finland and supported by OSME. As part of the campaign, a portion of the collected cartridges was used to create a bird-shaped sculpture titled “Let Them Pass in Peace.”

The artwork, designed by Dr. Ruwaida Al Rifaii, was exhibited during a festival in Tripoli, North Lebanon, attracting visitors and participants from across the region. The event served as a powerful awareness-raising activity, highlighting the environmental impacts of hunting-related waste and promoting the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.”

For several field seasons OSME has supported the Eymir Ornithological Research Center outside Ankara, Türkiye. It’s connected to the Biology Department of the Science Faculty, Ankara University. An amazing number of students from several universities have participated here to learn the basics on bird conservation, bird ringing and how to carry out field work for a thesis. OSME believes that creating opportunities for these young naturalists, and cheer them on in their early-career moves on the path of conservation, is vital for nature and humans alike in the OSME region.

This is the second of a two-part guest blog featuring the reflections, thoughts and personal experiences from some of these students. Great examples of how sustained funding can build a whole community of committed up-and-coming conservationists.

Enjoy the guest blog at the OSME web!

https://osme.org/2026/05/journeys-with-turkiyes-eymir-ornithological-research-center-part-two/

OSME cheers for and encourages you to vote for the Egyptian Vulture New LIFE project as finalist in one of the most prestigious awards for nature and biodiversity in Europe - the European Commission LIFE Awards!

The project is competing with two other finalists in the “Nature and Biodiversity” category, as well as with eight projects for the prestigious Citizens’ Prize, which is decided through public voting.

Check out this web page and cast your vote for the Egyptian Vulture, one of the flagship raptors of the OSME region!

Egyptian Vulture New LIFE – LIFE Awards 2026 The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Europe’s only long-distance migratory vulture, has suffered a dramatic decline due to poisoning, electrocution, persecution, and habitat loss. While most European pairs are concentrated in Spain, small and fragile populations in the Balkans are critica...

Great to see this OSME-funded project being invited to speak in London! Central Asian Vultures Project gave a talk at the ZSL Fellowship Conference. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are celebrating their 200th Anniversary this year, and OSME has supported this explorative and exciting work on a fairly unknown region of Central Asia. Have a look at the YouTube recordings from the conference!

Central Asian Vultures Project at the ZSL Fellowship Conference The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), who are celebrating their 200th Anniversary this year, held a conference for their Fellows on Saturday, 16 June 2026. As a ZSL Fellow, Cat Taras got to atten…

Well done by Nature Iraq 🙌🏼🎉

Birds of Syria – an important new publication.

An exciting paper was recently published that updates our knowledge about the birds of Syria. “Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Syria – species diversity, subspecies, distribution, and conservation status” is an encompassing 80-page piece on every bird species so far confirmed from Syria. It has lots of relevant updates from recent years, changes in status and many new species for the country.

"This manuscript is relevant and timely for several reasons. It’s a critical update on bird conservation status in a country after more than a decade of conflict. Its shedding further light on species in a relatively sparsely studied country of the Middle East. It has species names stated in English, Latin and Arabic, and with the IUCN conservation status for easy reference. Raising public awareness and promoting interest in birds and conservation is crucial in this time. Multi-lingual parts of publications can help with this."

Enjoy the guest blog, including the link to the freely available and attractive publication, on the OSME web:

https://osme.org/2026/04/birds-of-syria-an-important-new-publication/

Birds of the World platform is freely accessible for people living in the !

OSME launched a partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in 2025 to make Birds of the World, a global ornithology platform, free and open for anyone living within the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. That calls for some cheers, again! Go there, create your profile and join this world of bird knowledge.

"Scholarly information on the birds of the OSME region is more accessible than ever thanks to Birds of the World (birdsoftheworld.org), a scholarly online platform featuring authoritative, in-depth species profiles that document the life histories of every bird species and every bird family in the world.

It is a highly upgraded fusion of four predecessor publications: Handbook of Birds of the World Alive, Birds of North America, Neotropical Birds, and Bird Families of the World, with new scholarly content being added every week. This massive resource is published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (the Cornell Lab), a non-profit bird conservation organization based at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA. Having once been a fee-based subscription, the resource is now freely available throughout the OSME region to anyone with a Cornell Lab/eBird account."

Read the full news post here:

https://osme.org/2026/04/birds-of-the-world-platform-now-freely-accessible-in-the-osme-region/

Feel free to share this!

One of our most exciting recent initiatives, with ripple effects in the region, is the OSME-BRC Flyway Monitoring Traineeship. We are happy to announce this will continues also in 2026 - and here is the call for applications. ONE MONTH, fully funded including travels, at the raptor migration paradise of Batumi!

"The traineeship aims to strengthen bird migration monitoring capacity along the East Afro-Eurasian Flyway. This fully-funded opportunity enables ambitious conservationists from the OSME region to gain hands-on experience they can implement in their home countries.
Are you ready to spend a month immersed in the Batumi Raptor Count, participating as a long-term counter, and learning all about what it takes to run a count like the BRC? The traineeship covers accommodation and travel up to €1300, making this position accessible to aspiring and ambitious conservationists across the OSME region."

Please, share this call for trainees with anyone who might be interested to apply. Applications are at least open until April 25th.

See more details on the BRC web and social media, or get in touch with us! See also the recent guest blogs on the OSME web with personal reflections and stories from last years lucky trainees.

www.osme.org www.batumiraptorcount.org

The Little Bustard (Tetrax tetrax) is considered one of the most threatened steppe bird species across its wide distribution range, extending from Western Europe through the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and parts of the Middle East 🐦🌍. Throughout these regions, the species relies strongly on open steppe habitats, semi natural grasslands, and traditional agricultural landscapes, particularly during the winter season 🌾❄️.

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan holds globally important wintering areas for this species. Current assessments indicate that up to 70% of the global population may winter in the country. Historically, the central lowlands, especially the Mil steppe, supported approximately 20,000 to 30,000 wintering individuals. These landscapes continue to serve as critical wintering habitats with high conservation value 🌱🦆.

Across its entire distribution range, the Little Bustard faces increasing pressures linked to habitat loss, agricultural intensification, infrastructure development, disturbance, and illegal hunting 🚜🏗️. Wintering flocks often gather in open and predictable landscapes, which can increase their exposure to human activities.

Falconry activities in several steppe regions, including parts of Azerbaijan, are sometimes discussed within conservation circles due to potential impacts in areas where large wintering aggregations occur 🦅. Although the species is legally protected in many countries, cases of illegal hunting continue to be reported in different parts of its range. Field observations in some regions have also indicated that the same visiting falconry groups may return to specific wintering locations across multiple years. Available estimates suggest that illegal killing may affect around 10% of the global population annually, highlighting the importance of continued monitoring and conservation attention 📊⚠️.

The long term survival of the Little Bustard depends on coordinated international conservation efforts, including protection of key habitats, promotion of sustainable land use practices, effective enforcement of wildlife protection laws, and strengthened monitoring of wintering populations 🤝🌿. Conserving steppe ecosystems is essential not only for this species but also for many other wildlife species that depend on these rapidly changing habitats.

Photo was taken from recent hunting party operating in Mil steppes of Azerbaijan