The Sarazm Important Bird Area ( zh, 萨拉子目重点鸟区) is a 43 km² tract of land in south-western

Sughd Province Sughd Province, also referred to as the Sogdia Region, and Leninabad before 2001, is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in the historical Sogdiana, it is located in the northw ...

, in northwestern

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, not far from the border with

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. It lies on the left bank of the

Zeravshan River The Zarafshon is a river in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Its name, "spreader of gold" in Persian, refers to the presence of gold-bearing sands in the upper reaches of the river. To the ancient Greeks it was known as the ''Polytime ...

and overlaps the Zeravshansky

Zakaznik ''Zakaznik'' (, transliterated: ''zakaznik, zakazniki''; , transliterated: ''zakaznyk'', ''zakaznyky''; Belarusian: заказнік, заказнікі, transliterated: zakaznik, zakazniki) is a type of protected area in former Soviet republics ...

(nature reserve).

Description

The Sarazm

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA), identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

, encompasses part of the Zeravshan

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

after the river has left the mountains and flows braided through a wide valley downstream of the city of

Panjakent Panjakent () or Penjikent () is a city in the Sughd province of Tajikistan on the river Zeravshan (river), Zeravshan, with a population of 52,500 (2020 estimate). It was once an ancient town in Sogdiana. The ruins of the old town are on the outsk ...

. It contains a range of temporary and permanent islands, many of which are covered with

tugay Tugay is a form of riparian forest or woodland associated with fluvial and floodplain areas in arid climates. These wetlands are subject to periodic inundation, and largely dependent on floods and groundwater rather than directly from rainfal ...

, or flood-plain forest – comprising the only such ecosystem in northern Tajikistan. The soil is

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

y, overgrown in moist areas with

herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

, forming

water meadow A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water ...

s as well as dense

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in th ...

s of trees and shrubs.

Birds

The rich tugay vegetation provides favourable habitats for birdlife. The site was classified as an IBA because it supports significant numbers of the populations of various bird species, either as residents, or as breeding or passage migrants. These include

saker falcon The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is a large falcon species. It breeds from Central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is a partial migrant, which means that some part of the population is migratory, some part is not. In Eur ...

pale-backed pigeon The yellow-eyed pigeon, pale-backed pigeon, yellow-eyed dove or yellow-eyed stock dove (''Columba eversmanni'') is a member of the family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). It breeds in southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ky ...

Egyptian nightjar The Egyptian nightjar (''Caprimulgus aegyptius'') is a medium-small nightjar which occurs in south west Asia and north Africa and winters in tropical Africa. This is a fairly common species with a wide distribution which faces no obvious threats ...

European roller The European roller (''Coracias garrulus'') is the only member of the Coraciidae, roller family breeding in Europe. Its range extends into the Maghreb, West Asia and Central Asia. It winters in southern Africa, primarily in dry wooded savanna and ...

s, white-winged woodpeckers,

great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...

s, streaked scrub warblers,

Sykes's warbler Sykes's warbler (''Iduna rama'') is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler family. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the booted warbler, but is now considered a full species. Its breeding range (biology), range is from northeast Arabia ...

s and red-headed buntings.

References

Important Bird Areas of Tajikistan Sughd Region Floodplains of Asia Wetlands of Tajikistan {{Sughd-geo-stub