21.10.2026 12:14
Ender, a steppe buzzard fitted with a 6-gram satellite transmitter at the Aras Bird Research and Education Center in Iğdır, traveled 6,041 kilometers during 148 days of tracking, passing through 14 countries. The buzzard spent the summer in Makhachkala, Russia, flew for 13 hours over the Sahara Desert without stopping, and reached Ethiopia on October 9.
The hawk named "Ender," tracked with a satellite transmitter from Iğdır, flew 6,000 kilometers from Asia to Africa in about 5 months.
Bird research studies continue at the Aras Bird Research and Education Center, established in Iğdır by the KuzeyDoğa Association with the permission of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks.
At the center in the Aras Bird Paradise, fed by the waters of the Aras River, birds are being ringed on the one hand, while satellite transmitters are being attached to some birds of prey migrating between continents on the other.
As part of this year's spring studies, the KuzeyDoğa team attached a satellite transmitter to a steppe buzzard (Buteo buteo vulpinus) caught in nets on May 14, named it "Ender," and released it into its natural habitat the same day.
SPENT THE SUMMER IN RUSSIA
After starting its migration journey northward, Ender passed through Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia and settled in the Russian city of Makhachkala on June 18.
After spending the summer here, Ender reached Ethiopia on October 9 during its migration journey toward its wintering area, which it began on September 20 with the arrival of autumn.
Over 148 days of tracking, Ender covered 6,041 kilometers.
FLEW NONSTOP FOR 13 HOURS OVER THE SAHARA DESERT
The hawk reached a speed of 102 kilometers per hour in its fastest flight and climbed to a maximum altitude of 4,515 meters during its journey.
Ender's most remarkable flight was over the Sahara Desert. Crossing the desert in 6 days, Ender flew for 13 hours without taking any break and covered 478 kilometers.
The rest of the hawk's journey and its return journey, after flying from Asia to Africa and currently located in Ethiopia's Oromia region, will also be monitored by scientists.
A 6-GRAM TRANSMITTER WAS ATTACHED TO A 470-GRAM BIRD
Gül Tutar, station manager at the Aras Bird Research and Education Center, told an AA reporter that the bird had been monitored in real time since spring.
Providing information about the study, Tutar said, "A hawk weighing 470 grams had been caught. We had placed a 6-gram satellite transmitter on this hawk named Ender. Ender, which began its migration journey in May, first started flying north toward the Russian city of Makhachkala."
Noting that the bird had passed through 14 countries and was currently heading toward its wintering area, Tutar recorded the following:
"After staying for a while around the Caspian Sea, the hawk then reached Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Eritrea, South Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia. We saw that this hawk, whose migration journey we have been tracking, passed through 14 countries in 5 months. Thanks to the satellite transmitter, we will continue to follow its entire migration journey."