NewsFeed

A look at Qatar’s bird population

Did you know that Qatar is home to a diverse array of wildlife and at least 200 species of birds?

Many of us are forced to stay home due to the coronavirus pandemic and it seems to be having a positive effect on much of the natural world. Here in Qatar, there is an incredible diversity of wildlife, from whale sharks to dolphins to turtles and flamingos, and it is also home to at least 200 species of birds.

And every sunset, off its northern coast, something beautiful happens: Thousands of cormorants can be seen returning to an island off the northern coast of Qatar where they spend their nights.

“Thousands of cormorants who have been feeding all over Qatar throughout the day, are now, as the sun is setting, coming back to where they spend the night,” Al Jazeera’s correspondent Stefanie Dekker says in the video. “And it’s incredible to see. They are just flying over our heads, thousands and thousands of them.”

You can spot herons and flamingos casually strolling in the shallow waters looking for food.

Due to some recent restrictions on movement, there are hardly any boats on the water. And that is having a positive effect. 

“The water has become clearer, more fish are coming to the area and that tells us one thing: where is the human, there is the disaster,” Dr Mehsin Alyafei of Qatar University told Al Jazeera.

This report was produced and edited by Al Jazeera NewsFeed’s Katya Bohdan.