Storks in Diyarbakır winter in Kabaklı Pond due to climate change

Storks in Diyarbakır are increasingly staying in the region through the winter instead of migrating to the Nile Valley, according to observations linked to climate change and global warming. The Kabaklı Pond, located in the Dicle Valley near the UNESCO World Heritage Hevsel Gardens, has become a wintering site for these birds as seasonal rainfall increases water levels.

Professor Recep Karakaş, a zoology expert at Dicle University, noted that while storks are typically summer migrants in Turkey, rising winter temperature averages are altering their migration schedules. The birds are finding sufficient food and water in the revitalized pond, allowing them to adapt to the changing ecological conditions in the Dicle Valley.