Every year, birds from as far away as Siberia, Iceland, and the rest of Europe fly south for winter and need places to stop along the way. Lake Ichkeul is one of the most important of these stopovers in all of North Africa. It is like a giant motorway service station for birds — they arrive exhausted, eat, rest, and continue on their journey.
The lake is part of a national park that also includes the mountain of Jebel Ichkeul and surrounding marshlands. The mix of fresh water, saltwater marshes, and rich plants makes it a perfect feeding ground for many different species. On a winter morning the noise and movement of hundreds of thousands of birds is absolutely spectacular.
Scientists who study birds come from all over the world to count and record the species at Ichkeul. By watching which birds arrive and how healthy they are, researchers can learn about the health of ecosystems across two entire continents. This makes Ichkeul not just beautiful but scientifically very important.