Flocking to the Square

It is much needed. Much has been published in the media over recent weeks of the threats to Egypt’s cultural heritage. During the revolution itself there was the infamous looting of the Egyptian Museum.Initial reports highlighted the fact that the looters, of apparently limited cerebral proficiency, had actually looted the museum gift shop rather than the actual museum itself. Sadly, it now seems that 54 objects from the institute’s unrivaled collection are now known to be missing. Reports of pilfering and desecration have also come from archeological sites the length and breadth of the country.

Such has been the concern over the safety of Egypt’s monuments and artifacts that a petition signed by both local and international archeologists and Egyptologists has been handed to the Prime Minister arguing, according to Al Ahram, that “the desecration of archeological sites and monuments is not only a huge loss for the people of Egypt on a national, economic and human level, but is also a loss to all of humanity and to science.”

The environmental march on Tahrir was designed to raise just such concerns over Egypt’s natural heritage. Organized via the popular social networking site Facebook, the marchers — including nature lovers, campaigners, environmentalists and employees of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency — are to carry a huge 30 meter by 3 meter banner depicting a panorama of Egypt’s Protected Areas.And as befits any march worth its salt, there is also a logo, this one featuring a magnificent Osprey against a backdrop of the Egyptian flag and bearing the slogan Egypt is Free.

As an emblem or mascot the Osprey is an inspired choice. It ticks all the boxes. It is a large, striking bird of prey, gleaming white below and chocolate brown above with a distinctive dark band through the eye.It is an active and spectacular hunter, cruising over the water on rather narrow and angled wings before plunging in after its fish prey. Long, sharp, curved talons and rough scales on the soles of its feet enable it to maintain a tight grip on its slippery quarry.

It is at the same time native Egyptian and yet thoroughly international.Colonies of Ospreys, perhaps the densest breeding populations of this species in the world, nest on islands along the Red Sea coast. These birds are resident. But in spring and fall many more migrate through Egyptian airspace on their way to or from European breeding grounds, and at these times they can be seen anywhere along the Nile Valley and Delta and in Fayoum. Some over winter.

Finally, the Osprey is a raptor. And with the eagle of the Egyptian flag such a prominent and powerful symbol over recent weeks, it is very appropriate to have a second bird of prey on the square.

I was recently asked, “What sort of eagle is portrayed on the Egyptian flag?” Over recent weeks I have picked up a number of flags from Tahrir Square, each a souvenir of a different visit.They vary in size and price and quality, and the accuracy of the representation of the eagle varies likewise. On my cheapest flag, the eagle is barely recognizable, looking more like a deformed budgerigar with the wings of a bat, but even on my largest and most splendid flag I cannot narrow it down to a particular species.

There are nine ‘true’ eagles recorded from Egypt. The White-tailed Eagle and the African Fish Eagle, both very rare, are more closely related to the kites, while the Bateleur that creeps onto the Egyptian list in Gebel Elba and the Short-toed Eagle are both closer to the serpent eagles.Of the ‘true’ nine, the Lesser Spotted, Spotted, Booted, Steppe and Tawny Eagles are migrants and/or winter visitors and as transients cannot really claim a place on the national flag. The same sadly goes for the magnificently named Imperial Eagle.

Of the three breeding eagles, Verreaux’s Eagle, from the southern Eastern Desert and possibly the Sinai Mountains, is a magnificent bird, jet black throughout relieved by a white back and rump and with a two-meter wing span. But it is named after a foreign naturalist, hardly suitable for a national flag. The same is true of the somewhat smaller Bonelli’s Eagle.

So I am going to propose that the eagle on the Egyptian flag is the Golden Eagle. It is a large impressive bird some 80 centimeters in length, uniform deep brown in color with a nape and shawl that puts the gold in Golden. While it has been recorded as a rare migrant and winter visitor, it is a very local breeding resident in Sinai. And Golden is a suitably regal name for a national bird.

As events are currently unfolding, all eyes are on Libya. As I write, the UN Security Council has just voted for a no-fly zone, but the live streaming of the BBC would seem to indicate that Gaddafi, despite declaring a cease-fire, is moving his tanks into Benghazi.There are reports of a vast civilian exodus heading east to Tobruk. It raises the prospect of hundreds of thousands heading for Egypt’s westernmost border with Libya at Salloum. This would be a humanitarian tragedy brought about entirely by the crazed actions of the Libyan dictator. But it could also be an environmental catastrophe.

 At Salloum, an escarpment that runs parallel to the coast almost meets the shore and is host to a very special and very little known portion of Egypt’s fauna. One of its more fragile denizens is a population of Saharan Swallowtails, a spectacular butterfly and one of Egypt’s largest, boldly patterned in yellow and navy with long tails on the hind wings.

And there are more substantial inhabitants. Over virtually all of Egypt’s deserts it can be safe to assume that an all-black crow is the Brown-necked Raven. But in the northwestern-most corner of the country the all-black crow is the Common Raven.This is a much larger species, 65 centimeters long as compared to Brown-necked Raven’s 50 centimeters. The Common Raven has a proportionately thicker and heavier bill and visible at close range are its shaggy throat hackles.

The Thekla Lark is, in Egypt, almost entirely confined to the Salloum area. It is extremely similar to the common and widespread Crested Lark, dull brown above, streaked below and with a prominent pointed crest. However, it differs in that the crest is slightly shorter, the streaking below stronger and at close range the lower mandible is convex (as opposed to straight in the Crested).I have only seen the Thekla Lark once in Egypt, in April 2000 and it has never been recorded east of Marsa Matruh (and the Matruh records are questionable). The population is almost certainly small and vulnerable, giving cause for concern. Habitat disturbance has meant that the Barbary Partridge and Dupont’s Lark formerly reported from the area are almost certainly locally extinct and thus lost as Egyptian species. Massive local disturbance courtesy of Gaddafi’s madness may mean the Thekla Lark follows suit.