Gediz Delta (İzmir Bird Paradise)

Overview

Half an hour from the cafés of İzmir’s waterfront, the city simply stops, and a flat world of lagoons, reeds and salt pans begins. Here, for example, thousands of pink flamingos stand in the shallows, pelicans drift past, and on winter evenings the water turns the color of the sky. This is the Gediz Delta, one of the most important wetlands in Turkey, known locally as the İzmir Bird Paradise. Therefore, for birdwatchers on a city break, the Gediz Delta is the easiest wild escape in the Aegean. With binoculars and a guide, join our Gediz Delta tour. In central Anatolia, our Sultan Marshes tour from Kayseri also shows flamingos.

What Is the Gediz Delta?

To begin with, the delta forms where the Gediz River meets the Gulf of İzmir. Overall, it covers some 14,900 hectares (36,800 acres) along the coast of Foça, Menemen and Çiğli, about 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the center of İzmir. In 1998, it became a Ramsar wetland of international importance, and in 2000 it was named an Important Bird Area. From İzmir, join our Foça day trip.

Salt pans and an Ionian town

Besides birds, the delta has a long human story. For instance, on it lie the remains of the old Ionian town of Leucae. Similarly, the Çamaltı salt pans here meet a significant part of Turkey’s salt needs, and their shallow, salty pools are exactly what the flamingos love.

Birds of the Gediz Delta

Flamingos and winter visitors

So far, about 205 bird species have been recorded in the Bird Paradise, and some 50,000 birds visit it each year. Most famously, it is one of the main breeding grounds of the greater flamingo in Türkiye. Besides, look for pelicans, herons, waders and ducks in the lagoons, and birds of prey hunting over the marsh. West of Bursa, our Gölyazı and Kuşcenneti tour visits another bird paradise, Kuşcenneti National Park on Lake Manyas.

The Bird Paradise Visitor Center at Çamaltı

The protected core, the İzmir Bird Paradise, covers about 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) in the Çamaltı salt pans of Çiğli, 10 km (6 miles) from Çiğli and 26 km (16 miles) from Karşıyaka. Its visitor center has bird-watching towers, binoculars and bicycles for a ride along the lagoons, and you can visit until dark. Here, Dalmatian pelicans, flamingos, the Eurasian kingfisher and gray and black storks share the water, and the Çamaltı salt pans can produce up to 600,000 tons of salt a year. The site is also an archaeological area.

How to Visit the Gediz Delta

In practical terms, the delta lies north of the Gulf of İzmir, beyond Çiğli, so it is an easy half-day trip from the city. Afterward, return for dinner in İzmir, or continue north to the seaside town of Foça. Finally, for more wetlands, read our guide to birdwatching in Turkey and our pages on the Sultan Marshes and the Birecik bald ibis colony.