AMMAN — The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) will fly 500 kites at an event in Aqaba on Wednesday to mark World Migratory Bird Day.

Organised by the RSCN in cooperation with the Aqaba Bird Observatory, the Ayla Oasis Development Company and BirdLife International, the event’s theme is “Stop the illegal killing, taking and trade”, the RSCN said in a statement.

It will include family activities like face painting, bird drawing and contests, and will be held at the Ayla Oasis, where a project is under way to create environmental habitats to attract migrating birds. 

The Aqaba Bird Observatory is run by the RSCN in cooperation with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and the Aqaba Water Authority. 

The Rift Valley-Red Sea route is the world’s second most-used flyway, with more than 1.5 million birds crossing it during migration seasons in spring and autumn.

Some 37 types of migratory soaring birds, which maintain flight by using rising air currents, travel on the Rift Valley-Red Sea Flyway annually, according to the RSCN.

At least five of these— white and black storks, buzzards, eagles and vultures — are globally endangered. 

By JT - Aug 08,2016