Most wintering waterfowl in Bulgaria are registered along the Black Sea coast and the Danube River. This is indicated by the results of the 44th census of wintering waterfowl in Bulgaria.
Due to warmer weather, a significantly lower number was found than last year. So far, about 80 percent of the data have been processed, and they show that the total numbers of identified bird species are 247 908 individuals, with a total of 361,933 individuals in last year’s census, and in 2018, significantly fewer or just under 130,000 individuals. The three most abundant bird species in the country’s ponds are the Mallard (31,902), the Common Coot (29,921) and the globally endangered Common Pochard (19,180).
The event was made possible by the participation of 41 teams of experts and volunteers of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), the Executive Environmental Agency (EEA), the Regional Inspectorates of Environment and Water (RIEW), hunting associations and representatives of others non-governmental organizations that managed to get around and collect data on wintering birds in over 200 wetlands in our country.
The teams were able to monitor and count only 3300 Greater White-fronted Gееse and 322 of the endangered Red-breasted Geese, compared to 120,000 Great White-fronted Gееse and 3500 Red-breasted Geese last year.
Of the globally endangered waterfowl species, in addition to the Red-breasted Geese and the Common Pochards, 18 Horned Grebes, 4 Velvet Scoters, and 427 White-headed Ducks have been identified.
Among the interesting observations are 5 Common Cranes in the area of Hadzhi Dimitrovo fish farms, Common Eiders and over 4000 Mediterranean Shearwaters in the area of Cape Emine, a record number of Ferruginous Ducks (about 40) in the area of Rozov Kladenets dam, 3 Velvet Scoters in Sofia region. 741 Dalmatian Pelicans, 341 Pink Flamingos and 40 Great Black-headed Gulls in the Burgas Lakes Region.
Special attention was paid to the wintering Whooper Swans and Tundra Swans as the event coincided with the International Census of both. Our teams were able to identify 1,216 Whooper Swans and 157 Tundra Swans.
It is gratifying that more than 80% of the teams used the SmartBirds Pro mobile data entry application this year, which collected nearly 5,000 entries and helped tremendously to quickly aggregate the results.
The census of wintering waterfowl has been conducted worldwide since 1967 and is one of the largest conservation events in the world, involving over 15,000 people. It is implemented simultaneously and synchronized across Europe and North Africa for the purpose of counting waterfowl as accurately as possible. Internationally, the information is compiled by Wetlands International. The census estimates the status of waterfowl populations and the state of their habitats, many of which are part of the Natura 2000 ecological network. According to recent data, populations of some of the world’s endangered species such as the Lesser White-fronted Goose and the Common Pochard continue to decline, putting those species at real risk of extinction.
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