The 48th midwinter waterfowl census will be conducted from January 11 to 14. Every year, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) and the Executive Environment Agency organize the counting of waterfowl wintering in Bulgaria's big water basins. This year's census will cover over 200 wetlands, the BSPB said on Thursday.
Wintering waterfowl are counted in more than 100 countries in some 25,000 wetlands.
In Bulgaria, the midwinter census will help specialists assess the state of the bird populations and the main threats to them, said Svilen Cheshmedzhiev, coordinator of the census for BSPB. Bird numbers indicate changes in the environment we live in, which is also important in the context of climate change.
As early as in November 2023, ornithologists observed the first groups of northern bird species who regularly spend the winter in Bulgaria, such as the greater white-fronted goose, the whooper and tundra swans, the white-headed duck, and the common loon. The last days of 2023 were untypically warm for the period, which reduced drastically the number of wintering geese, the BSPB said.
Last year’s midwinter waterfowl census in Bulgaria registered 206,239 birds of 88 species, compared to 206,688 individuals of 90 species in January 2022 and 190,147 birds in 2021. The 2023 census was conducted by 42 teams of experts and volunteers in over 200 wetlands across the country from January 12 to 15.
/DS/
news.modal.text
