site.btaFlocks of White Storks Fly over Burgas as Spring Migration Begins

Flocks of white storks are already flying over Burgas as the birds' spring migration has begun, the Poda Nature Conservation Centre said. Over 250,000 storks (75% of the species' European population) fly over the coastal city every year, the latest data show.

The birds are returning early from the south because of the warm winter, the environmentalists said.

The first storks in Bulgaria for 2024 were seen last week in the Haskovo area (South Central Bulgaria). 

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) winters mainly in South Africa. In spring, the birds fly some 15,000 km to their nesting territories in Europe to breed. In Bulgaria, storks commonly nests in human settlements and forage near to rivers, water bodies, fields, and meadows. In Burgas Region, the highest number of stork nests can be found in Sredets and the villages of Dimchevo and Debelt, the Poda Nature Conservation Centre said.

The last count registered over 5,000 pairs of white stork in Bulgaria, according to information provided by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. The 7th international white stork count, conducted between 2014 and 2015, revealed an increase in the species’ population in this country.