site.btaWhite Storks Flock in Sky over Burgas in Preparation of Autumn Migration

Hundreds of white storks could be seen flocking in the sky over the Black Sea city of Burgas. It is a ritual they perform as they prepare for their southward migration that usually takes place in August and September.

Burgas is on Via Pontica, one of the key routes for birds of passage on their annual migration between Europe and Africa.

2024 was designated The Year of the White Stork. It is also the year of  the International White Stork Census. The census is held every 10 years in over 40 countries worldwide, and this year's was its eighth edition. The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) was the coordinating organization for the census that took place in June and July.

The 7th International White Stork Census in 2014–2015 showed an increase in the population of the species in Bulgaria compared to the census conducted ten years earlier. The number of breeding pairs increased by 1,007 (21%). The number of nesting pairs in Bulgaria was 11,000 in 1961-63, dropped to a low of 4,228 in 1994-95 and then recovered partly to  5,825 in 2014-15.

The stork is one of the birds that live closest to humans and is a sensitive indicator of the state of the environment. Where there are more white storks, there are more and cleaner wetlands, and agricultural land has fewer pesticides, says BSPB.