Once every 10 years, white storks throughout Europe are subject to an international census coordinated by Germany's Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). Now in its eighth edition, the census will also be held in Romania this summer, from June 15 to July 15.

In 2014, white storks were reviewed in 48 countries in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Previous international census data was collected by BirdLife International partners, NGOs, scientific institutes, and volunteers.

White storks nest all over Romania, from sea level to the maximum altitude of 1,100 meters. The national census is conducted in all 3,186 territorial administrative units (UAT, communes, or cities) in the country.

Unlike in previous years, when stork nest recording was carried out by volunteers on their occasional trips around the country, this year, all localities will need to be systematically traversed to collect complete data on the number of occupied nests and the chicks in each nest.

Thus, interested volunteers can use this form to sign up to join the census efforts. Once a territorial administrative unit (commune, city) is chosen, it must be fully and systematically covered (all localities must be checked). After registration, volunteers will be contacted by one of the partner organizations and undergo a training period.

"The white stork census helps improve the knowledge regarding the nesting population of the species in Romania so that effective protection measures can be implemented in the long term, such as installing nest stands where necessary to protect both the birds and the power grid, but also improving agricultural practices (or preserving traditional ones) in order to stop the degradation of the habitats used by the species," said Cristian Domșa, census coordinator from the Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR).

The Romanian Ornithological Society and the Association for the Protection of Birds and Nature "Milvus Group" have been monitoring this species since 1994. Since 2017, professional ornithologists or volunteers have been using the Uite Barza! app or OpenBirdMaps to collect data on the white storks in Romania.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: SOR; by Cristian Țurcan)