The first white stork of the year was spotted in Bucharest on March 7, the Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR) announced. The stork was flying close to a flock of seagulls.

The next day, flocks of storks were spotted in Calarasi and in Braila, in eastern Romania. Also in Calarasi, the SOR spotted the first hoopoe seen this year.

Last year, the SOR launched a mobile app to help carry out a census of the white storks in the country. The estimated population of white storks in Romania is between 4,000 and 5,000 pairs. This year, the app will have a new feature, allowing the reporting of incidents involving birds, namely the cases of collisions or accidental electrocution. The white storks are usually building nests on the top of electricity poles and house roofs, and the electrocution is one of the threats encountered by the birds.

Beginning with the month of March, the SOR also kicks off a new season of the educational project Spring Alive. The project allows the young to monitor the five bird species that show how spring is setting in in Romania and in Europe. The five birds are: the white stork, the swallow, the common swift, the cuckoo, and the bee-eater. The spotting of all the five birds is a clear sign that spring has settled in. Romanian pupils, alongside their European peers, can signal the birds they have seen on a migration map.

The lesson we learn from watching storks in their Romania nest

editor@romania-insider.com