The Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR) has launched a special mobile app that will help it carry out a census of white storks in the country.

The pilot project, with the support of Enel electricity companies in Romania, will run from July to August 2017, and aims to start a regular census for a correct assessment of the white stork population in Romania.

Thus SOR has launched Uite Barza (Here’s the stork), a unique app in Europe that is available to all smartphone users who want to get involved in protecting this bird species. “The white stork is a protected species, and the first step to helping it is to identify the exact number of pairs that have nests and their offsprings. Through its partnership with Enel, SOR will collect rigorous data on the white stork’s nesting in Romania, with the help of Enel specialists on the ground, as well as the general public who will use the mobile app,” reads a joint press release from Enel and SOR.

“The project aims to identify areas with high risk of potential electric shocks for storks, so that Enel distribution companies can take measures to protect both the birds and the electric grids.”

The white storks are usually building nests on the top of electricity poles and house roofs, the electric shocks being one of the threats affecting this species in areas where they have nests. The estimated population of white storks is between 180,000 and 220,000 pairs in Europe, while in Romania their number was estimated at 4,000-5,000 pairs.

The mobile app can be downloaded here. Following the results of this project, SOR and Enel distribution companies will be able to take action to replace the existing nests at risk, to prevent possible network failures or electric shocks that can affect the storks.

Arlie the Lesser Spotted Eagle ends 49-day journey to Romania

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photo credit: Răzvan Zinică)