A large part of the nesting sites set up by the EP North are occupied by endangered bird species

The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) has completed the ornithological monitoring of the nesting sites for Red-footed Kestrel (Falco vespertinus) and Coracias garrulus (Coracias garrulus), which were installed in 2024 together with ERP North within the LIFE project “Safe Sky for Birds in North-East Bulgaria”. A total of 150 nesting sites were set up in Veliko Tarnovo, Dobrich, Ruse and Silistra districts in order to provide safe nesting sites for target bird species with unfavorable conservation status and stabilize their populations at the regional level. Ninety of the nesting boxes are designed for bluebird, and the rest - for red-footed kestrels.

The expert on bird protection from BSPB - Mikhail Iliev, has checked 90 nesting sites for bluebell, and found a total of 5 nesting species in them. Of the target species - bluebell, 23 nesting sites are occupied, which is 40% more than the number of attracted pairs in 2024. It is interesting to establish nesting of an important one in this type of nesting boxes, with 7 pairs registered in 2025.

Using a small camera, the number of hatchlings in the occupied nests was also recorded - in the case of the bruise the average value was 2.53 small/pair, and in the case of the buzzard - 3 small/pair.

In several of the 60 nests of another type, designed for red-footed kestrels, nesting was recorded only of the black-headed kestrels (kerkenez).

Monitoring will continue in the coming breeding seasons, with ornithologists hoping the number of occupied nestlings will increase.

More about birds:

The red-footed kestrel is a small falcon that in the last twenty years has suffered a drastic population decline in our country and reached the critical threshold of only a few known pairs in 2022. This is the reason why the species is included in the Red Book of Bulgaria in the category “Critically Endangered”, and in view of its decreasing number in Europe — it is part of the World Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The bluebell is a protected species that nests in holes in earthen slopes, rock niches, stone walls, tree hollows and in cavities of concrete electric poles. The population of this blue-dyed bird began to undergo a drastic decline in the 50s of the XX century. The use of pesticides in agriculture is the main reason for this.

The project “Safe Sky for Birds in North-East Bulgaria”, funded by the EU LIFE Programme, started at the end of 2022 and lasts 5 years. The activities continue with the isolation of power poles from the EPP North network and the installation of diverters in 28 Natura 2000 project areas and in key corridors between the special protected areas. The scope of the project includes 16 species of endangered birds in Bulgaria, and the main goal is to prevent their unnatural mortality, as a result of electric shock and collision with overhead power lines.