Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXVI, Issue 1
Written by Gradimir GRADEV, Doncho KIROV, Tatyana BILEVA, Dimitar POPOV
The White Stork is one of the iconic bird species that is easily recognized by humans as it inhabits and nests in settlements as well as other places and structures located near lakes, rivers, dams, rice fields, wet meadows, and others. Given its feeding habitats, the species is a typical farmland bird. In many settlements in Bulgaria, including the village of Belozem, several dozen nesting pairs have been established, and this number is significantly higher than the average for the country. Some of the largest rice fields in the country, which are key foraging habitats for the species, are located around Belozem. In the village of Belozem, the stork colony formed on the roof of the local school is very impressive and counts over 20 nests, which represent almost half of the pairs nesting in the village - about 40 in total. In the current study, 41 to 53 stork nests were recorded, and 35-37 pairs successfully reared at least one juvenile each. The number of fledglings leaving the nest ranged from 94 to 115.
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