During the regular monitoring of birds within the frameworks of the “Life for Pomorie lagoon” project, a new species for the lagoon was sighted and registered – the small bustard (Tetrax tetrax), the Green Balkans – a leading organization in the field of conservation of rare species and habitats in Bulgaria announced. The species is on Bulgaria’s red book of extinct species, and on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s international red list of endangered species as near threatened.

The little bustard, a bird from the family Otididae is actually quite big. Its body reaches 42 cms. in length but its wing span in flight can be 110 cms. and it can weigh up to one kilogram. It has a robust body, dark yellow stable legs, a comparatively large head and a short orange beak. Its eyes are also dark orange coloured. Its feathers are camouflage grey with beautiful black spots and it has a white collar around the neck.

The little bustard is thought to have nested in this country until the mid-20^th century. There are data of registered nesting couples in the region of Montana and Pleven in Northern Bulgaria and Eastern Dobrudzha at the end of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th century. It has also been spotted in the region of the Burgas lakes, but in the 1950s the population of little bustards declined dramatically and they started only to spend the winter here. Numerous negative factors brought about their disappearance from these lands – destruction and changes in their habitat as a result of ploughing of the land, anxiety, poaching.

Today the little bustard is a very rare visitor to our country, there being sporadic reports of isolated sightings in parts of Dobrudzha close to the sea. Now, experts watched two birds on the shore of Lake Pomorie, adding one more species to the list of birds registered in the region of the lagoon.

“There are 420 species of birds in Bulgaria, which either nest here or migrate, or spend the winter here. 280 species of birds nest here,” said Irina Mateeva, EU policy officer at the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) said for the BNR. At the beginning of the week the BSPB launched online lectures within the “Close bird encounters” training course. Practical exercises are planned including bird watching in the field, members of the society said. During the training nature lovers will go bird watching to learn to recognize the different species. This training is not for training’s sake – the data about the birds gathered in the wild is used for environmental purposes, says Irina Mateeva and adds that nature lovers from 13 towns in Bulgaria have stated they want to take part.

Compiled by Elena Karkalanova