Bird-watching tours will be held in Sofia's Borisova Gradina park on Saturday on the occasion of World Migratory Bird Day, October 14. Ornithologists from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds will also give talks about migratory birds next to the park's Lake with the Lilies, the environmental organization said Friday.
The tours will start at 9:30 am, 11 am, and 12:30 am.
The talks will acquaint visitors with the red-breasted goose, the Egyptian vulture, and the Dalmatian pelican, among other migratory birds. Visitors will also learn more about the challenges that birds face during migration, such as illegal hunting, changes in habitats, human disturbance, light pollution, and power lines.
Visitors will be able to donate to a fundraiser for the conservation of the imperial eagle, the saker falcon, and the European ground squirrel. The goal is to raise BGN 100,000 for the purchase of approximately 10 ha of land in Sakar Mountains to restore the shrinking populations of the three endangered species as well as protect the home of thousands of species of plants, animals, and fungi.
According to data released by the Environment and Water Ministry, approximately 2,000 out of the planet's 11,000 bird species migrate. Some of them, like the Arctic tern and the bar-tailed godwit that can be seen in Bulgaria as well, cover distances of over 10,000 km without stopping. Bulgaria is among the countries important for migratory birds: Europe's second most important flyway, Via Pontica, passes through Bulgaria. Another key migratory route, Via Aristotelis, follows the Strouma River in Western Bulgaria. Also important are the wetlands along the Black Sea coast, where the birds rest during their migration.
World Migratory Bird Day has been marked since 2018. There are two markings a year: on the second Saturday of May and of October. In 2023, the theme is "Water: Sustaining Bird Life."
/DS/
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