Good news again from the Dalmatian pelicans’ breeding grounds on Lake Skadar: during their last monitoring tour in April, National Park administration staff counted 29 fledged pelican chicks.
Exploring their habitat: fledged pelicans on Lake Skadar.
© Andrej ViziPreliminary numbers are indicating that this year’s breeding season will not be equally successful as in spring 2014 (we reported), but the difference is within the natural fluctuations of bird offspring. “Given the low mortality rates of these large birds, we can still call this a successful breeding season”, says EuroNatur project manager Pavel Be?ka.
Other than last year, all of the pelicans had their nests on the large breeding platform that was mounted early last year in the National Park. The breeding platform forms part of a package of species protection measures developed by EuroNatur – thanks to the support by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) – in cooperation with its partners Noé Conservation, Tour du Valat, The Association for Protection of Aquatic Wildlife in Albania (APAWA), Natural History Museum of Montenegro, Center for Protection and Research of Birds (CZIP), and the administration of Lake Skadar National Park. Besides the breeding platform, National Park rangers significantly contributed to the breeding success. By their high frequency of inspections they prevented bird hunters and fisherman from disturbing the pelicans.
Learn more about EuroNatur projects to protect the pelicans.