About past, present and future of Ukraine

Search mobile

Main Diplomacy The largest flock of pink flamingos ever flown over the Odessa region

Diplomacy

The largest flock of pink flamingos ever flown over the Odessa region

565
The largest flock of pink flamingos ever flown over the Odessa region

Share this article


The largest flock of pink flamingos in the history of observations flew over the territory of the Odessa region and stopped in the Romanian part of the Danube Delta.


This event was announced by the researcher of the Danube Biosphere Reserve, ornithologist Maxim Yakovlev. According to the naturalist, on May 21, 60 individuals were spotted in the area of ​​the Starostambul girl.

The birds flew in unison towards the Ermakov Island and disappeared behind the horizon in the rays of the setting sun. Unfortunately, it was not possible to capture the unexpected guests in the photo. A couple of days later, Romanian colleagues noted two flocks of flamingos at once on their territory. One of them, numbering 61 individuals, stopped at Lake Tuzla, which is actually a backwater of Lake Nuntase, near the village of Trayan. Another 53 individuals stopped at a small lake Saraturiya near the village of Murigol. It was on Lake Saraturiya that individual pairs began to build nests from the silt. But experts believe that, most likely, nesting will be unsuccessful, since the shallow area is accessible to predators.

Maxim Yakovlev
odessajournal 0

On May 31, the number of birds in the flock on Lake Tuzla increased to 113 individuals - probably, the two flocks merged.

In recent years, flamingos are increasingly appearing within Ukraine. Usually their numbers ranged from one to 25 individuals. Most often they were celebrated in the Crimea. Last year, five flamingos stayed on the Tiligul estuary for a long time, and some individuals were noted several times even in winter, including on the territory of the Tuzlov Estuary National Park in the south of the Odessa region. In 2017, the first nesting of these birds in Ukraine was noted on the hypersaline part of Lake Sivash. Bird watchers then found 13 nests and three chicks.

It is not entirely clear where the flamingos came from in the Danube Delta. The nearest nesting sedentary groups are in Asia Minor (about 1200 km) and in the southern Balkans (about 600 km). Some bird watchers believe that birds may also be part of the population from northern Kazakhstan. It is the birds of this group that carry out migrations, and for them a very wide dispersal for wintering is noted - from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and India to the south, to Turkey, Cyprus and Tunisia to the West-Southwest.

Maxim Yakovlev
odessajournal 1

Now the number of flamingos in the world, thanks to nature conservation measures, is growing. Lack of nesting areas and competition forces birds to find new nesting and feeding sites. Climate change also contributes to this process.

Flamingos inhabit large salt water lakes, sea lagoons and estuaries. It feeds in shallow water with a muddy bottom, filtering the water with its beak. The diet of the bird includes small crustaceans, molluscs, fly larvae, as well as some types of unicellular algae and plant seeds. It is feeding on crustaceans and red algae that provides the red color of flamingos.

odessajournal 2

Photos Copyright: Mircea Bezergheanu


The Odessa Journal
more articles

Top article

The Ministry of Defense has signed a contract for the construction of a service center for repairing drones in Ukraine
War

The Ministry of Defense has signed a contract ...

Dmytro Kuleba: Ukraine and Croatia have agreed to use Croatian ports for exporting Ukrainian grain
Business

Dmytro Kuleba: Ukraine and Croatia have agree ...

New sanctions: Defence industry, political parties and individuals linked to oligarchs
Business

New sanctions: Defence industry, political pa ...

Volodymyr Zelensky: We are preparing for the next Ramstein meeting, we expect solidly grounded decisions to meet the prospects on the battlefield
War

Volodymyr Zelensky: We are preparing for the ...