A record number of Red-footed falcons have been observed during the monitoring of the roosting sites in the Carpathian Basin. Every year, before the fall migration, experts and volunteers carry out weekly counts at the species’ favorite roosting sites in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia. 

The September 18 monitoring broke the record set 10 years ago (in 2014 a total of 11,160 individuals were counted at 43 sites), after 11,751 individuals were counted at 49 roosting sites. At the next monitoring on September 25, the number of birds was even higher at 14,623.

In Romania, with the help of volunteers we monitored and counted falcons at 3 gathering sites in Crișana and 3 in Banat. This year, we recorded less individuals than almost any previous year. During the 7 survey days, less than 6 000 falcons were counted (3 019 in Crișana and 2 819 in Banat), one of the lowest numbers of individuals since 2009.

There are several reasons for the low number of individuals. One of them could be the insufficient food supply, which is decisive, since at this time of the year the falcons are preparing physically for their journey of thousands of kilometres around the gathering sites. Another reason that could influence the choice of location is the weather conditions.

One of the interesting things about this year’s synchronous census was that participants from Hungary were able to observe an old falcon that was ringed 16 years ago in the same country and is estimated to have travelled 255,000 kilometres from its first migration to the present day, a distance that would have taken it around the world 6.5 times. In 2021 the Milvus Group was also fortunate enough to observe a very mature falcon of at least 14 years old, which was ringed during the Conservation of Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) in the Pannonian Region LIFE Project, which ran between 2006 and 2009. 

We want to thank the 18 volunteers, who sacrificed their free time and by this contributed to the success of the programme.