In February 2025, we launched a new monitoring program — this time dedicated to the White stork nests in Romania — to gain a clearer understanding of the stork population breeding in our country.

We invited all nature enthusiasts to become Guardians of the storks and help us by reporting information such as the storks’ arrival at the nest, pair formation, egg laying, hatching, and the chicks’ first flight, among others.

In this first year of the monitoring program, our OpenBirdMaps (OBM) database has recorded 361 stork nests, of which 124 were monitored. With the help of 14 dedicated guardians, we received regular data from 50 nests, and monthly updates from 10 of them.

From these observations, we learned that the first stork arrived on March 7, and by April 5, at least one stork had returned to every monitored nest. By April 25, pairs had reunited, and some had already begun laying eggs. In total, 331 White stork chicks hatched from the monitored nests.

We believe this is a promising start, and in the coming years we hope to increase the number of Guards, who provide us information about the stork nests.

Do you live near a nest? Do you pass by the same nest on your way to work? Have you spotted a nest while out for a walk?  If your answer is YES to any of these questions, or if you simply wish to contribute to this programme, don’t hesitate!No specialist knowledge or equipment is required. Any information related to a nest is welcome. If you have the possibility to occasionally or even regularly upload data about the same nest, you will be providing us with extremely valuable information that will help us better understand stork behaviour and nesting dynamics.

Here you can find a brief description and the Methodology of the White stork nest monitoring Programme.

We sincerely thank everyone who contributed data during this first year of the project! We also encourage you to join us, become a Guardian of the Storks, and together, let’s learn more about Romania’s stork population.