2% for Birds

Thank you for your very kind 2% donations, which we received in 2011. Your generosity will help us to sustain the Rehabilitation Center, the Ecological Education of kids and to…

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Spring maintenance works made on nestboxes for Red-footed Falcons

[singlepic id=601 w=250 h=200 float=left]Although the Hungarian-Romanian Red-footed Falcon LIFE project has ended in 2009, the Milvus Group has assumed to manage the so-called After LIFE activities (those are required to be continued after the end of the project). One of these activities is the maintenance of the artificial nests mounted within the LIFE project for the Red-footed Falcons. It’s a well-known fact that falcon species don’t build the nest of their own, instead raise their chicks in other birds’ nests. In our region the “Red-foots” choose mainly the nests of rooks, as they breed colonially as well. In the recent years we’ve established brand new colonies by putting artificial nests on trees in those areas where rookeries lack. (more…)

Continue ReadingSpring maintenance works made on nestboxes for Red-footed Falcons

The stork and bees

[singlepic id=595 w=250 h=200 float=left]In the last period more and more people are contacting the Milvus Group – Bird and Nature Protection Association, asking for help to protect the storks. Usually they are asking us to set up a rack for a nest, which is on an electrical pylon (e.g. Valea Nirajului, Ocna de Sus etc.). In some cases they are informing us about that some nests are in danger, sometimes even the coworkers from and electrical firm, without no reason, are removing them. In every situation we try to give our best and to solve the established, often unpleasant and weird so called problems.

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First bear captured by the Milvus Group

[singlepic id=572 w=250 h=200 float=left]On the 9th of April 2011, the Milvus Group has captured, successfully anesthetized and, after mounting a GPS-GSM collar (made by Vectronic Aerospace) on it, has released its first bear. The bear, an adult male weighing approx. 250 kilograms, was captured in Harghita County, several kilometers away from the town of Sovata. The capture team consisted of Károly Illyés and Károly Pál (professional gamekeepers, assistants within the bear project), Levente Borka (veterinarian) and the bear project coordinator, Csaba Domokos. The collar is working well and is already sending information on the animal’s activity. (more…)

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Fieldwork in Dobrudja – survey for Saker falcons


Photo: Luca Dehelean
In March, a few ornithologists from the Milvus Group working on the “Conservation of Falco cherrug in Northeast Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia” LIFE+ project have started the fieldwork in Dobrudja. As a first step they verified the presence of the target species in the Măcin Mountains, where Saker falcons used to breed. Although there are several suitable breeding places, due to unknown reasons yet, unfortunately the birds were missing. (more…)

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Taking part in the annual meeting of raptor conservation specialists in Hungary

[singlepic id=482 w=250 h=200 float=left]Birds of prey usually occur in the top of the trophic pyramid, which means that because of the major changes caused by humans on ecological equilibrium make them more and more vulnerable. It’s a matter of fact that many raptor species are endangered and need conservation actions to survive. The specialists from Hungary have reached the top of the class in raptor conservation, as their efforts made in the last few decades lead to increase the national populations of some highly endangered birds of prey species, of which global effectives are permanently decreasing. Such species are the Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) and the Saker (Falco cherrug). (more…)

Continue ReadingTaking part in the annual meeting of raptor conservation specialists in Hungary

Nestboxes for Owls

In winter 2010-2011 members of the Milvus Group have mounted a number of five artificial nestboxes for Eurasian Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium passerinum) and seventeen nests for Tengmalm’s Owl (Aegolius funereus).…

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1st Meeting of the International Working Group within the AEWA concerning the Lesser White-fronted Goose, one of the most endangered bird species in the Western Palearctic

[singlepic id=470 w=200 h=250 float=left]The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is the largest of its kind developed so far under CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Bonn Convention), and it covers 255 species of birds ecologically dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual cycle. It was concluded in 1995 in the Netherlands, and entered into force on 1 November 1999. Since then the Agreement is an independent international treaty. The agreement covers 118 countries from Europe, parts of Asia and Canada, the Middle East and Africa. Romania has signed it on 01.10.1999, and ratified it through the Law nr. 89/2000. (more…)

Continue Reading1st Meeting of the International Working Group within the AEWA concerning the Lesser White-fronted Goose, one of the most endangered bird species in the Western Palearctic

The project “Valea Alceului and Lunca Barcăului, Natura 2000 sites designated for the conservation of the Red-footed Falcon”

[singlepic id=465 w=250 h=200 float=left]Our project called “Valea Alceului and Lunca Barcăului, Natura 2000 sites designated for the conservation of the Red-footed Falcon”, supported by the MOL Romania and the…

Continue ReadingThe project “Valea Alceului and Lunca Barcăului, Natura 2000 sites designated for the conservation of the Red-footed Falcon”