As the beginning of the breeding season of the Saker falcons (Falco cherrug) is the optimal time period to identify new breeding pairs on the field, employees of the “Milvus Group” have begun the search for territorial pairs and for available nests in the Western Plain of Romania and Dobrudja in March, 2012. These activities are implemented within the LIFE09 NAT/HU/000384 Saker falcon conservation program.

Based on the well-known preference of the Saker falcons to occupy raven (Corvus corax) and Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) nests built on high voltage electric pylons, we focused our searching efforts on powerlines from these two regions. Until now we’ve verified several powerlines with a total length of above 1000 km, and in the near future we will continue the search.

Our results regarding the finding of new Saker falcon pairs were above expectations, and suddenly, the number of territorial pairs known in Romania increased considerably! For further details please check the project’s official homepage:

http://sakerlife2.mme.hu/en/content/searching-saker-falcons-romania