Unfortunately, 2022 turned out to be an unkind year for the Dalmatian pelican of the Balkan Peninsula. In the spring, more than 2,000 adults from breeding colonies in Greece and the Danube Delta in Romania died as a result of avian influenza (the so-called bird flu). This resulted in nearly 40% decrease of the population of the species in the area!

The 5th South-East European pelican census took place in May 2022. For one day, hundreds of volunteers and scientists simultaneously visited 95 wetlands in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey where they counted a total of 3,823 Dalmatian pelicans and 3,496 Great white pelicans.

On June 24, a team of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) successfully tagged with a satellite transmitter a young Dalmatian pelican from the breeding colony of the species in the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area. This is the first pelican with a transmitter that was hatched and raised in a Bulgarian colony of the species.

A training seminar was held in Lemos (Greece), near Prespa Lake, on June 22-23 as part of the “Pelican Way of LIFE” project. The workshop is specially organized for experts from Albania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, and Turkey.

At the beginning of June, Festival of the Dalmatian Pelican took place in Bulgaria for the second time, organised by the Persina Nature Park Directorate and partners.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, the team of Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS)/BirdLife Greece succeeded in tagging with a satellite transmitter one more Dalmatian Pelican in Western Greece, which is the second one in the Messolonghi region.

The fifth international pelican census in Southeast Europe took place on May 14th. It aimed at gathering information about the number and distribution of the endangered species Pelecanus crispus (Dalmatian pelican) and Pelecanus onocrotalus (Great white pelican) in the region. The event was organized within the “Pelican Way of LIFE” initiative and was coordinated by the Hellenic ornithological society (HOS).

At the end of March the team of the Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) was in Messolonghi for a series of actions within the initiative Pelican Way of LIFE, financed by the LIFE Program of the European Commission.

The Dalmatian pelican is an emblematic species for biodiversity in Romania, a kind of “uncrowned king” of wetlands. Under “Pelican way of LIFE” the dynamics of the populations of this species in the country is closely monitored. Enjoy the interview with biologist Sebastian Bugariu, the coordinator of Romanian Ornithological Society/BirdLife Romania (SOR), on the activities within the international initiative “Pelican Way of LIFE”.

The work to stabilize and strengthen interconnected populations of the Dalmatian pelican along the Black Sea-Mediterranean flyway, carried on by Rewilding Europe and partners, has been recognized by the European Commission’s Natura 2000 Awards. By reducing the risk of collisions with power lines, the installation of nesting platforms, and establishing regular patrols, The Pelican Way of LIFE initiative has helped to create two new breeding colonies in Bulgaria.