The black stork (Ciconia nigra (Linnaeus, 1758) is a bird listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. There are only 400-450 pairs in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the year, the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv Regional State Administration has intensified its efforts to identify nesting sites of Red Book bird species, including the black stork.
Thus, last week, according to information from residents of the Zolochiv district about the discovery of a black stork nest in a forest area, representatives of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Regional State Administration (Head of the Department of Natural Resources Protection Andriy Senyuk), the National Nature Park “Northern Podillya” (Senior Research Scientist of the Department of Science V. Batochenko) and the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Professor of the Department of Zoology Andriy Bokotey) examined the area and confirmed the presence of a nesting site for the Red Book species. By the way, the stork’s home is built on an oak tree that is approximately 350 years old.
The discovered nest is only the third officially recorded nesting site of the bird in Lviv oblast. Previously, nesting sites were found in Yavoriv and Stryi districts.
Oksana Viytyk, acting director of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Regional State Administration, notes that nesting sites of Red Book birds are subject to special protection and, accordingly, the next step will be to designate a protection zone around the discovered nest and review planned forestry activities within this forest area. Since the black stork leads a secretive lifestyle, never settles close to human settlements, prefers old forests and inaccessible places, it is quite difficult to find its nest. At the same time, Oksana Viytyk urges the residents of the region to report any nesting sites of Red Book birds to preserve the population of rare species.
At the same time, we would like to inform you that according to scientists, the decline in the number of birds in Ukraine is due to the degradation of nesting sites due to excessive anthropogenic pressure, due to the factor of anxiety caused by both the population and the military actions within the country.