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Steppes’ inhabitants – Hungarian Sakers from West Africa to Kazakhstan |
(2009/11/12)
Many people talk nowadays about the complexity of natural systems, but most people do not really know what it is. The satellite-tracked Hungarian Sakers’ - including Piros and Ványa - story is a good example of how complex and extensive ecological systems are, in which we people live. Two years ago, even the professionals have not really thought that the Central European Saker population can be affected by the state of the natural environment of Africa and Central-Asia, and in this context, the commitment – or its lack – of its people to nature conservation. The Bükk National Park Directorate (BNPI) led Hungarian-Slovak Saker conservation LIFE program’s results again highlight the fact that broad international cooperation is essential to successful conservation programs.
Between 2007 and 2009, experts of BirdLife Hungary, BNPI and Raptor Protection of Slovakia (RPS) deployed 45 satellite transmitters on Sakers. The aim of the tracking was to map the roaming, migration routes, and through this mapping the threats on falcons – in order to use information for a more effective protection. Assessing the threats is being done mainly indirectly by involving local colleagues, and bird-lovers, although the most obvious indication of the dangers is always a killed falcon.
Such an indication was recently the death of Saker named Piros. This bird, raising less than a sensation, headed west from Hungary – unlike other ‘normal’ Sakers leaving for South or East. After spending some time in Spain she arrived in Africa and her last signals came from the north-western corner of Mauritania. Piros was then about 4300 kilometers away from Hungary. After contacting Mr. Menna Ould Mohamed Saleh, head of local office of Banc d'Arguin National Park, he and his colleagues finally found the remains of Piros. The cause of mortality could not be clearly diagnosed: neither natural causes nor secondary poisoning by man-made pollution can be excluded. There are ships being disassembling in the area which may be contaminating the environment. To clarify the matter requires further investigation. Piros’ transmitters is on the way to Hungary due to the help of Spanish colleagues.
Another transmitter from a dead Hungarian Saker, Ványa, was returned from Kazakhstan with Hungarian help. Ványa departed from the Körös-Maros National Park area in 2008, one month after he fledged. He reached Kazakhstan in two weeks, and then signals began to come from a single location, which suggested that Ványa is likely dead, 2,500 kilometres away from home. Unfortunately no one could help about Ványa in Kazakhstan.
In 2009, however the ‘Bakonyi Poroszkálók’ (http://www.bakonyiporoszkalo.fw.hu) started their tradition-keeping horse-riding tour ‘From Golden Man to Attila’ from Kazakhstan to Hungary. Participants of the tour – Dr. István Bencze, Péter Csepin and Gábor Zsolnai – passed by the area in question, and prior to departure they offered their assistance. So it was that summer of 2009, almost a year after his disappearance, Ványa’s remnants got found. Unfortunately, also in this case it is only an assumption that the young, inexperienced Sakers could not hunt he weakened and died, or perhaps he fell prey to a stronger predator.
Apart Piros and Ványa, there were also other tagged Sakers found dead outside of Hungary. A satellite-tracked Saker was electrocuted in Russia, another was killed by a Goshawk in Poland and there are others that perished for unknown reasons. Information resulted from LIFE programme and other programmes highlight the complexity and extent of ecological systems, and therefore the necessity of international conservation efforts and the importance of conservation work. Considering the Central-European population of Saker, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia play key roles. In order to conserve the species on long term, it is now indispensable to create a broad international co-operation in practical field conservation work, beside international legal co-operation. Co-operation between experts from various countries to find the dead satellite-tracked Sakers can be the first step to achieve this.
Background
Supported by European Union’s LIFE-Nature fund, a common Hungarian-Slovak conservation programme has been launched for conserving the globally endangered Saker Falcon. Satellite-tracking is an important element of the programme that is carried out by the experts of BirdLife Hungary, BNPI and RPS.
Contact
József Fidlóczky
Project Manager
Bükk National Park Directorate
Tel: + 36-30-349 5664
E-mail: fidlojo@gmail.com
Mátyás Prommer
Communications Specialist
BirdLife Hungary
Tel: +36 20 5531296
E-mail: prommer.matyas @ mme.hu
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Workshop for Raptors (Italy) |
(2009/10/27)
A workshop for experts working on raptor conservation LIFE projects was organised by Astrale LIFE monitoring team and Comunità Montana Amiata Grossetano in Arcidosso, Italy on 22nd and 23rd October 2009. The main aim was to facilitate the communication among various LIFE projects working on similar or the same fields. The Hungarian-Slovak Saker conservation project was also presented in the workshop.
Many wildlife raptor populations throughout Europe are suffering dramatic declines in size or are already extirpated due to habitat loss and degradation, effects of human activities, land use changes. Furthermore, the consequences of climate change are likely to further reduce the survival of many species, disrupt their distributions and disturb their ecological function. Due to this dramatic situation, out of 181 bird species listed in the Annex 1 of the Birds Directive, 40 are raptors; 13 raptors species out of 49 birds species are considered as “priority for funding under LIFE” (see Wild Birds: Action plans) and EU Environmental Policy supports strongly their conservation (Duke, 2008).
The international workshop, gathering together beneficiaries of LIFE projects from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria and Hungary, experts involved in non-LIFE projects on raptors protection, policy-makers and representatives from the main Italian Electric Power Company, was aiming:
- To present “lessons learned” from LIFE Nature projects and their transferability;
- To identify scientific processes that improve the effectiveness of conservation actions;
- To promote multiple approaches to the raptors conservation and protection;
- To discuss on the main items concerning raptor conservation programmes (i.e. social participation and rural stakeholders involvement, threats control, measures for the protection of raptor migration routes, conservation of scavengers, wind farm and electric power lines construction in areas important for birds of prey; supplementary feeding of eagles and some others, activities to be carried out to achieve the restocking);
- To increase the exchange of experiences among the beneficiaries of the LIFE projects to reach a common approach regarding some general problems related to raptors.
It was clear from the presentations that there are problems and threats arising in all countries such as electrocution, poisoning and wind farm building. It was unanimous agreement among participants that an EU level regulation is needed to handle those issues. The conference, the discussion between the beneficiaries from different countries provided an excellent opportunity to improve mutual understanding and to consider setting up partnerships.
The Hungarian-Slovak Saker conservation project was also presented on the workshop. József Fidlóczky, the manager of the project, gave a 15 min presentation on the overall project aims and the results achieved so far. According to the feedbacks on the presentation, participants appreciated the great work that the Hungarian and Slovak colleagues did to conserve the species.
More information about the Workshop:
Birds of Prey LIFE-NATURE Workshop, Arcidosso 22-23 October 2009 >>
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Presidential visit |
(2009/09/26)
László Sólyom the President of the Hungarian Republic got first experiences about the work and achievements of our LIFE project implemented in successful Hungarian-Slovak co-operation during his visit in the Bükk National Park on 20-23 September 2009. He wishes us successful continuation.
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Piros in the West, Farkas on North, Saker falcons’ journies and fortune in Europe |
(2009/08/26)
The juvenile satellite tagged Sakers started their wandering movements and the half of the mounted birds have already left the Carpathian Basin. Piros have been already staying for already relatively long time in Iberia, choosing a less known route; while Farkas were killed by another raptor, a situation that is not documented frequently. The Sakers were mounted by the experts of MME/Birdlife Hungary and experts of the competent National Parks in the frame of the common Hungarian-Slovakian Saker conservation LIFE programme.
The year of 2009 provided really exciting data, from the point of view of Saker Falcons. The birds have left their home range earlier and have chosen different wandering routes as compared with the results of last years.
The most exciting roaming route was performed by a juvenile female, Piros, from West-Hungary. She left her home range at 26th July, and flew through Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, France, and reached Spain at 31th July. After some roaming she stopped her intensive moving and stayed north of Valladolid. The appearance of the bird resulted in great excitement among Spanish and Hungarian birdwatchers, because the Saker Falcon as a typical eastern species preferring steppe habitats has been proved only in a few cases beyond the south-west part of the Czech Republic. Till now there is only one approved record from western Europe: a Slovakian (Bratislava) juvenile Saker crashed with small airplane in south-west France, just two month later after ringing.
That case demonstrated clearly, sometimes Sakers can be found in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, the observed birds are not necessarily escaped falconry birds, as researchers have believed till now.
At the same time, Piros’s life is not easy at all in that area. Spanish birders informed us about the danger by pigeon-fanciers, who kill raptors illegally and arbitrarily for the protection of their own hobby. It would be problem with the other syndicate group of hunters, who fight raptors seeing them as their concurrence, especially in hunting partridge species, and thus hunters actively reduce the number of the birds of prey. Last year the Government of Castilla y Leon province poisoned intensively the common vole population in the area – producing dead raptors and the effect of poisoning is perceptible till now.
The Spanish ornithologist helped kindly gathering information of the settlement area and keep an eye on Piros, which means at least a certain level of protection for the bird.
Farkas was not so lucky. The Polish ornithologist found the dead bird near Wroclaw, which was banded south-east Hungary in 2009. Based on the signs of the locality, it’s possible reason of the death is Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) attack. Maybe the two birds fought for the same prey, or the goshawk wanted to catch directly the Saker as well as a prey; we never get to know. That type of natural mortality is probably not so rare, but the evidence is on, more infrequent.
The other Hungarian Sakers are ready to go to the autumn migration in Hungary, Ukrain, Russia.
We hope, the satellite tagged birds increase the knowledge of the researchers, safeguards for the endagered species’s interest.
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