The winter census of waterbirds in the Krka National Park in 2024

The winter census of waterbirds in the Krka National Park in 2024

This year as well, the Krka National Park joined the winter waterbirds census, the oldest and largest monitoring of biodiversity in the world, organised by Wetlands International, an international organisation for the protection of wetlands. It has taken place since 1967, and Croatia has participated in it since 1982.

The census was carried on January 13 and 14 by direct observation from the land and from vessels. It was carried out by volunteers, the ornithologists Ivan Budinski and Tomislav Sotinac, from the association Biom, and staff of the Krka National Park.

In addition to waterbirds, sightings were also recorded of kingfishers and birds of prey. Altogether twenty waterfowl species with 1,729 individuals were recorded in the Park area. In terms of numbers, coots, mallards, tufted ducks, common pochards, and great cormorants prevailed, which together account for 85.60% of the total number of observed overwintering waterbirds.

The noted overwintering waterbirds included ten species of ducks (mallards, gadwalls, northern shovellers, Eurasian widgeons, Eurasian teals, common pochards, red-crested pochards, ferruginous ducks, tufted ducks, and common goldeneyes), two species of grebes (little and great-crested), two species of cormorants (pygmy and great), two species of egrets/herons (great white egret and grey heron), red-billed swans, common moorhens, coots, and yellow-legged gulls.

As in previous years, the most wintering birds were recorded in the wider area of Lake Torak, i.e. at the mouth of the Čikola River into the Krka. As many as seventeen species of waterbirds were recorded there. The largest flock, of coots, consisted of three hundred and fifty individuals.

Waterbirds are an increasingly endangered group of birds, mostly due to the destruction of their habitats. Therefore, special attention is paid to the preservation of their habitats, primarily reeds, in the Park area. We will continue to monitor waterbirds and their habitats, so that by comparing their numbers and conditions from previous years, we can assess the trends among the populations of individual species and plan the suitable implementation of measures for their protection and preservation.