Scientific Journal of the BirdLife Hungary

A Magyar Madártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület tudományos folyóirata

Ornis Hungarica. vol.8 Suppl. 1.. (1998) p.1-8.

Status of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) in Hungary: results of national censuses between 1941 and 1994
Lovászi Péter

Download full article: [djvu] (67 Kb)

Abstract:

As a part of the 1994-95 international white stork-census, the 9h national census took place in Hungary in 1994. In 1994: all territories were counted by specialists-, members of HOS and the staff of National Parks. This census reported a total of 5214 stork nests in the country. We have reports on the death of 454 nestlings, 92 first year and 59 adult birds., In 94. 1% of cases where the cause of death was known, it was electricity wires. Based on the data of the first 1958 year census, the Hungarian stork population must have been 7-8000 breeding pairs. By the early 1970's this number had been halved, probably due to the loss of habitats and loss of traditional nest-bases (wide chimneys, old trees) (Fig. 1.). At this time storks began using electricity poles as nest-bases (presently almost 80% of storks' nests are on poles), and the population increased by 25%. In the last decade the population decreased again, so presently 4800-4900 pairs of storks breed in Hungary The safety of electricity poles as nest support structures is made safer by raised platforms, though more than 1500 nests are still found directly on electric wires. A change in technical standards of 1 0 and 20 kV electricity lines should be considered as they are a major mortality factor of Hungarian storks.