10 February 2021
10.02.2021 - As part of the activities for monitoring and inventorying biodiversity on 16 - 17.01.2021, the Kosovo Institute for Nature Protection, with the help of volunteers from Wildlife Albanian Photographers – WAPH, Kosova Wildlife Care – KWC, as well as nature-loving experts and enthusiasts, for the third consecutive time carried out the International Waterbird Census.
This time as well, this counting was carried out almost in all locations where there is a presence of water basins, as well as in some parts of river flows.
The activity was conducted within the framework of IWC 2021 (International Waterbird Census) which is organized worldwide, for 55 years, by Wetlands International.
Considering that this winter has been slightly milder than in previous years, most of the water surfaces visited were ice-free, except for Lake Livoç and Lake Përlepnicë, which had partial ice, whereas Henc Marsh and the Vasileva Lakes were almost entirely covered with ice. The only fully thawed surfaces where waterbirds were present were Lake Badovc, Lake Radoniq, and the small lakes around the Obiliq power plant (near the Mirash Waste Disposal Site), which also hosted the largest number of waterbirds. From the collected results, it can be observed that a total of 19 species of waterbirds were observed, with a total number of 8,250 individuals.
Also this time, the majority of the waterfowl counted on this occasion were the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos with 5,477 individuals and the Common Teal Anas crecca with 1,985 individuals, which made up over 90% of the total number of birds.
The complete list of water and shore birds is presented in the full census report, which you can download at the following link:
International Waterbird Census 2021 in Kosovo report