The annual census of waterfowl is over

The waterfowl census has been conducted synchronously worldwide since 1967. It includes over 15,000 people.

This year, from 14 to 17 January, 42 teams of experts and volunteers of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds and representatives of other organizations managed to collect and summarize data on wintering birds in over 200 wetlands in Bulgaria.

The main concentration of birds is again registered on the Black Sea coast. In the area south of Sunny Beach, the areas are especially important. Via Pontica also passes here. There are relatively few birds on the Danube due to the high level of the river these days.

The unusually high temperatures in the country, which were registered a week before the census, led to a much lower number of wintering waterfowl species than last year's census. 

About 90% of the data is currently processed. The total number is 229,502 individuals, in 2020 it was 247,908, in 2019 - 361,933, in 2018 - 130,000.

The southern Black Sea coast is traditionally a favorite place for ornithologists. Every year they spend months here, with accommodation in hotels from Saint Vlas to Sozopol. Alternative tourism is one of the possibilities of the tourism industry for survival. The development of the region depends on its flexibility.