News - Securing the recovery of the endangered Saker Falcon in Bulgaria and Southern Romania

The Life for Falcons Project took part in the Anniversary Meeting of the High-flying Pigeon Federation in Bulgaria

Apr. 24, 2025

With a dazzling celebration, the Federation of High-Flying Pigeons in Bulgaria marked its 20th anniversary and awarded the champions of the 2024 competition season.

Construction of the pigeon lofts to test effective preventive methods for reducing damage caused by birds of prey has begun

Apr. 16, 2025

For the third year in a row, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), within the framework of the LIFE project Life for Falcons, has been working intensively to reduce the conflict between pigeon fanciers and birds of prey in Bulgaria

The Life for Falcons project was presented at the Annual Monitoring Meeting in Romania

Apr. 08, 2025

The 15th Annual Monitoring Meeting took place in Sibiu on March 22, 2025.

The Green Balkans team, as part of the "Life for the Falcon" project, held meetings with candidate hunters.

Mar 25, 2025

Candidate hunters from Stara Zagora and Kazanlak, in the very first days of their training, met with the Green Balkans team as part of the "Life for the Falcon" project.

Female Saker Falcon Found Poisoned in the Plovdiv Region

Mar 12, 2025

A female Saker Falcon, part of one of the only three known pairs of this globally endangered species breeding in the wild in Bulgaria, was found poisoned in the Plovdiv region.

The annual meeting on Prevention of Wildlife Crimes was held

Feb. 26, 2025

A team from BSPB working on the Life for Falcons project took part in the annual meeting on the topic "Prevention of Wildlife Crimes."

Partners’ Meeting for the Life for Falcon Project Held in Sofia

Feb. 25, 2025

At the beginning of February, the BSPB organized a partners’ meeting for the Life for Falcon project.

Green Balkans team presented the Life for Falcons project in the Celebration of Wine

Feb. 18, 2025

The village of Oryahovitsa in the Stara Zagora region hosted the celebration. e, Joy, and Trifon Zarezan

The Life for Falcons project was presented at a falconry meeting in the town of Smolyan

Feb. 11, 2025

The 14th Falconry Meeting brought together falconers from across the country.

The breeding season for wild pairs of Saker Falcons has already begun

Feb. 10, 2025

This was confirmed by the team of the Life for Falcons project during their regular monitoring in recent days.

300 poles were insulated in Dobruja by experts from SOR

Jan. 21, 2025

Bird mortality caused by electrocution is a significant conservation issue, particularly impacting birds of prey.

Lecture on the Romanian Hamster at the Faculty of Biology, Sofia University

Jan. 08, 2025

On December 18, 2024, PhD student Yasen Gensusov from IBEI delivered a lecture on the Romanian Hamster to students, professors, and guests at the Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski.”

Staff and volunteers from the Green Balkans Rescue Center participated in an exchange program at the Attica Zoo in Greece

Dec. 12, 2024

Attica Zoo – the largest in our southern neighbor – hosted an experience exchange program in which our staff and volunteers took part.

Green Balkans team visited 10 rescue centers and zoos in Europe as part of the "Life for the Falcon" project

Dec. 11, 2024

The Green Balkans team visited a total of 10 rescue centers and zoos across Europe that focus on breeding various protected bird species, including peregrine falcons.

The "Life for Falcons" Project Team Participates in a Conference in Hungary Dedicated to the Saker Falcon and Power Lines

Dec. 10, 2024

In November, a team of experts from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) and Green Balkans attended a conference organized by the Hungarian electric company MAVIR.

Video surveillance for the protection of Saker Falcons

Dec. 05, 2024

Video surveillance is used to monitor the artificial nest boxes installed for the Saker Falcons is Southern Romania on the pylons of high voltage power lines, especially during the breeding season.

For the first time in Bulgaria, the endemic Romanian hamster species has been successfully bred

Dec. 03, 2024

Scientists from the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research ahave successfully bred four generations of Romanian hamster.

In search of Saker Falcon chicks

Nov. 19, 2024

With the arrival of spring starts also the fieldwork in search of Saker nests and pairs. The monitoring action took place between March and May, and the first finding was that, compared to previous seasons, in 2024 the Sakers started breeding two-three weeks early.

International workshop on nature crimes investigation was held in Stara Zagora

Nov. 06, 2024

From October 29 to 31, the Veterinary Faculty of Trakia University hosted a specialized training course on investigating environmental crimes, led by experts from the regional government of Andalusia, Spain.

From Kestrels to Sakers in over 20,000 shots

Oct. 22, 2024

Although the Saker Falcon is still considered rare in the southern part of Romania, and any birdwatcher would consider themself lucky to notice the bird, let alone to photograph it, Dragoș Plăeșu, SOR member, managed to gather a collection of photos of these magnificent birds. We asked him to tell us in a short interview about how „one makes their own luck”and his two passions.