In March, a joint team of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) and Electrodistribution Grid West EAD successfully installed 27 more artificial nest boxes for the endangered Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus).

This brings the total number of newly installed houses for the species in Bulgaria to 50.

The Red-footed Falcon is a small falcon whose population has declined sharply over the last twenty years in Bulgaria, reaching the critical threshold of only a few known pairs in 2022. This is the reason why the species is listed in the Red-list of threatened species of Bulgaria in the category "Critically Endangered", and in view of its declining numbers in Europe - to be part of the World Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Red-footed Falcon breeds in colonies, inhabiting steppes, grasslands, and arable areas with tree and shrub belts and groups of trees. The main threats to the species include intensification in agriculture, excessive use of insecticides, plowing, and disturbance during the breeding season, etc. The BSPB has long been working on the conservation of the species, and one of the main conservation measures is the placement of artificial nest boxes in suitable habitats to attract the falcons to breed. In 2013, for the first time in Bulgaria, four pairs successfully raised their chicks in the artificial houses placed by BSPB.
All 50 nest boxes were placed on trees and electricity pylons in suitable habitats for the species in northern Bulgaria. Monitoring will be carried out in the coming months and we hope to record the successful occupation of the houses by the Red-footed Falcon.
These activities are being carried out within the framework of the project LIFE Danube Free Sky (LIFE19 NAT/SK/001023), funded by the EU Life Programme.

© Svilen Cheshmedjiev