Results of national White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) census in Hungary in 2019

Abstract

A national White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) census was organised in Hungary in 2019. The 14th country-wide nest count was coordinated by MME/BirdLife Hungary, also involving local branches and volunteers of the society and national park directorates.Altogether 5,018 nests and 2,358 White Stork nest holders without nest material were reported. 89.2% of occupied nests were built on electric poles. Although 80 years ago every third nests were found on trees, in 2019, only 6 were reported at that location. Successful pairs raised 2.62 nestlings on average, breeding success for all breeding pairs was 2.19, which is lower than typical, probably due to chilly and rainy weather during the breeding season. Based on 3,540 reported breeding pairs and former census data, the White Stork population of Hungary is estimated to be 3,860–4,020 pairs in 2019. The size of the population was ca. 15–16 thousand pairs in 1941, which halved by 1958 and decreased to 5 thousand pairs by the late 1960s. For four decades, the population fluctuated between 4,800 and 5,500 pairs but in the last twenty years, the number of breeding pairs slightly decreased in the country. The population decline is stronger in hilly areas of W Hungary, i.e. in Somogy, Vas and Zala counties is about 60%.

Monitoring population change using ’citizen science’ data: case study of the Hungarian White Stork(Ciconia ciconia)population between 1999 and 2021

“…Based on formerly published results, the estimated national population of White Stork amounted 5,600 pairs in 1999 (Lovászi 2004), in 2001 a lower value was found (5,000 pairs) (Lovászi 2004), and 5,200 pairs in 2004(Lovászi et al 2013. In 2014, only a breeding population of 4,950 pairs was estimated (Lovászi et al 2016), and then the number of breeding pairs dropped down to around 4,000 pairs (Lovászi et al 2020. These numbers fits the trend calculated by rtrim using nest count data.…”

“…These records were collected by a wide range of people, not in a framework of a preliminary designed monitoring. In spite of the immense amount of information, only the regular, five-year national censuses have been analysed and published so far (Lovászi et al 2013(Lovászi et al , 2016(Lovászi et al , 2020.…”

Effects of climate variables on the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia L.) productivity in a long term study

“…It should be noted, however, that the present study only examines the effects of weather on productivity and therefore its results may in themselves be misleading for future population developments. During the period under review, Hungary's stork population decreased from about 16,000 pairs to 4,000 pairs, presumably due to unfavourable changes in nesting sites and feeding grounds (Lovászi et al 2020), and population development of the last two decades is similar to other East-European populations (Lovászi 2022).…”

“…The White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large, long-distance migratory bird, a model species of population and breeding ecology with long-term datasets available (BirdLife International 2015, Kaatz et al 2017, Lovászi et al 2020, which makes it a perfect candidate to study climate change at different spatial scales. The European population increased in the last two decades of the 20 th century, since then the smaller western populations increase and the Eastern core population decrease (Kaatz et al 2017, PECBMS 2022.…”