Flamingos in Odesa: New Challenges and Safe Havens
The unique pink flamingos that have chosen the National Nature Park "Tuzlovskyi Estuaries" in Odesa for nesting over the past few years were recently forced to leave their newly selected site due to noisy vacationers. This was reported by park staff member Ivan Rusev.
According to the ecologist, the flamingos, having returned from wintering in April, initially selected what seemed to be a safe spot on the sandy isthmus between the Budura and Shagany estuaries. However, as Rusev noted, there is an old recreation area nearby for the residents of the Diviziyska community. He mentioned that recently, despite the sounds of war, the flamingos had been holding on at their chosen location, but after a "recreation" of local residents, which he described as a "boozy 'greenday'", the birds left the favored spot. Now they are roaming the Tuzlovskyi estuaries in search of a more secure refuge. Rusev added that they are currently searching for violators of the national park's protection regime and preparing a reliable and mobile point for the protection of flamingo nesting sites for 2025.
The head of the national park, Iryna Vykhrystiuk, confirmed that flamingos are very sensitive to disturbances. Although during martial law, the main factors of disturbance are shelling and the buzzing of drones, park staff encounter each year that human activities cause the changes in the birds' nesting areas.
The history of flamingo nesting in Odesa has its peculiarities. They first built nests in the National Nature Park "Tuzlovskyi Estuaries" in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district in 2023, when about 200 nests were recorded near the village of Bazar’yanka. According to Iryna Vykhrystiuk, flamingos often choose locations near where people recreate. At that time, traces of humans, dogs, and even vehicle tracks on the nests were documented, forcing the birds to abandon the site. However, they found another area, further from humans, successfully raised chicks, part of which were ringed.
