Why adopt birds?
With this blog post, I continue an environmental series about eco-friendly educational Bulgarian projects in the framework of my study based on two-year long ethnographic fieldwork.
Adopting birds is one of the most exciting activities at the Wildlife Rescue Centre - Green Balkans in Stara Zagora.
The adoption scheme is a fundraising effort to treat ill animals and carry out conservation work to preserve extinct species.
And it's a mutually beneficial form of engagement with wildlife too.
Birds get support, and their supporters find endless enjoyment and inspiration.
Curiously, the first adopters at the centre were inhabitants of the local orphan's home in the Stara Zagora region.
One's birthday is the most frequent occassion when most people express this type of wildlife support. I wasn't an exception to this rule, and decided to spend my recent birthday with the adopted four birds.
A white stork, a grey heron and two owls are now under my wardship for several months.
The chosen birds are some of my favourite species, and I picked them from the list of the adoption programme.
Indeed I see this form of engagement with wild birds is an excellent opportunity to learn about rare species and interact with them.
A home for 500 injured birds
With three sections – a visiting area, rehabilitation and breeding – the Wildlife Rescue Centre is home to over 500 wild birds, represented by 35 species.
Some of them are temporary there and after treatment will be released.
Others will stay there forever due to severe injuries.
Electrical shock from power lines, collisions with vehicles, habitat loss, poaching are the main reasons for bird injuries.
'We'll send some birds to zoos across Europe, - says Hristina Klisurova, PR manager and vet. - Many of our pelicans, swans, storks and falcons have already found their new homes in Bulgarian, British and Czech zoos'.
Among my adopted birds
To meet the adopted birds, I came to the Wildlife Rescue Centre - Green Balkans in Stara Zagora.
For three days, I observed the busy activities of all three sections.
The breeding section and visitor centre are in the same area, and the rehabilitation department is about 200 metres further.
With people in medical uniform and injured birds in cages and enclosures, the place reminds a hybrid of lab and zoo.
The two of my adopted birds, owls, live in cages, and two others, a stork and heron, walk around a fenced area.
While the owls are very calm, the stork has quite a quarrelsome personality.
He's often engaged in arguments with other storks or herons.
The heron, in contrast, is very shy and doesn't like to be in the public eye.
With over 120 video cameras in the cages and the area, the birds' activities are under constant scrutiny.
The bird caretaker Dimitar Todorov (in the image below) starts his working day with careful analysis of the video data.
This's followed by food preparation for all the species and construction projects devoted to building nests.
All the permanent inhabitants of the centre have names. Because of constant interaction with people, their behavioural patterns have changed significantly and developed a great curiosity about people's activities.
A striking example of such changes is the 15-year pink pelican Gruyo.
He is the most amusing and interactive creature in the centre. He comes up to every visitor and greets them raising his only wiing.
15 years ago, after his encounters with poachers, he lost a part of the wing. The injury resulted in amputation.
Expressing his emotions with funny sounds and movements, Gruyo busily approaches every person that enters his area.
The daily interaction with volunteer Stilian Atanasov is one of the favourite activities of the bird. The pelican enjoys eating from the boy's hands and playing with him.
To learn more about different activities involving wild birds in Bulgaria, download below my award-winning guide The Insights into Conservation Volunteer Bird Watching Holidays in Bulgaria. It's Not Only About Birds.