Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Common crane returns to Bulgaria after 66-year absence

Photo: Zeynel Cebeci/ Wikimedia commons

The Common Crane (Grus grus) has returned to nest in Bulgaria after a 66-year absence. The birds have chosen the Dragoman marsh as their home. This was announced by the Wild Nature Association “Balkans” after a series of observations by the association and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

In the summer of 2022, a family group of two adults and two nestlings was observed. The birds returned in the spring of 2023. In May, the juveniles disappeared and the adults became less easy to spot, which is normal when the pair are guarding their nest, eggs and chicks. On 11 June this year, experts documented the first newly hatched common crane chick in Bulgaria since 1957. The reason for the species' disappearance from the country's fauna is the destruction of wetlands, which provide the right conditions for feeding and raising their young.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Photo: Bulgarica Center

152 years of immortality... The personality of Vasil Levski continues to unite Bulgarians abroad

152 years after Bulgaria lost its beloved son and advocate for a free, independent and tolerant state – Vasil Levski, his personality continues to excite and inspire Bulgarians from all generations. Scholars continue to study the work of the Apostle..

published on 2/19/25 12:58 PM
Photo: The Bulgarian Embassy in the USA

Bulgarians around the world bow down to the Apostle of Freedom

152 years after the death of the Apostle of Freedom, the personality of Vasil Levski continues to excite Bulgarians, regardless of whether they are in the country or abroad. The Embassy of Bulgaria in Athens, Greece , has extended an invitation to the..

published on 2/19/25 11:23 AM
Milen Tsvetkov

The personalities who leave a mark on Bulgarian society and the film "Milen"

Easter 2020 went down in history with two things. The first was the state of emergency, introduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic that imposed a number of restrictions on us, the consequences of which we are still recovering from. The..

published on 2/18/25 9:41 PM