PAST

Protected bird species of European community importance

The protected bird species of European community importance in Žemaitija National Park are: the Hazel grouse, the Corn crake and the Whooper Swan.

Hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia). It is a sedentary forest bird of the grouse family. It prefers spruce forests with a mixture of deciduous trees, especially alder, birch and hazel. It avoids large open areas and dense, homogeneous stands and is therefore sensitive to forest fragmentation. In the forest, they spend most of their lives on the ground, where they also nest. Up to ten young hatch.

Corn crake (Crex crex). This is a globally threatened open landscape bird. Although systematically classified as a waterfowl, corn crakes are less associated with wetland habitats. It is a typical bird of agrarian landscapes. It prefers low-intensity, moderately moist grassland with tall herbaceous vegetation. One male usually has several females. The corn crake prefers low-intensity, organic farming.

Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus). We are all probably familiar with the common mute swan (Cygnus olor). But its close relative, the whooper swan, is not seen by everyone, as it is rare in the country and is listed in the Lithuanian Red Data Book. Unlike the mute swan, the whooper swan is very noisy. Their voice carries far away and resembles the sound of a trumpet. The  whooper swan can also be distinguished by its bill: the base is yellow, the tip (less than half of the bill) is black, while the mute swan’s bill is orange or red with a black spot and a lump at the base of the bill. In Žemaitija National Park, whooper swans breed in marshy areas surrounded by or adjacent to forests, in large beaver ponds.