Birds

From the 1970s to the present day, 209 bird species have been observed in Žemaitija National Park. Of these, 59 are listed in the Lithuanian Red Data Book and 52 are protected species of European Community importance.

The species composition of the National Park’s birds is constantly changing. For example, the last sighting of the European roller (Coracias garrulus) was in 1985, and of the European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria) in 1990. However, the population of the Eurpasian crane (Grus grus), which was a rarity in the National Park, has increased significantly in the last few years, and can be heard trumpeting from almost every major wetland. Of the approximately 50% of the country’s bird species found in the National Park, some can only be seen during the breeding or migration season, while others can be seen all year round because they are sedentary.

Waterbirds call their home the numerous water bodies of the national park – lakes, ponds, peat bogs, streams. Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), euroasian teal (Anas crecca), euroasian coot (Fulica atra), mute swans (Cygnus olor) and common goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) are common. Cautious whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) carefully choose beaver dammed areas surrounded by forests to breed. Goosander (Mergus merganser) are fond of the clear waters of Lake Plateliai. Great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) also catch fish in this lake. Several hundred of them stay (do not breed) every year in the south-western part of Plateliai Lake, in the trees of the Auksalė peninsula. At the beginning of the breeding season, the rare great bittern (Botaurus stellaris) is heard from the reedbeds of the lake.

The common buzzard (Buteo buteo), the euroasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and the western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) are among the most frequently observed raptor species. It is also possible to see protected species such as the euroasian goshawk (Astur gentilis), the european honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus), the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) or the lesser spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina), as they breed in the forests of the National Park. In the mature coniferous forests you can hear the hooting of euroasian pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum). The hooting of tawny owls (Strix aluco) is more likely to be heard in the old hollow-wooded farmsteads or mature deciduous woodlands. Great, middle and lesser spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major; medius; minor) black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) and grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus), euroasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla), a great variety of tits, Old World flycatchers breed in – uoksas, (or in Samogitian – ouksva) a lithuanian word for specific tree hollows created by species from the woodpecker family.

In bogland habitats, it is common to hear or see birds of the sandpiper family, such as the common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), green sand piper (Tringa ochropu), and euroasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola). At night, the whistling of the spotted crake (Porzana porzana) can be heard aroudn the edges of wetlands, and the distant cries of the corncrake (Crex crex) or the melodious song of the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) drift across open meadows. A frequent homestead is decorated with a nest of a white stork’s (Ciconia ciconia) perched on the gable roof of a building, on an electricity pole or in a tree. Every year, more than a hundred pairs of White Storks bring up a new generation in these nests.

The diverse and colourful world of birds is a delight for anyone who is interested in it.

To download a free PDF version of the Birdwatcher’s Guide to Žemaitija National Park (LT and EN), click here.