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From the Urdaibai Bird Center it is carrying out a campaign to gather information about the breeding population of Swallows in Urdaibai during May, June and July. This task is included in the "Elaia" project, and as in years before, tries to follow the evolution of the nesting populations of Urdaibai.
To carry out this monitoring, we are visiting typical farms of Urdaibai, doing surveys directly to the owners, as they are the ones who know more about these little birds and those who, year after year, have seen how the nests have evolved in their farms.
It is gathering information about the presence or absence of Swallows, dates of the first arrivals, progress and incidences in egg-laying, presence of other species...
With the information gathered until now, we can confirm that the first Swallows came to our farms in mid-March, when the first ones arrived at Urdaibai, either to stay here or migrating towards their breeding areas in the north.
 
We have seen that the bad weather this spring have caused great difficulties in the breeding, causing much loss in our populations. In some farms Swallows have died because of the lack of food.
This campaign aims to reach to all the farms of the Reserve and it will last until August. The data we get from it, joined to the information gathered years before, will be useful to know with certainty which is the current situation of breeding population in Urdaibai, and of course, will increase the knowledge about this appreciated bird around us, symbol of the countryside and our farms. |
