Owls don't fare well with excessive urbanization. The reason for the decline in the number of these birds
Owls don't fare well with excessive urbanization. The birds find fewer and fewer places to live due to deforestation and real estate projects.
Although the conservation of these species is a major environmental concern, specialists note that the number of owls decreases with each census.
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The long-eared owl is a nocturnal bird of prey from the owl family. It feeds on mice and plays an important ecological role. However, compared to two years ago, nearly 1,000 specimens have disappeared from the monitored areas in Romania.
Daroczi Szilar, ornithologist: "Among the reasons we can enumerate, first of all, the cutting of trees where they gather during winter. Constructions carried out in the area of these gatherings and, due to the disturbance caused, the owls disperse or permanently leave these areas".
To find food, long-eared owls have started to appear in cities. In Târgu Mureș, there are several neighborhoods where dozens of owls stay over the winter in the trees between the blocks. Ornithologists say that they bring benefits to urban areas because they feed on rodents.
Local resident: "One, two... In one morning, there were seven, eight!".
Local resident: "I see them for the first time. They are beautiful; it's clear they found their place".
Local resident: "It's quiet... If they find food here. I like them. You can see them in the morning".
Specialists are concerned because the birds are becoming scarcer due to people cutting down their forests.
Zeitz Robert, ornithologist: "Bird monitoring shows that species nesting and feeding in agricultural areas have much more pronounced declining populations than those nesting in forest habitats".
The long-eared owl is a species protected by law. In the last 100 years, 12 bird species that lived in Romania have disappeared. Among them, four species of eagles.
