Past and Present Distribution of the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811) (Phoenicopteridae Bonaparte, 1831) in Bulgaria

Abstract

At least a total of 73 observations of the greater flamingo in Bulgaria have been recorded between 1864 and 2023, 69.2 % of which have been done in autumn-winter. The species has been observed in no less than 17 localities, 9 of which are located along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The largest number of flamingos observed at a single locality (Atanasovsko Lake) exceeds 3000 birds. Burgas wetlands (Atanasovsko Lake, Pomoriysko Lake, Poda Protected Area) are the most often visited sites in the country. In the spring of 2023 the flamingos attempted breeding (nest constructing) in Atanasovsko Lake.

Full text

Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. Plovdiv
https://rnhm.org/en/scientific-journal/
Regional Natural History Museum – Plovdiv
University of Plovdiv Publishing House
Bulletin of the Natural History Museum - Plovdiv
Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. Plovdiv, 2023, vol. 8: 25-35
Past and Present Distribution of the Greater Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811)
(Phoenicopteridae Bonaparte, 1831) in Bulgaria
Zlatozar N. Boev*
National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 1000 Sofia, BULGARIA
*Corresponding author: boev@nmnhs.com; zlatozarboev@gmail.com
Abstract. At least a total of 73 observations of the greater flamingo in Bulgaria have
been recorded between 1864 and 2023, 69.2 % of which have been done in autumn-
winter. The species has been observed in no less than 17 localities, 9 of which are
located along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The largest number of flamingos
observed at a single locality (Atanasovsko Lake) exceeds 3000 birds. Burgas
wetlands (Atanasovsko Lake, Pomoriysko Lake, Poda Protected Area) are the most
often visited sites in the country. In the spring of 2023 the flamingos attempted
breeding (nest constructing) in Atanasovsko Lake.
Keywords: Water birds, Endangered birds, Birds of coastal lagunes, Changes in
avian phenology.
Introduction
In the recent European avifauna, the
greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus
Pallas, 1811) is a Tertiary relict. The
oldest fossil record of flamingoes
(Phoenicopterus spp.) on the Balkan
Peninsula originates from the Late
Miocene of Pikermi, Greece (Mlíkovský,
2002).
The present conservation status of
the greater flamingo is globally “Least
Concern”. It is an aquatic bird, mainly
occuring in brackish and saline wetlands
in thrеe zoogeographical realms –
Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and
Palearctic (BirdLife International, 2022;
Salvador et al., 2022).
Most of present territory of
Bulgaria lies out of the recent breeding
species’ range (Salvador et al., 2022).
The aim of the present study is to
summarize and analyze all published
data from the country, as well as
available unpublished observations of
Bulgarian and foreign ornithologists
about distribution of the greater flamingo
in Bulgaria from the beginning of
ornithological studies until 2023.
The species is considered as
“Endangered” in the "Red Book of PR of
Bulgaria" (Boev, 1985). Michev (1990)
refers greater flamingos in Bulgaria as
Phoenicopterus ruber roseus Pallas,
1811, a taxon that is now regarded as
Phoenicopterus roseus roseus Pallas,
1811 (Dickinson & Remsen, 2013).
Material and Methods
An attempt to check and gather all
scattered data on the species’
observations in the country is made since
the earliest publications of 19th century
of foreign explorers. Brief data on the
observed birds, number, date, the age of
individuals, localities and references of
all observations are provided, divided in

26
five groups according to bird phenology:
(1) spring migration (1 March - 19 April),
(2) breeding season (egg laying – 20
April – 15 May; chick hatching – 15
May – 15 August), (3) autumn migration
(16 August - 30 October), (4) wintering
(1 November – 29 February) (after
Cramp & Simmons, 1977), and (5)
untimed observation (Table1).
It should be noted that, in addition
to the data collected here from published
reports, a number of other data (with
varying degrees of precision, some with
limited access) are available, most of
which coincide with the main localities
of the species presented in the article.
For seasonal species’ occurrence we
used data of Ebird (2023). The
accessible data of the Bulgarian Society
for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) have
been used also. Most of the observations
made by the experts of the BSPB are
regularly published online in various
news site in the Internet. They are cited
here under the names of the
corresponding observers. Often the same
observation was reported multiple times
at different sites. In such cases, we have
presented these data in the Table. 1 only
once.
Table 1. Observations of the greater flamingo in Bulgaria (1864-2023).
No
Date
Locality
Region
Observed birds
Reference
Spring migration (1 March – 19 April)
1.
24.03.1912
neartownofSvishtov
Veliko Tarnovo
Region
1
Wallis (1913)
2.
28.03.1981
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1
Nankinov & Darakchiev
(1981)
3.
28.03.1912
NearSofia
Sofia Region
1
Wallis (1913)
4.
10.04.2023
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
~600 including
80 nesting
BSPB (2023a)
5.
18.04.2023
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
~600 including
80 nest
constructing
[Mladenov] 2023
Breeding period (20 April – 15 August)
6.
26.04.1991
FishpondsnearYambolCity
Yambol Region
9
Nankinov & Kirilov (1992)
7.
26.04.2022
ShablaLake
Dobrich Region
>29
Krasteva (2022)
8.
May 1966
AlepuMarshneartownofSozopol
Burgas Region
5
Nankinov & Darakchiev
(1981)
9.
End of May
1992
northern part of Atanasovsko Lake near
Burgas
Burgas Region
300
Nankinov & Kirilov (1992)
10.
Spring,
2022
ShablaLake
Dobrich Region
~
Nikolova (2022)
11.
29.05.2017
PodaProtectedArea
Burgas Region
~
Vladimyr Deryabin
12.
spring,
1965
NanevskaTuzla(Taukliman)
Dobrich Region
~ 10
Slavinski (1973); Boev (1982)
13.
spring,
1890
Iskar River between the villages
KumanitsaandVrazhdebna
Sofia Region
4
Hristovich (1893); Vasilev
(1953); Boev (1982)
14.
spring and
summer,
1981
Salt Farms, Atanasovsko Lake near
BurgasCity
Burgas Region
1 juv.
Boev (1982)
15.
17.08.2019
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
30
P. Iankov (unpubl. data)
16.
19.08.2019
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
159
(120 ad., 39 juv.)
Kehayova (2019)
17.
20.08.2023
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
15
Z. Boev (unpubl. data)
18.
25.08.2023
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
338
BSPB (2023b)
19.
late August
2019
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
160
Kehayova (2022)
20.
Breeding
season
Mandra-Poda Lake Complex near
BurgasCity
Burgas Region
1-4
Kostadinova & Gramatikov
(2007)
Autumn migration (16 August – 30 October)
21.
01.09.1990
Valley between towns of Aytos and
Kameno
Burgas Region
~1500
Nankinov & Kirilov (1992)
22.
03.09.1981
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1 ad.
Boev (1982); Vatev (1991)
Past an d P re s e nt D is trib utio n o f the G re ate r Flam in g o (Pho e nic o pt e ru s ro se u s Pallas, 1811)...

Zlat o zar N. Bo e v
27
23.
09.09.2022
PomoriyskoLake
Burgas Region
~3000
Suknarov (2022)
24.
16.09. -
15.10.2014
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
2 juv.
Valcheva (2014)
25.
17.09.2019
StudenKladenetsReservoir
Kardzhali
Region
13
BSPB (2019)
26.
20.09.1984
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1
Michev (1998)
27.
21.09.1999
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1 juv.
Michev et al. (2004)
28.
24.09.1959
Persina Nature Reserve (Persina Island in
DanubeRiver)
Pleven Region
6
Paspaleva-Antonova (1961);
Boev (1982); Vatev (1991)
29.
26.09.1981-
01.1982
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1
Michev (1997, 1998)
30.
29.09. 1981
nearBurgas
Burgas Region
1 ad.
Vatev (1991)
31.
20.09.1984
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
3
P. Arsov (Michev, 1997;
Michev et al., 2004)
32.
1st week,
October
2020
BurgasLake
Burgas Region
1300
Anonym (2020)
33.
01.10.1982
nearBurgas
Burgas Region
1 juv.
Vatev (1991)
34.
10.10.2017
StudenKladenetsReservoir
Kardzhali
Region
53
(14 ad., 39 juv.)
[Hristov, H.] (2017b);
Anonym. (2017b)
35.
11.10.2017
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
38
[Kolev] (2017)
36.
15.10.1986
nearBurgas
Burgas Region
1 juv.
Vatev (1991)
Wintering period (1 November – 29 February)
37.
09.11.2021
ShablaLake
Dobrich Region
8 (2 ad., 6 juv.)
[Iliev, M.] 2021
38.
09.11.2022
PomoriyskoLake
Burgas Region
1400
Suknarov (2022)
39.
15.11.2022
PomoriyskoLake
Burgas Region
~
Bedrosyan (2022)
40.
10.11.2001
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1 juv.
Michev et al. (2004)
41.
11.11.2018
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
134
Uzunov (2018)
42.
12.11.2022
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
~ 2300
[Tsenova] (2022)
43.
19.11.2014
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
2 ad., 3 juv.
Chaleva (2014)
44.
19.11.1932
an island in Maritsa River near town of
Simeonovgrad
Haskovo
Region
6
Patev (1950), Vasilev (1953);
Boev (1982)
45.
26.11.2020
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1646
Kehayova (2021)
46.
November
2020
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
785
Kehayova (2021)
47.
November
2016
StudenKladenetsReservoir
Kardzhali
Region
7
[Hristov] (2017b)
48.
20.12.1962
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
6
Boev (1982)
49.
20.12.1970
nearBurgas
Burgas Region
1
Johnson & Biber (1971);
Johnson (1989), cited after
Vatev (1991)
50.
30.12.2021-
01.01.2022
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
~20 ad.,
~ 12 juv.
Z. Boev (unpubl. data)
51.
31.12.2022
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
~90
Z. Boev (unpubl. data)
52.
31.12.2022
PomoriyskoLakeneartownofPomorie
Burgas Region
~15
Z. Boev (unpubl. data)
53.
Winter
Mandra-PodaComplexnearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
0-5
Kostadinova & Gramatikov
(2007)
54.
Winter,
2019
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
159
Apostolov (2020)
55.
01.01.2023
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
~120
Z. Boev (unpubl. data)
56.
01.01.2023
PomoriyskoLakeneartownofPomorie
Burgas Region
~45
Z. Boev (unpubl. data)
57.
12-
15.01.2023
Atanasovsko Lake and Poda Locality
near Burgas City. Pomoriysko Lake near
Pomorie
Burgas Region
~3000
Angelova (2023)
58.
12-
15.01.2023
Atanasovsko Lake and Poda Locality
near Burgas City. Pomoriysko Lake near
Pomorie
Burgas Region
2712
BSPB (2023c)
59.
14.01.2017
ArdaRiver
Kardzhali
Region
~
Anonym. (2017a)
60.
16.01.2023
Atanasovsko Lake and Poda Locality
near Burgas City. Pomoriysko Lake near
Pomorie
Burgas Region
>2700
Dimitrov (2023)
61.
22.01.2021
Atanasovsko Lake and Poda Locality
near Burgas City. Pomoriysko Lake near
Pomorie
Burgas Region
981
Anonym. (2021a)
62.
January
PchelinaReservoir
Pernik Region
~
Anonym. (2021b)

Pas t an d P re s e nt Dis trib u tio n o f t h e Gr e ate r Flam in g o ( Ph o e nic o p t e rus r o se u s P allas, 1811 )...
28
Results and Discussion
20th century records on the Balkans
After Talpeanu & Paspaleva (1973)
the greater flamingo is accidental in the
neighbouring Romania, where it was
recorded in June, October and January.
The authors explained its appearance in
Romania by the movement of
individuals from the Caspian Sea or the
Camargue (Southern France), where the
species had breeding colonies. In 1969-
1972 it was recorded in the Sinoe lagoon
and the region of Galati on Danube
River.
Boev (1985) supposed that the birds
observed on the Balkan Peninsula most
likely originated from the former colony
from Van Lake in southeast Turkey.
Currently, Turkey's main breeding
colony is located in Lake Tuz (Balkiz et
al., 2007).
Current studies show that some of
the birds recorded in Bulgaria
(Atanasovsko Lake (Burgas Wetlands)
originate from Turkey, Greece, France
and Spain (Desant, 2021; Kehayova,
2021; [Tsenova, 2022]). The longest
distance of the young Mediterranean
greater flamingos dispersion is 2231 km
from Punta de la Banya (NE Spain) to
Atanasovsko Lake (Desant, 2021).
According to Michev (1990)
flamingos visit Bulgaria irregularly
outside the breeding period. Nankinov &
Kirilov (1992) stated that there is no
temporal pattern in visits of the greater
flamingo to Bulgaria and all published
reports from Bulgaria refer to
observations of single birds and small
groups. Michev et al. (2004) considered
the species as vagrant in Bulgaria. After
Kostadinova & Gramatikov (2007) the
species is represented in Bulgaria by
solitary birds that winter irregularly.
More recent observations from 2000
onwards show that the species has a
year-round presence in the country with
several tens and even hundreds or
thousands of individuals. Bulgaria is
located on the northern periphery of the
species’ European breeding range
(Michev, 1990; Salvador et al., 2022)
Recent distribution
In the data-base of e-bird (Ebird,
2022) a total of 754 species’
observations have been registered
throughout the year (except 2nd week of
2020
63.
January-
February
2016
StudenKladenetsReservoir
Kardzhali
Region
12
[Hristov, H.] (2017a)
64.
01.02. 1982
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1 ad.
Nankinov & Darakchiev
(1981)
65.
February
1981
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
1 juv.
Boev (1982)
Untimed observations
66.
1864
DanubeDelta
At present out
of Bulgarian
territory
~
Allard (1864)
67.
Migration
period
Salt marshes along the Bulgarian Black
Seacoast
(mainly) Burgas
Region
~
Simeonov (1972)
68.
2014-2016
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
3-5
Uzunov (2021)
69.
[often]
alongtheBulgarianBlackSeacoast.
(mainly) Burgas
Region
~
Nankinov & Draktchiev
(1981); Boev (1985); Michev
(1990)
70.
1860-s
neartownofChernomorets
Burgas Region
~
Hristovich (1893); Patev
(1950); Boev (1982)
71.
2018
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
4
Iankov (2019)
72.
2019
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
160
Adams et al. (2022)
73.
2022
AtanasovskoLakenearBurgasCity
Burgas Region
>1000
Adams et al. (2022)

Zlat o zar N. Bo e v
29
July) until 21.12.2022. These data have
been gathered between 1990 and 2023.
Collected data (Table 1) show a
permanent increasing number of bird
records in the country during the last
century, as also reported in Ebird. For
the first 100 years of ornithological
observations of the greater flamingo in
Bulgaria (1890-1990), a total of 23
notices of encounters of the species were
published in its modern territory (Table
1), representing 31.5 % of all published
observations, but sightings are becoming
significantly more frequent. Indeed, in
1990-2023 76.7 % of the encounters of
the species were reported. We should
have in mind the rapid increasing of the
number of Bulgarian and foreign
birdwatchers and field ornithologists in
the last decades. On the other hand, the
number of greater flamingos is
increasing globally, the species occupied
new breeding grounds in the
Mediterranean (Salvador et al., 2022).
Thus, the increased species’ presence in
Bulgaria is part of a larger process,
probably also due to global warming.
In the spring of 2023, the first
nesting attempts were already observed
of the greater flamingo in the
Atanasovsko Lake. About 80 birds from
the flock of about 600 birds staying in
the lake have started nesting, but eggs
laid and brooding have not been detected
([Mladenov], 2023; BSPB, 2023a), so
the establishment of a breeding colony at
this site could occur in the next years.
The Atanasovsko Lake is defined as
“the only more regular occurrence of the
greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
in Bulgaria” in winter (Michev et al.,
2015).
Despite these discrepancies in the
data, we accept the overall change in the
frequency of sightings over the years
during the autumn-winter period is
similar to the data collected by us (Table
1). There is also a coincidence in the
reduction of these observations during
the spring-summer season.
Table 2. Seasonal distribution of the
observations of Phoenicopterus roseus in
Bulgaria between 1990 and 19.05.2023
(after Ebird, 2023).
Month
Number of
observations
Percent of
total
number of
observations
January
56
8.2
February
55
8.0
March
39
5.7
April
17
2.5
May
21
3.1
June
22
3.2
Jully
22
3.2
August
48
7.1
September
123
18.0
October
122
17.8
November
96
14.0
December
116
17.0
Total
737
107.81
1The sum of all months of the year
according to Ebird data exceeds 100%. It is likely
that some of the observations span consecutive
days of two consecutive months.
When taking into account the
seasonality of the greater flamingo in
Bulgaria it is necessary to consider the
following: 1) Studies on the distribution,
numbers and residence of the species for
the whole country are lacking; 2) The
species in Bulgaria and on the Balkans in
general occurs year-round (Figs. 1-2),
although the majority of individuals in the
region are wintering. Regardless of the
number of committed observations, the
number of specimens observed has two
distinct peaks - autumn (September) and
winter (December), corresponding to the
periods of the most massive movements
during the autumn migration and
(sometimes) during the winter. About
61.6 % of the observations have been
done in the autumn-winter period (Tables
1-3).

Pas t an d P re s e nt Dis trib u tio n o f t h e Gr e ate r Flam in g o ( Ph o e nic o p t e rus r o se u s P allas, 1811 )...
30
Fig. 1. Wintering grater flamingos
(Phoenicopterus roseus) and Common
Shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) in the
Atanasovsko Lake near Burgas City,
31.12.2022. Photo: Z. Boev.
Fig. 2. Summering grater flamingos
(Phoenicopterus roseus) in the
Atanasovsko Lake near Burgas City,
20.08.2023. Photo: Zlatozar Z. Boev.
Conclusions
In the last 2-3 decades, the number
of the greater flamingo sightings in
Bulgaria has increased sharply. The
species has been observed in no less than
17 localities, most of which are located
along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
76.7 % of the encounters of the species
were reported in the period 1990-2023.
The greater flamingo occurs in
Bulgarian wetlands throughout the year
(Tables 1-3). About 69.2 % of the
observations in Bulgaria have been done
in the autumn-winter period.
Table 3. Comparison of seasonal
distribution of the observations of
Phoenicopterus roseus in Bulgaria
between 1864 and 2023 and data of
Ebird (2022) from 1990 to 2022.
Period
Number
of
obser-
vations
Percentage
of all timed
observations
Percentage of
all
observations
after
Ebird (2022)
Spring
migration
5
7.7
~8.2
Breeding
season
15
23.1
~19.1
Autumn
migration
16
24.6
~35.8
Wintering
season
29
44.6
~47.2
Untimed
(8)
-
-
The largest number of flamingos
observed at a single observation exceeds
3000 birds. Burgas wetlands
(Atanasovsko Lake, Pomoriysko Lake,
Poda Protected Area) are the most often
visited sites.
Sometimes flocks also visit the
shallows in dams in the interior of the
country.
In the spring of 2023 about 80
flamingos attempted breeding - observed
are nest-building without egg-laying.
Of the 17 established localities of
the species in the country, 2 are located
along the Danube River, 3 – in the
interior of Western Bulgaria, 4 – in the
interior of Southern Bulgaria and 8 – on
the Black Sea Coast (Fig. 3).
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Mr. Lyubomir
Profirov (Ecological Consultant &
Wildlife Tourguide), who paid attention
and encouraged him to write this article.
He also thanks two anonymous
reviewers for their helpful comments and

Zlat o zar N. Bo e v
31
additions to an earlier version of the
manuscript.
Fig. 3. Distribution of the grater
flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) in
Bulgaria: Pchelina Reservoir (1); Sofia
(2); Kumanitsa-Vrazhdebna (3); Persina
Nature Reserve(4); Svishtov (5); Shabla
Lake (6); Nanevska Tuzla (7);
Pomoriysko Lake (8); Atanasovsko Lake
(10); Mandra Lake and Poda Protected
Locality (11); Alepy Marsh and
Chernomorets (12); Fishponds near
Yambol (13); Simeonovgrad (14);
Studen Kladenets Reservoir (15); Arda
River (16); Aytos (17).
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Received: 19.05.2023
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