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Bosnia

Crested Tit Parus cristatus ©Monique Bogaerts http://www.naturephoto.be

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the smallest countries in southeast Europe. It is situated in the heart of the Balcan peninsula between Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina is generally a mountaneous country with a massive mountain along its western border. The inner and northwest parts of the country are covered with forests. The southern part, twenty kilometers long, covers the Adriatic coast.

Ornithology in Bosnia and Herzegovina started to develop at the end of the 19th century thanks to Otmar Reiser, who was a curator of the National Museum at that time and one of the most respected European ornithologists of the 19th and 20th century. The second half of the 20th century has been marked with research, mainly in ecology, by Dr. Svjetoslav Obratil, the most well known ornithologist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Up till now, there are altogether 321 species of birds registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, 218 species can be found nesting in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unfortunately, in the last 150 years, due to constant destruction of habitat, 16 species have been lost.

Thanks to the variety of nature in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is possible to find a great number of interesting locations for observation and study of birds, such as Hutovo blato, Bardača, Livanjsko polje, Sutjeska, Kozara, mountain Vran, Lake Boračko, mountain Igman, and Bjelašnica etc. See below for details.

top sites

Mountain Vran and Dugo field

This region, geographically placed in the eastern part of the middle Dinarida, includes a chain of characteristic mountain tops of the mountain Vran, together with the broader area of the Blidinje Park and Lake Blidinje. In the aforementioned area, there are about 100 species of birds and nesting Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus been recorded.

Bardača

Bardača is designated an IBA and consists of a fish pond complex near Srbac. This damp habitat of about 700ha has 185 recorded species of birds. The majority have been recorded during the period of the autumn migration. Furthermore, many endangered species nest in the fish ponds area (Ferruginous Duck Aynthya nyroca, White Stork Ciconia ciconia, Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia and Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo etc.)

Hutovo Blato

This natural park is a Mediterranean wetland situated near Čapljina (Herzegovina). It is an IBA (Important Bird Area) and there are 235 species officially listed. This area is considered very important for feeding and resting birds during their autumn migration to Africa. Hutovo Blato is also an important habitat for the nesting of some globally endangered species (Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmaeus, Ferruginous Duck Aynthya nyroca, & European Bee-eater Marops apiaster etc.), as well as for a number of species which spend the winter in wet locations.

Livanjsko polje

Livanjsko polje is one the biggest grassland areas in Krajina, situated in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina at an altitude of approximately 700m. Ornithological researches so far show that this location has 163 species of birds. In the last 15 years, among others, European Bee-eater Merops apiaster, Garganey Anas querquedula and Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus have been recorded nesting here.

Sutjeska

The Sutjeska National Park (eastern Bosnia) is a mountainous region situated near the Sutjeska River. This area, including the forest of Peručica, has about 108 species of birds.The Tjentište area along the river Sutjeska is one of the most important areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, concerning for nesting Concrake Crex crex.

contributor

Dražen Kotrošan & Ida Telalbašić
Ornitološko društvo Naše ptice - The Society of Ornithology Our Birds
kotrosan@bih.net.ba

numbers

Number of bird species:321

useful information

Proact

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Join us at http://www.proact-campaigns.net/team

clubs

Nase Ptice - Bosnia & Herzegovina Ornithology Society

Semira Fraste 6/14; 71 000 Sarajevo Tel: 061/356 - 670 naseptice@hotmail.com

museums

National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

http://www.zemaljskimuzej.ba/english/natural_history.htm
The Department of Natural History represents the first scientific and cultural organizational unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of natural history...

reserves

Hutovo Blato Natural Park

In the south of Herzegovina, in a typically karst environment, on the left bank of the Neretva river, lies the Hutovo Blato, a unique sub-Mediterranean wetland in Europe. It has been known of yore as a green oasis...

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you can’t find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page… give them a try!

Important Bird Areas

http://www.birdlife.net/datazone/search/sites_search.html?action=SitHTMFindResults.asp&INam=&Cty=27&z=1
Bosnian IBAs...

State of the Environment of Bosnia and Herzegovina

http://www.grida.no/enrin/htmls/bosnia/soe/nature/response.htm
Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet adopted UN Convention on Biodiversity, nor other intenational conventions on enviroment that had been drafted after 1990. However, Bosnia is interested country. There are initiatives, but it is rather hard to view their implementation due to largely delicate political situation in the country...