A nightingale was chosen as Bird of the Year in 2023. There are three reasons for this: the first is Ukraine, the second is a songbird, which is not a frequent bird of the year, the third is the protection of nature.
“The nightingale was chosen as a demonstration of our support for events in Ukraine. Although Ukraine does not really have national symbols, plants and birds, Internet resources call the nightingale the unofficial official bird of Ukraine. They identify themselves even with this bird,” explains bird expert Andris, project manager of the Latvian Ornithological Society Decant. “There is a legend that nightingales lived only in India, but then he visited Ukraine and, hearing the sad songs of local residents, the nightingale began to sing his song in order to make people happy people.
Ukrainians answered the nightingale with joyful songs. Since then, the nightingale visits Ukraine in the spring to listen to Ukrainian songs. We know that at the moment they are not songs of joy, they are filled with sadness, we also want to invite the Latvian people, when they hear the nightingale, to think about Ukraine and ways to show support.”
The second reason: the nightingale is a songbird. previously the birds of the year were photogenic, colorful. “The nightingale doesn’t show its appearance much, but it has a beautiful song. We also want to invite the people of Latvia to listen more to the birds singing,” says Andris Dekants.
The third reason is nature protection, because the nightingale population in Latvia is decreasing.
“The census of breeding birds proves this. Since 2005, we have lost about a quarter of the nightingale population,” explains Associate Professor of the University of Latvia, Doctor of Biological Sciences Ainārs Auniņš.
Two possible reasons for population decline are climate change. The climate in Latvia is gradually becoming less suitable for nightingales.
“As the climate gets warmer, within a hundred years the distribution area will shrink so much that it will no longer nest in Latvia and will only be found during transit in spring and autumn. The place will not remain empty – the western the nightingale will come to us,” admits Ainārs Auniņš.
It is not yet possible to establish whether the population is declining due to climate change. Perhaps there are other reasons to refer to how the species is doing on its African wintering grounds.
An ecotoxicology study of Patagonian birds
Currently, when winter reigns in Latvia and when the “Bird of the Year” nomination is traditionally awarded to a local bird species, in this story we will travel to a distant warm place with bird species that are not found in Latvia. Furthermore, we will discover how specific bird species help to obtain information on environmental pollution. Alessandro di Marzio is the main scientific specialist of the Riga National Zoo.
Before coming to Latvia, he studied in Italy, then in Spain, but then his path took him to Argentina. There, Alessandro conducted an ecotoxicological study of Patagonian birds, including the Andean condor, American black vulture, turkey vulture, caracara and chimango. Ecotoxicology studies the effects of toxic substances and physical factors on living organisms, and the task of Alessandro and his colleagues was to determine the pollution of the heavy metal – mercury – by measuring it in the feathers of birds. How was it possible to tell Alexander of Marchi.
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