It was just a sad chance find, but it turned into a beautiful story: The breeding population of European rollers in the Zeta region of Montenegro is on an upward trend - also thanks to the commitment of our partners at CZIP.
Sometimes coincidences write the best stories, even if this one has a sad beginning. Every year in early summer, our Montenegrin partners from CZIP have regularly checked the fishing nets in the Zeta region north of Lake Skadar, which the farmers stretch across their fields to protect their crops from being consumed by birds. Farmers have found that their crops are a delicacy for birds. Unfortunately, the fruit and vegetable snack ends fatally for many of these feathered gourmets; they become entangled in the nets stretched over large areas of the fields and vineyards. Some of the farmers leave dead specimens hanging in the nets as a supposed deterrent to other birds; a macabre procedure reminiscent of hanging pirates and other villains in the Middle Ages. Scientists indeed dispute whether nets deter birds at all.
Magnificently coloured and warmth-loving: The European roller
The European roller (Coracias garrulus), which is about the size of a jay, is unmistakable with its turquoise and azure plumage and is one of the most magnificently coloured birds in Europe. This warmth-loving species spends the cold half of the year in Africa and migrates to Europe in spring. Here it is mainly found in Spain and large parts of eastern and south-eastern Europe. During the relatively warm phase of the 19th century, the European Roller was also a regular breeding bird in Germany; global warming could yet shift its European breeding range back to us.
However, this bird from the family Coraciidae is dependent on a rich food supply of large insects, which it hunts from a well-placed viewpoint. Unfortunately, large beetles, grasshoppers and the like are in short supply in our intensively farmed landscapes. The industrialisation of agriculture and the destruction of its habitats pose an increasing threat to the European Roller, even in those parts of Europe where it is still common.
Dazzling beauty: The European Roller also looks very pretty in flight.
By regularly checking the illegally placed nets, CZIP ornithologists have saved the lives of numerous birds every summer during the breeding season. They report many cases to the police, as the killing of birds is also illegal in Montenegro, even if it is not deliberately caused but ‘only’ condoned. Farmers often lease land from others, which sometimes makes it difficult to identify the actual owner. ‘It often happens that the land is still registered in the name of someone who died a long time ago. Such situations can be a real problem,’ explains Marija Šoškić Popović. The ornithologist works as a project manager at CZIP and oversees the project together with her colleague Nikola Novović.
It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry
Marija was also there when our Montenegrin partners made a particularly sad discovery in the summer of 2019. A roller had become entangled in one of the fishing nets and was unable to free itself. ‘Perhaps the bird was trying to take in liquid from the watermelons, or maybe it got tangled up in the net while searching for insects. As sad as the sight made us feel, there is a positive side to the story. The fact that a European Roller was there at the time could mean only one thing: the birds must be breeding somewhere nearby,’ Marija recalls.
The find was a minor sensation! Nobody in Montenegro had any idea that European rollers were breeding in Montenegro outside of Ulcinj Salina and Velika plaža. The discovery was the first evidence of breeding in the Zeta region for over forty years.
Marija Šoškić Popović, Project manager CZIP
Typical habitat of European rollers in the Zeta region
The unexpected discovery of the rollers motivated our partners at CZIP to consider how the presumably single breeding pair could become a colony. The small-scale habitat with fields, hedges, vineyards and alluvial forest relics along a natural river course - not far from the Lake Skadar National Park - is an almost ideal habitat for the European rollers.
The only problem is a lack of breeding holes in which these smart birds with their shimmering wings can raise their young. This is why the bird conservationists at CZIP are taking the European rollers under their wing (pun intended!). In recent years, they have put up several nesting boxes, on electricity pylons, for example, or in young trees that do not yet have suitable cavities.
Since then, a lot has happened in terms of roller offspring. ‘Numerous pairs have accepted the artificial nesting boxes and successfully raised their young in them,’ says Nikola Novović happily. He has installed many nesting boxes over the past few years. In the summer of 2024, ten pairs successfully bred in the area, and our Montenegrin partners ringed many of the young birds. That first tragic sighting of rollers in the Zeta region has developed into a surprising success story.
The author of this article saw European rollers on their autumn migration in Georgia for the first and so far only time in his life. He was thrilled!
The later aesthetics of the adult birds can already be surmised in the offspring: One of the young European roller during ringing.
