New bird species discovered in Romania

A new bird species was discovered on Romania’s territory. It is a crested diver, a bird which usually lives in the Arctic.

The bird was discovered by accident by specialists who were counting aquatic birds in the area of Olt. The researchers also filmed the bird and it seems that it has adapted to our environment.

Jozsef Szabo who is the member of the Romanian Ornithological Society, together with Pal Lajos and Simo Imre were examining the area as a part of the Yearly Winter Counting of Aquatic Birds.

Jozsef Szabo noted that they were on their third day of research at the Inferior Olt valley, near Ulmi, Olt county and they reached the Ipotesti lake where there are many species of birds, including swans, ducks, and seagulls. They have scanned the lake with telescopes and they found a large crested diver of light colour. The bird quickly dived into the water. All researchers gathered and tried to get closer to the bird. Once they were at around 100 meters from the shore they realized that it was a white crested diver.

This bird species normally lives on the coast of Norway, North Sea and Baltic Sea. As well, the bird has been seen in Arctic Russia, Alaska and Canada, but also in Japan, South Korea and China. Normally, during harsh winters it migrates to warmer countries. It is estimated that around 1,000 crested divers reach Europe yearly.

The total population of the crested diver is between 16,000-32,000. The bird reaches 90 cm and the length of the wings is 135-150 cm.

source:digitv.