Seven chicks born in the wild!

They have been already released 70 chicks by hacking and we hope to released more next weeks

We are already in the middle of the 2016 season of the Lesser Grey Shrike project in Lleida (NE Spain) and it is time to make a preliminary assessment of the results. Finally only one of the two pairs that tried to breed managed to raise off chicks, but nothing more and nothing less than seven chicks! At the moment they have left the nest but still depend on the parents, who feed them wherever they go.

The 70 fledgelings released so far, using acclimation facilities in the countryside, are still largely in the area and the first of the nearly 70 more that will be released in the next three weeks are now already in the facilities.

Regarding adults who have returned this season, in the end only five, four of which are reintroduced and only one born in a wild nest in 2011. This highlights the importance of this project for the continuation of the species in Spain.

To learn more about the project, you can visit the section Conservation in situ of reintroduction of the Lesser Gray Shrike (lanius minor) in Spain in this same web page.

TRENCA ngo has been working for several years in the conservation of this species, through the protection of the last breeding pairs and the conservation of the breeding habitat as well as reinforcing the population thanks to an ambitious captive breeding project. This project is possible thanks to the collaboration of the Captive Breeding Center of Vallcalent (Lleida), run by the Catalan Government as well as the financial assistance of Fundación Biodiversidad (Spanish Government), the Catalan Government and the Barcelona Zoo. WWF Spain contributes to the project offering technical advice, finding financial assitance and spreading the project’s achievements.