Szymon Beuch, Tomasz Chodkiewicz, Przemysław Stachyra, Rafał Szczerbik, Arkadiusz Sikora
Ornis Polonica 2024, 65: 275–294
https://doi.org/10.12657/ornis.2024.4.1
Abstract: In the years 2020–2022, the state monitoring of the European Bee-eater took the form of a full census, during which all known sites in the country were visited. Since 2023 the methodology was changed to a survey, limited to 120 randomly selected sample plots. In the years 2020–2022, a total of 777 breeding sites of the European Bee-eater were found in Poland. They were distributed unevenly and clustered in all regions of the country, with the highest number in the Lublin region (78–158 sites), Lower Silesia (72–96), Świętokrzyskie Land (70–93) and the Podkarpackie region (50–70). The sites were located at altitudes from 9 to 344 m asl, 74.8% between 120 and 250 m asl. Their distribution in 10 × 10 km plots was 7.7% nationwide, with the highest frequency in Świętokrzyskie Land (21.4%), Lublin region (19.0%) and Lower Silesia (18.9%). Between 1 and 99 breeding pairs were recorded on occupied sites. Single pairs were found on 45% of all visited sites, clusters of 2–5 pairs – 42%, colonies of 6–19 pairs – 12%, >19 pairs – 1.7%. The most numerous populations inhabited the Lublin region (259–591 pairs), Lower Silesia (236–387), Świętokrzyskie Land (144–265) and Podkarpackie region (169–224). In the years 2020–2022, 1,087, 1,648 and 1,724 pairs were shown in the country, and the total abundance of the European Bee-eater was estimated at 1,200–1,800 breeding pairs. The population estimate for 2024 was 2,300–2,500 pairs. The average density on the surveyed plots was 6.4–8.5 p./100 km2, with the maximum in the Lublin region – up to 198 p./100 km2 and in Lower Silesia – up to 139 p./100 km2. Most breeding sites were located in the slopes of sand, gravel and clay pits (27%), in slopes along mid-field roads (25%) and in wild small-scale sand extraction sites (21%). About 89% of the sites were located in scarps of anthropogenic origin, and the remainder in scarps of natural origin. The breeding population of the European Bee-eater in Poland has increased over the past 20 years by approximately 20 times, and its breeding range by about 5 times.
Keywords: abundance increase, climate warming, density, distribution, European Bee-eater, Merops apiaster, population expansion
