Mirosław Kata, Konrad Kata, Tadeusz Sobuś, Mariusz Szyszka, Jerzy Grzybek, Sławomir Snopek
Ornis Polonica 2026, 67: 51-59
https://doi.org/10.12657/ornis.2026.1.4
Abstract: This study presents changes in the population size and breeding status of the European Roller Coracias garrulus in south-eastern Poland in 2009–2025, constituting a continuation of the previous study covering 1990–2008. The analysis is based on the results of long-term monitoring of breeding sites conducted annually during the breeding season. In 2009, 43 occupied Roller sites were recorded, including 14 with confirmed breeding. In the following years, a rapid decline in the number of sites and breeding pairs was observed, leading to the complete disappearance of breeding after 2022. The last breeding-season observation of a single individual at the site was in 2023; from 2024 onwards, the species has not been recorded there during the breeding season. All records after 2009 concerned exclusively sites known from previous years; no new breeding sites were found, nor was recolonization of abandoned sites observed. The results document the disappearance of the European Roller population in south-eastern Poland and indicate that conservation measures based solely on the protection of breeding sites proved insufficient.
Keywords: Coracias garrulus, European Roller, long-term monitoring, nest boxes, population decline
