Strazds said that the number of these beautiful rare birds won't be growing in the next 8 to 10 years. The population growth has not been this bad for many years.
At the moment there are 40% fewer black storks in Latvia than there were 15 years ago, and Strazds doesn't see the situation improving any time soon - rather, he thinks it will actually get worse.
He confirmed rumors that the population shrinkage of black storks is connected to Soviet-era DDT deposits, of which there are, said Strazds, more than a few.
Strazds stressed that, if the DDT concentration is big enough to kill a bird, it becomes a problem not just for black storks.
Incidentally, bird enthusiasts can watch a family of black storks on a live webcam here.
