The four peregrine nestlings that hatched one month ago on the chimney of the heating plant at the ORLEN Unipetrol refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou were ringed by ornithologists on Friday, 12 May 2023. The young are thus close to fledging. The rings are a sort of “ID card” for the peregrines. Thanks to them, ornithologists will be able to identify them in the future and to monitor the numbers of this critically endangered raptor in our country. After a one-year break, the peregrine pair using the Kralupy nest box had four nestlings that add to the numbers of critically endangered peregrines. At both refineries where the peregrines nest, a total of eight chicks were born; they can be watched online via www.starameseosokoly.cz.
“We have been monitoring peregrines at our sites since 2011. Since then, the peregrines have succeeded in having 41 young. This year, there were four nestlings each at the sites in Kralupy nad Vltavou and Litvínov, which makes us very happy. We regularly prepare for the peregrine nesting. From the moment the female starts brooding the eggs, the entire nesting period can be watched by means of online cameras at www.starameseosokoly.cz,” says
Katarzyna Woś, Vice-Chair of the board of directors of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group.
“Peregrines are critically endangered birds of prey and their numbers are therefore carefully monitored. Each successful fledgling supports the peregrines’ return to the landscape. Currently the young are fully dependent on the care of their parents who bring food to them. However, in the coming weeks it will be possible to watch the young explore the surroundings of their nest box. Sometime in June, the young will fledge and will gain experience in the world,” says ornithologist Václav Beran from the association ALKA Wildlife.
The ringing is a harbinger of the fledging that is soon to come for the young peregrines. At first, several weeks after having been ringed, they will start exploring the surroundings of their nest box, will learn to fly, and will leave the nest fully sometime in June. After two to three years, these young peregrines will start looking for their own territories to live in and produce the next generation of young. “Thanks to the ringing scheme, we know that peregrines that have hatched in Litvínov are living not only here in the north, but also in Western and Central Bohemia, Poland, Saxony, Bavaria, and even in France. For instance, this year we know that a male born in Litvínov three years ago produced young with a German female on the chimney of the Trmice heating plant,” adds Václav Beran.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the largest refining and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude oil processing and the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. It belongs among the key players on the Czech and Central European markets in all these areas. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo in Pardubice, Spolana in Neratovice, REMAQ in Otrokovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. Unipetrol also includes the Benzina ORLEN filling station network in the Czech Republic and a network of ORLEN outlets in Slovakia and Hungary. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became a member of the ORLEN Group, the largest multi-energy company in Central Europe. ORLEN Unipetrol employs almost 6,000 people and is active in corporate social responsibility. It seeks to promote initiatives that cultivate and support sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment.