The chimney stacks at ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s production sites are again throbbing with life with the arrival of spring. Peregrine falcons have nested in the nesting boxes and raised a record number of their young. Followed by the cameras, four chicks are cared for by their parents in the Litvínov Refinery. The same number is seen in the refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou and at Paramo Pardubice. According to ornithologists from the non-profit organisation ALKA Wildlife, who have recently taped the young, all 12 chicks are healthy and thriving. A peregrine female also laid four eggs on the premises of Spolana Neratovice. Also this year, the nesting season of peregrine falcons can be watched online at starameseosokoly.cz.
“Last year, our peregrines reared nine chicks – three in Litvínov, three in Kralupy nad Vltavou, and three in Pardubice. This year, we have 12 young. Peregrine falcons have raised as many as 70 chicks at our chimney stacks since 2011,” says Lucie Pražáková, director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation.
The courtship season of peregrine parents starts, as a rule, at the turn of February and March. Until then, the peregrine pair has lived at their usual pace during the year. They fly over their territory and do not use the nest. The female lays one to four eggs and broods for about 30 days before the young are born. Then, the parents have their ‘claws’ full with everyday work and care to round enough food because the young need a lot of nutrients to grow fast. Both parents take turns getting food, warming the chicks and serving the food several times a day. They often bring various small birds like pigeons and ducks, or bats.
Ornithologists ring the young about three weeks after hatching. “We have checked all the chicks and banded them with identification tapes. Thus, we can monitor their numbers and movements in the Czech territory and abroad. Although the number of peregrine falcons in Czechia has multiplied since the beginning of the century to about 150 pairs, they are still among the critically endangered species,” explains ornithologist Václav Beran from the ALKA Wildlife association.
The chimney stack on the production premises in Neratovice, a traditional nesting place for peregrine falcons, has witnessed an exciting story for a third consecutive year. “The female who has occupied the local nest in recent years shows signs of non-standard behaviour. Two years ago, she laid three eggs but gradually ate them all. The same story was repeated last year. This year, she laid three eggs first and added a fourth one after more than thirty days, and we have never encountered such behaviour before. However, she does not sit on them this year either, so there is a bare chance the young will hatch,” says Václav Beran, and adds: “But we are delighted about the chicks at the other stacks. The peregrine babies in Litvínov, Kralupy and Pardubice are healthy and thriving, so they have a chance to live to the moment when they leave the nest, which usually comes in June.”
Peregrine falcons can live up to 20 years and return to their popular nesting grounds throughout their lives. For instance, ornithologists have seen a male from Litvínov nesting with an untaped female on the chimney stack of the glassworks in Teplice since 2018. Another male, this time from Záluží, nested on the Trmice heating plant with a German female in 2022 and 2023. Peregrine falcons fly all over Czechia and the neighbouring states when looking for their territory. According to some documented cases, a peregrine falcon born in Czechia was monitored in the territory of France, Germany, or Poland.
About the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation
The ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation launched its activities in 2017. Its primary mission is to support education and popularise science, primarily natural sciences and technical disciplines, as well as corporate social responsibility, emphasising local communities and the environment. The Foundation has long been engaged in supporting schools, teachers, and students with grant programmes. The educational project, ‚Plastík a jeho kouzelný kufřík‘, provides schoolchildren from the first to the fifth grade with an excursion into the world of chemistry through entertaining experiments. Educational support and the associated Foundation’s activities gave rise to many educational materials and outputs in the form of tutorials available at www.nouonline.cz. Beginning in 2024, the Foundation is also committed to corporate social responsibility related to the environment, support of local communities, and volunteering. Such activities include championing volunteer and community projects, fundraising, fish releases into rivers, nesting of endangered peregrine falcons, and beekeeping. The Foundation cooperates with many non-profit organisations on a long-term basis but also reacts to current events in society and emergencies. More information about the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation’s mission and other activities is available at www.nadaceorlenunipetrol.cz.
Contact details:
Lucie Pražáková, director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation
Telephone: +420 736 506 939