This is a video of a great tit chick hatching while its parents watch.
From Sofia News Agency in Bulgaria:
Great Tit Picked as Bird Symbol of Sofia
March 22, 2012, Thursday
Sofianites have picked the Great Tit (Parus major) as a symbol of the capital.
The poll was conducted in the period January 28 – March 15 and attracted a total of 8600 votes for 12 options.
The Great Tit emerged as the winner with 24% of the votes, followed by the Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) with 20% of the votes and the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) supported by 16% of the voters.
The poll was launched as part of the “See for the first time: The flying wealth of Bulgaria” project of the Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds financed and supported by the America for Bulgaria foundation.
The winning species will be awarded with a special installation in Sofia’s Southern Park.
The installation will be the starting point for bird-watching routes that are yet to be marked with directional signs and notice boards.
The project, which aims to promote Bulgaria as a destination for eco-tourism and an important ornithological site, is to be completed by early June.
House sparrows in decline in India – Help BNHS survey house sparrows: here.
June 2012. House Sparrows are approaching a six-year high in gardens. Numbers declined sharply in 2006 but are now making a steady recovery. To help the public nurture this upturn, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has produced a free factsheet: here.
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Aw! So sweet. Wonderful bird for a wonderful city
I agree!
By the way, the stated aim is “to promote Bulgaria as a destination for eco-tourism and an important ornithological site”. From a purely commercial point of view, then the Sofia voters maybe did not choose the right birds for that, as their number 1-3 favourites, great tit, Eurasian collared dove and house sparrow, are all common birds in western Europe and people would probably not travel to Bulgaria to see them.
Eg, red-breasted geese, which winter in Bulgaria much more numerously than in western Europe, might have been a better choice for that. They winter on the Bulgarian coast, not in Sofia.
I’ll have to make a red breasted goose and talk about it wintering on the Bulgarian coast.
It really is a beautiful country – the Rila monastery is a must see!
Hi dou dou, personally I have not been to Bulgaria yet.
I did see a red-breasted goose: one in a big flock of brent geese, not the big groups I might see on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
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