Wings

A LITTLE BELGRADE BIRD ATLAS
Metropolis as a Nest
Expansion of the city and climate change, deforestation and drying of wetland, increased warming and pollution, different availability of food, and many other factors have resulted in many birds no longer coming to Belgrade, just like many do not leave any more. Some new species came closer to the city and the people. In addition to domesticated sparrows, pigeons, crows, Eurasian magpies, wild ducks and swans, in the area of Belgrade today there are gray and white herons, black and white storks, Common starling, pygmy cormorants, common kestrel, hawks, owls, rooks, Eurasian jay, ravens, white-tailed eagles, eastern imperial eagles, golden eagles... Do we hear them? Do we see them? Do we know enough about our neighborhood?

Text and photo: Dragan Bosnić

Not so long ago, as long as a human lifetime remembers, Belgrade was a small town that ended with the forests of Topčider and Košutnjak, Zvezdarnica in Veliki Vračar and slum houses at Marinkova bara. Instead of the vast New Belgrade boulevards, there were vast wetlands, all the way to Obedska bara. In this area, the steppe climate, a variant of the sharp continental climate, and a somewhat milder moderate continental climate with a prolonged Indian summer collided. Snow was falling for a month on average, and it stayed on Belgrade's streets for another fifteen days. Ice chained Belgrade rivers, and the bold ones would sometimes cross from one bank to the other in a horse-drawn cart.
At that time, the masters of the Belgrade sky were sparrows, pigeons, and numerous families of crows. The migratory birds were mostly flying over the Belgrade sky on the planned north-south route and spent the summer in the wetlands of Vojvodina. And then Belgrade became a metropolis, both spatially and in terms of the population. The city itself, with its industry, traffic and heated apartments, raised the temperature of the surrounding environment by a few degrees. The hydroelectric power plant at Đerdap raised the Danube level and significantly expanded it, upstream all the way to Slankamen. Thermal power plants in Obrenovac warmed the Sava waters, so she stopped freezing. If we add to this the global warming, we can day that, according to its climate, Belgrade has become a coastal city rad.
I grew up in Palilula and Zemun, and I do not recall that I have ever seen seagulls and swans on the Danube. Not even on the Great War Island, for which the Big Bird Island would be a more suitable name (because it was the safest bird sanctuary, only a kilometer away from the city center). The first seagulls gradually occupied the waste water collector near the hotel ”Yugoslavia”, and then all the other sources of feces on the Sava and Danube. Duško Radović, let us remember, claimed that an underground river flows from the Sava to Danube that is in its upper course called Waterworks and Sewerage in the lower. Little white seagulls settled in the black and dead Topčider River, and their main feeding place is the landfill in Vinča. The birds then go for detoxification and washing of feathers in the waters of Danube, from Vinča to Grocka. During the summer months, this part of the river is white from countless birds. Elegant swans would not allow such lack of dignity and good taste. A couple of hundred of these white beauties docked near Zemun quay, and the idle and friendly people of Zemun regularly fed them. Swans share the snacks with their little ones, and they do not even refuse dry bread brought by pensioners.

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW

The number of birds in the area of Belgrade is also affected by the number of artificial reservoirs. All species of wild ducks gather on them. The most numerous are mallards, and there are also unique Northern shovelers and numerous diving ducks. Not far from the graveyard in Vinča there is a pond that is inaccessible even to the most persistent hunters because. In addition to the mentioned ducks, there is also a substantial colony of gray and white herons. A larger group of herons can be seen on the so-called Paradajz Ada, not far from Višnjička Banja. Herons once used to travel far toward Africa together with black and white storks. The mentioned climate changes and an increasingly rich menu on landfills and wastewater collectors, are the reason why they no longer chase after the ”Sun in Another Sky”.
Pigmy cormorant ne likes neither people nor their food. He still catches fish and likes to dry its wings on a sunny branch or some remote buoy on the river. It has found the safest refuge on the sandbank created by the Topčiderska River with Sava sleeve, near Ada Ciganlija. Surprisingly, right here, in addition to numerous marinas, rafts, rowers and hikers, this little endangered bird has found its peace.
The abundance of food has forced the predator birds to get close to the big white city. Common kestrel, known for its floating observation, now uses much less energy for hunting because it simply descends to a transmission line and waits for careless rodents to leave their safe shelter. They and similar smaller hunters have discovered the safety of concrete structures and their nests are increasingly present on the highest parts of skyscrapers. Normally, they use modern accessible materials for their nests.
It is noticeable that city territories are increasingly visited by owls, night predators. In Kikinda, they gather in the center of town, and there are an increasing number of them in Sremska Mitrovica. They gather in Belgrade in a smaller number. Sometimes people were steering clear from these night creatures because they believed them to be evil omens. Now the prevailing opinion is that the owl is a symbol of wisdom, so people now leave them alone. Interestingly, of all flyers-hunters, owl is the most successful. Its soft feathers allow for a completely silent flight, and a careless rodent becomes aware of its presence only when it feels a strong grip of its claws.
The family of crows is the most numerous bird species in Belgrade. Black or gray crows are true lords of parks and alleys in the city. They drove away the rooks, birds that could darken the sky over the city by their sheer number. Many groups of these noisy birds have now occupied small forests on the edge of the city. Rook is similar to raven, but smaller and has a brighter beak. The most important difference: the rook lives in large groups, and the raven, larger and black as the night, lives in pairs and stays away from people.
The most beautiful specimen from the family of crows is Eurasian jay, a bird recognizable by its beautiful brown feathers, with wings covered with blue-black feathers and white upper part of the tail. This curious and noisy bird can be seen in forests on the southern outskirts of Belgrade. Eurasian jay also fluttered its way into a song, and the people often call it mocking bird. Eurasian magpie is similar to Eurasian jay, only it has a black and white combination of feathers. They say that it has adapted the most to the human environment and acquired one ”purely human trait” – it likes to steal. Most often it appropriates various glittering objects and takes them to its nest.

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Swans
Because of its grace and whiteness, in many traditions swan is a symbol of light and purity, chastity and gentleness. Mystical properties have been attributed to black swan. There is a constellation in the Milky Way called the Swan. The old Slavs believed that swan represented the soul of the ancestors and that, like all great symbols, it had its light and dark aspect (divine and demonic characteristics). They believed that the fairies, which could turn themselves into hawks, wolfs, snakes and other animals, could also turn into swans. There is a frequent fairy-tale motif of fairies turning into swans bathing in the lake.

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Eagles
Large predators such as the white-tailed eagle have always settled in wetlands near the Sava and Danube, and now the eastern imperial eagle and golden eagle are rising in numbers. The golden eagle, a powerful hunter, usually inhabits the mountain heights, where it hunts foxes, wolves or even many times heavier wild goat. In the plain it is satisfied with small mammals, ducks, and even carcasses of dead animals.

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Intelligence
Raven is considered one of the most intelligent birds, even capable of emulating human speech. Its status of the smartest, not only among birds but in the animal world in general, is only contested by its close relative the common starling.