ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s production sites have again become the home to several bird families. Peregrine falcons have this year managed to raise a record high number of chicks – four in Litvínov, four in Kralupy nad Vltavou and four at Paramo Pardubice. The young peregrines have already flown out into the world to gain new experience and skills when hunting and subsequently raise their own chicks in the years to come. Common kestrels have also nested at the Litvínov Refinery this year and raised five chicks. The nesting of peregrine falcons at ORLEN Unipetrol Group sites has been supported in collaboration with the ALKA Wildlife since 2011. Peregrine pairs have raised 70 chicks at the chimney stacks since then.
This season has been extraordinarily successful. The first four eggs appeared at the T700 chimney of the Litvínov Refinery in March, and four chicks were born in April. They received identification tapes at the end of the month. Four more birds hatched in Kralupy nad Vltavou, and they were ringed in May. The nesting box has been in place at Paramo Pardubice since 2023, and they have seen four chicks there, as well. “We are immensely happy about this year’s peregrine nesting. All bird families have raised 12 chicks altogether, which is a record high number since the beginning of our project. This success is a result of long-term cooperation with ALKA Wildlife experts and evidence that industrial sites can also be a safe and stable environment for endangered species,” said Lucie Pražáková, Director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation. The female at Spolana Neratovice failed to have the young, just like last year, although two eggs could be seen in the box.
The record high number of peregrine chicks this year has brought both happy and exciting moments from the lives of the other bird inhabitants of ORLEN Unipetrol sites. Common kestrel could also be seen at Chempark Litvínov. One female nested at the steam cracker box, where three young hatched, two of which have survived. Another female raised three chicks in the box placed on the chimney stack’s safety ladder. All three chicks survived and left the nest. “The story of these kestrels culminated in an unexpected rescue event. One of the chicks got stuck near the administrative building in Litvínov, and employees worried if it could survive. Thanks to prompt action, two employees and the ornithologists caught the kestrel and saved it. Then they took it to a dog’s shelter of the local police in Litvínov, where it was taken by the experts from the animal rescue centre in Litoměřice,“ Lucie Pražáková added. ORLEN Unipetrol sites in Czechia are home to several kestrel pairs and are significant local nesting places of this small raptor.
Peregrine falcons have used the nesting boxes on the chimney stacks at ORLEN Unipetrol production sites since 2011, when the company launched the cooperation with ALKA Wildlife. “Peregrines have raised 70 chicks on our chimneys over the past 14 years. This year, we taped very young peregrines at the Litvínov Refinery. They were about 12 to 14 days old and did not resist the taping at all. The only disadvantage of this early taping is that we cannot say their sex for sure. The peregrines have already left the nests and start discovering the world and gain new experience,” ornithologist Václav Beran from ALKA Wildlife describes the peregrine nesting.
The broad public could again watch the entire nesting season on the website www.starameseosokoly.cz. The online stream provided a glimpse into how quickly the chicks grow throughout the day. The number of visits to this website increased from last year’s 100,000 to 144,000 this year. Young raptors are setting out into the world to find their own territory in two to three years. The identification tapes make it possible to follow their future fate – some of them have been seen in Germany, Poland, or even France. Most of them later return to the Czech Republic and nest on other structures.
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
E-mail: nadace@orlenunipetrol.cz
Telephone: +420 736 506 939