In the Dnipropetrovsk region, DTEK energy workers saved a wounded bird of prey– marsh harrier

DTEK Dnipro Grids employee saved the bird from a pack of dogs. He took a wounded bird home, as it could not fly due to the injured wing and required help.

The foundling appeared to be a marsh harrier – the bird of prey. In order to provide required help company’s representatives contacted ornithologists. A wounded harrier was taken to the birds of prey specialist in Kryvyi Rih for treatment.

“Marsh harrier – is a day predator. The found bird is a female over two years old. Currently, it undergoes treatment. We hope that it will be successful and the bird will be able to fly again and return to the wild – its natural habitat,” – says Vitaliy Vietrov, ornithologist, expert of the Ukrainian Center for Birds Of Prey Study.

It is not the first bird of prey to be saved by energy workers. Last year, when repairing lines in Sofiivka district they found a family of hobby falcons with nestlings, who chose high voltage lines’ resistor for nesting. Their nest was relocated to the replaced pole.

Besides, over the course of 2021, DTEK Dnipro Grids has mounted 716 bird diverters and covers on power lines to protect birds from electrocution, 20 stork nesting platforms and 37 artificial nests for birds of prey, such as scops owls. These initiatives of business helped save over 320 birds from death, including the ones, protected by the Bern Convention and the Red Book of Ukraine.

After the war, energy workers plan to continue implementing biodiversity protection projects in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

* Marsh harrier is a bird of prey from the Accipitridae family, the largest and the most broad-winged of the harriers to be seen in Ukraine. It eats eggs, fish, frogs and little animals, especially rodents. It builds nests in reedy marshlands.