The Black Stork is generally a rare species that breeds in forests of Eurasia. Distinct populations mostly breeding on rocks were recorded in Spain and southern part of Africa. Black Storks feed almost exclusively on fish in small streams. Their way of life is very secretive. Our radiotracking results showed that they cautiously collect food often very close to human structures being hidden under bank vegetation. Sometimes they walk early morning even thru villages. This kind of behaviour enables their good survival, reproduction and as a result slightly increasing population in agricultural areas of Europe.

In 1994 we started to prepare and next year we launched the project that closely monitors a Black Stork migration. Technical design was based on improved Argos processing and faster access to coordinates, broader utilisation of satellite phones and GPS units. This technical innovations enables us to follow birds almost step-by-step and to monitor not only their routes but also to observe their interractions between wildlife and people. European nature protection of migrating birds will not be effective until dangerous sites along their journey will not be described and the natural environment on their winter grounds saved. A total of seventeen Black Storks equipped with "backpacks" went on their African journey between the years 1995 and 2000. In last years we study the migration pattern of birds from Siberia and Mongolia to India. In future we like to move further east.