"White storks are an important part of Ukraine’s natural and cultural heritage. Track the Storks will help turn scientific research into practical decisions that reduce risks to wildlife, support more responsible reconstruction and improve the planning and management of energy infrastructure."
While the broad migration routes of white storks are well understood, there are still gaps in our knowledge of how individual birds travel, their precise routes and where they stop to rest and feed, which territories they use most often, how they change their route in response to weather, climate conditions or human activity, and in which areas they face the greatest risks.
To this end, as part of the “Track Storks” project, ten young birds have been fitted with lightweight GPS trackers. The devices record their location and transmit data that ornithologists will analyse throughout the migration cycle.
The project combines GPS technology with the expertise of ornithologists and the practical needs of modern energy to better understand stork migration.
In summer of 2026, DTEK and Ukrainian ornithologists fitted ten young white storks in the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions with GPS trackers.
Now, for the first time in their lives, these young birds are setting out on their migration from Ukraine towards their wintering grounds in Africa – and we can follow their journey.
See the routes they take, how far they travel, where they stop and what natural and infrastructure-related risks they encounter along the way.
Ten young storks in the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions have been fitted with GPS trackers in summer 2026.
The devices were selected based on the birds’ physiology and fitted by specialists in line with safety requirements and the ethical bird-handling protocol (link or screenshot of the protocol).
Birds and energy infrastructure have shared the same environment for decades. Storks build nests on electricity poles, while power lines and other grid facilities can create risks for wildlife.
For more than 10 years, DTEK has worked with ornithologists to make its electricity networks safer for birds. DTEK Grids has installed more than 900 protective nesting platforms for storks, helping protect around 3,600 birds each year.
“Track Storks” builds on that experience. By understanding where birds travel, stop and spend time, DTEK and its scientific partners can build a better evidence base for future bird-protection measures and for considering biodiversity when electricity networks are modernised.
This is particularly important as Ukraine rebuilds energy infrastructure damaged during the war. Track Storks is one way of helping ensure that reconstruction considers not only resilience and energy security, but also the natural environment.
For more than a decade, DTEK’s energy specialists, together with ornithologists, have installed special platforms for safe stork nesting, relocating nests from hazardous sites, and fitting power lines with bird-protection devices.
The next stage of this work is studying birds migration using GPS technology, allowing a broader view and a gradual understanding of the bird’s entire route.
It’s important to us that modern energy development happens in harmony with nature. We have been working systematically for many years to protect storks, and this new project will allow us to take another step forward — helping science gain new knowledge and use it to preserve biodiversity and develop energy infrastructure with wildlife needs in mind.
Storks are one of the species whose migration routes partly overlap with energy infrastructure. At the same time, Ukraine still lacks systemic data on their migration that could be used in grid planning and development. That is why this project is significant both for nature conservation and for the sustainable development of energy infrastructure.
The trackers will transmit data on migration routes, stopover sites and wintering grounds. The information obtained will form the basis of a systemic database on white stork migration in Ukraine.
Track Storks is one part of DTEK’s broader work to understand and reduce the impact of energy infrastructure on nature.
Across our businesses, we work to protect biodiversity, restore ecosystems and integrate environmental considerations into the way energy infrastructure is operated and developed.
Find out more about our approach, projects and progress in DTEK’s Sustainability in Action report.
Track Storks brings together nature, science and technology to help us better understand bird migration and its interaction with energy infrastructure.
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