Insectivorous species are reported less frequently | free press

BERLIN (dpa) – In the “Garden Bird Hour”, the long-running trend of fewer insect-eating bird species has continued. Among the biggest losers this year are swifts, house martins, pied flycatchers and gray flycatchers, Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nabu) announced Wednesday in the campaign’s final balance sheet. Provisional results were already published in May.

According to Nabu, more than 140,000 people counted the birds in parks and gardens from May 13-16. In total, more than 3.1 million birds of nearly 230 different species have been reported. There were an average of 33 birds per garden. The State Association for the Protection of Birds in Bavaria (LBV) is the co-organizer of the annual Practical Training Campaign.

Central conclusion according to Nabu: The number of birds in the villages and towns of Germany has largely stabilized since the start of censuses in 2005. However, in some species, a marked decrease can be observed. “If you want to help our children with a feather problem, design your garden in a way that makes insects feel comfortable there: plant native deciduous trees, create corners with wild plants, and of course avoid environmental toxins,” said Naboo’s Federal Managing Director. Liv Miller.

In the park’s most popular bird rankings, Robin achieved his best position so far: the songbird, which was voted “Bird of the Year” in Germany a few months ago, came in ninth place – “probably thanks to an official reward” according to Naboo. Like every year, the house sparrow rose to the top. Blackbird, big tit, starling, blue tit, tree sparrow, magpie and wood pigeon.

Naboo had already expressed relief about the number of blue breasts reported. Last year, a bacteria led to mass animal deaths in many parts of Germany. According to the census results, a 22 percent increase in blue breasts was reported.

Conservationists also highlighted a special discovery. An extremely rare hat was seen near Munich. This species usually lives in the Balkans and was bred only once in Germany.