The house sparrow - known as the sparrow - is one of the most common birds of all. This is also the case in the gardens this year. Overall, however, the bird lovers are disappointed after the count. Although there is also a surprise.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Nightingales have recently chirped significantly more frequently in gardens in Baden-Württemberg than before. The songbird was only sighted 139 times during the regular bird counting campaign "Hour of Garden Birds", but that was an increase of a whopping 147 percent compared to the previous year, said the German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) on Tuesday in Stuttgart. As every year, the house sparrow - also known as the sparrow - outstripped its conspecifics in the counting campaign in parks and gardens. In mid-May it was the most frequently sighted bird, with an average of 5.94 house sparrows per garden. Blackbirds, great tits and starlings followed.
However, the number of participating bird lovers has fallen sharply compared to previous years. According to Nabu, this is probably due to the lifting of the Corona requirements as well as the good outdoor pool weather during the count. A total of almost 140,800 birds were counted in 4,496 gardens. According to Nabu, 6,667 bird lovers took part, compared to 19,000 last year and 8,005 in 2019 before the pandemic.
The balance is mixed, said Nabu bird expert Stefan Bosch. "Overall, according to the reported numbers, Baden-Württemberg is becoming fewer birds." With an average of 31.3 birds per garden, the southwest is also in the bottom third in a national comparison. "Overall, the populations of many species remain at a low level," said Bosch. After the massive decline in blackbirds caused by the Usutu virus, populations of this species seem to be recovering slightly.
And what explanation does the expert have for the increase in nightingales? They returned from their winter quarters in Africa about a week earlier this year than last year, Bosch said. "The courtship and breeding activity started correspondingly earlier. And the hour of the garden birds apparently fell in the phase of the greatest courtship activity."
The "Hour of the Garden Birds" has taken place every year since 2005 on the second weekend in May.
