Spring bird count 2025

This year, the spring bird count 2025 “Stunde der Gartenvögel” took place from May 9th to May 11th. Everyone interested in birds and wanting to help birdlife was invited to take part. Are there any trends that need to be observed more closely? Which birds are being seen more frequently, and which ones are becoming rarer? In this blog post, I’ll share my experience of taking part.

Spring bird count 2025

May is one of my favorite months. Not only is the weather pleasant—not too hot and not too cold—but birds are especially active during this time. Nest building, egg laying, and caring for their young—there’s a lot for birds to do in May. Of course, like every year, I took part in the spring bird count 2025 again this May.

The spring bird count 2025 took place on the second weekend of the month, from May 9th to May 11th. The event is organized by the NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union) and its Bavarian partner LBV (Bavarian Bird and Nature Conservation Association).

This year, the focus was on blackbirds (left photo), but also on swifts and swallows, such as house martins and barn swallows (right photo).

Taking part is easy. You simply sit on your balcony, in the garden, or in a park. The important thing is to avoid double-counting. That means you should only record the highest number of birds of a particular species that you see at one time.

Recently, NABU has published common counting mistakes on its official website. That’s great! Still, I have to admit I feel a bit uncertain. A few years ago, I participated in a NABU event for the spring bird count in a small park in Berlin. We walked around a bit during the count. Now, according to NABU’s website, you’re supposed to choose one fixed spot. But in one of NABU’s videos, it says it doesn’t matter whether you count in a garden, park, or backyard—as long as it’s in an urban area!

So, is that really the case? Since I did my count in the city, I assume I can ignore that particular guideline. But how is it elsewhere?

Bird observations in the Volkspark Friedrichshain

Just like last year, I went to Volkspark Friedrichshain again this year to observe birds near a bird feeder. I should mention right away that I stayed close to the feeder but also walked around a little. At the time, I thought it was fine to move around the observation area a bit. It wasn’t until I was about to submit my sightings that I became aware of the counting mistakes NABU highlights.

Besides birds, squirrels can also be observed very well at the feeder.

Nevertheless, one very striking presence in Volkspark Friedrichshain is the hooded crow (left photo). I see them almost everywhere—even several at a time near the bird feeder.

Also very present in the park are the common starlings (right photo). I often see them in groups, pecking for food in the grass. But the bird feeder is also worth a visit for the occasional common starling.

In Volkspark Friedrichshain, alongside hooded crows and common starlings, I regularly see wood pigeons. Most of the time, they land somewhere on the tree branches. They do look a bit clumsy while doing so—but with their size, it’s not exactly easy to move quickly among the trees.

Great tits (left photo) and blue tits (right photo) have it much easier. Being so small, they hop from branch to branch with seemingly no effort. However, this time I didn’t see many of them at the bird feeder. I think that’s because it’s spring, and they can find plenty of natural food in the park, so they don’t rely on the feeder as much.

High above me, the swifts made their presence known. It was such a joy to hear them again. When the swifts return, it means spring or summer has truly arrived—and the long, cold winter is finally over. But I’ve never managed to photograph a swift. They fly not only very high up, but also incredibly fast. Still, I could clearly make out their silhouettes far above in the sky.

On the day of the spring bird count 2025, there were several birds I only heard but didn’t see. One of them was the chiffchaff (left photo). I hear chiffchaffs quite often in spring and summer, but I rarely get to see one. The chaffinch (right photo), on the other hand, I do see from time to time—at the bird feeder or elsewhere. But on that day, I only heard it.

Otherwise, there were countless nightingales to be heard in the park. However, for the spring bird count 2025 I could only record one. That’s because I never heard two nightingales at the same time. But there were many to listen to, and their singing was absolutely beautiful.

In contrast, the house sparrow and the great spotted woodpecker were a bit more silent. While I only heard the house sparrow (usually, I also see them when I hear them), I first heard the great spotted woodpecker. I scanned the tree trunk, and yes—there it was.

For the house sparrow, I only recorded one because I wasn’t sure if it was more than one.

At one point, I thought I had heard a song thrush. I wasn’t certain, so I used the app “Naturblick”, hoping it would help me. The app is great, but in that moment, it couldn’t really assist me. A ten percent probability seemed too low, so I decided not to add the song thrush to my observations.

I heard European robins and Eurasian blackcaps several times. I still occasionally confuse these two species, unless the Eurasian blackcap makes its typical “tak” call. Then I know for sure it’s not a European robin.

I briefly saw a European robin, but only for a moment. I mostly heard it singing loudly and beautifully (as mentioned, some of the photos, like this one, weren’t taken on the same day).

Let’s not forget the blackbird. It feels like I’m seeing fewer and fewer blackbirds in Berlin. I rarely spot them at the bird feeder; they’re usually foraging somewhere nearby in the leaves on the ground. I’m very familiar with their song, and I can now easily recognize the tone of their voice.

As mentioned earlier, I walked around a bit. Near the bird feeder, there’s a small pond. There, I spotted mandarins. It’s very rare for me to see mandarins pecking in the grass, but on that day, that’s exactly what they were doing.

Where mandarins are, there are usually other ducks as well. And yes, there were also mallards and a rail, specifically a common moorhen.

The spring bird count 2025 was quite remarkable for me. You wouldn’t find so many species in one place on any balcony or backyard. Perhaps in a garden where the birds are reliably fed?

Nevertheless, at the very end, a short-toed treecreeper made its presence known. I’m very familiar with its song, so I was able to record it with confidence (though I couldn’t see it, and the photo is from another day).

Finally, I had a little success. From the bushes, I heard a song that was familiar to me, though I had mistaken it a few times before. Could it be a wren? Hoping I was right, I tried to spot the wren in the bushes. And I found it! How great. I was right. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been spotting wrens more often in Berlin lately? However, I do see them relatively rarely in Volkspark Friedrichshain.

The wren was the last bird I recorded. I spotted it a little farther away from the bird feeder. Shouldn’t I have counted it, though?

On the other hand, I didn’t count the other nightingales. I only recorded one, but I’m sure there were several active in the area. As I was about to head home, I heard another nightingale singing loudly. Maybe I’ll spot one after all?

I stood next to the bushes and searched carefully. Nothing. But it sang so loudly. Then I looked up a little, and voilà. There it was. Nightingales very rarely behave so openly. I tried to move as little and as slowly as possible. Maybe I could manage to get a photo of it.

Luckily, I did manage to get one. Thank you to the nightingale!

I didn’t stay long with the common nightingale because I knew that as soon as the bird noticed me, the bird would fly away.

Results of the spring bird count 2025

In 2024, the house sparrow, Eurasian blackbird, great tit, common starling, and blue tit occupied the top five spots. Exactly in that order. So how did the spring bird count 2025 look? Well, the ranking didn’t change. These five bird species seem to be the most common visitors to gardens and parks across Germany.

And how did it look in Berlin?

In Berlin, house sparrows, common starlings, swifts, wood pigeons, and great tits were among the most commonly observed birds. Hooded crows, Eurasian blackbirds, and blue tits ranked in the following positions. The results from the previous year, 2024, were quite similar in Berlin.

The photos show: house sparrow, great tit, wood pigeon, common starling, hooded crow, blue tit, and Eurasian blackbird.

A summary from NABU states that fewer and fewer birds are being spotted per garden. I noticed that in 2024, 58,928 bird enthusiasts participated in the spring bird count. By 2025, that number dropped to just 55,014 participants—a decrease of 13,914 people. For comparison, in 2020, there were 161,583 participants. Is interest in birds declining? These are the most concerning numbers for me because our birdlife needs many supporters.

This year, we should pay special attention to the Eurasian blackbird. The Usutu virus threatens our native blackbirds. I still see blackbirds regularly in Berlin, but it feels like I’m spotting fewer and fewer of them. According to the results of the spring bird count 2025, the nationwide trend shows a 13% decrease. In Berlin, the drop in reports was 15%.

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Did you participate in the spring bird count 2025? Which birds did you count? Let us know in the comments.