Bird count 2021 - "Stunde der Wintervögel" in Germany

The bird count 2021 "Stunde der Wintervögel" took place this year from the 6th to the 9th of January. On this weekend the Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (or NABU) and its Bavarian associate - the Landesbund für Vogelschutz (LBV) - ask all people in Germany to participate in this nationwide citizen science project to count birds in gardens, parks, at bird feeders or on the balcony. Of course, I have participated in this bird count again and write about my bird observations in Berlin in this blog entry.

Which bird species will be in the top three this year on the weekend of the bird count 2021 "Stunde der Wintervögel"? Maybe again like last year the house sparrow, the great tit, and the blue tit? Or the birds on the first three positions will by replaced by other birds like Eurasian tree sparrows and common blackbirds?

Apropos blue tit.

How are blue tits? Will the number of observed blue tits decrease on the weekend of the bird count 2021? Or maybe not? Considering the mass die-off last year in spring 2020 among blue tits, it might be possible that there will be fewer blue tit observations this year.

Information: A bacterium - Suttonella ornithocola - was responsible for the mass die-off. This bacterium caused a lung disease particularly among blue tits, although other tits like coal tits and great tits as well were affected by this lung disease. The bacterium was also detected in some long-tailed tits. However, not to such a large extent. Blue tits, in general, suffered most this lung disease. You can find more information and most recent news about this topic on the NABU website (only in German).

Nevertheless, everyone is invited to participate in this citizen science project. The more people participate, the more data is collected and available. The more data is collected, the better conclusions can be made about the state of the birds in Germany.

There are only some few rules which have to be taken into account when counting birds. For example, participants should note only the maximum number of individuals of a bird species found at one spot and seen simultaneously.

For example, if you see an Eurasian nuthatch in one moment and another one ten minutes later, you should not count two nuthatches, but just one. However, if you see two nuthatches at the same time - maybe one at a bird feeder and another one close-by moving up a tree trunk - you have to write down two nuthatches.

The NABU has created a video in the past about how to count birds in winter (the video is unfortunately only in German). Of course, this video is still relevant for the bird count 2021. The video is short and explains clearly how to participate in this citizen science project.

I went to the Tiergarten on a nice and sunny Sunday morning. The weather was quite changeable on the preceding days. Likewise, the next days were expected to be rather cold, rainy and uncomfortable. Therefore, I saw that Sunday morning as being just perfect for a one-hour stroll through the Tiergarten in the heart of Berlin.

I knew already two spots in the park were they spread bird seeds on a bridge or provide bird fat balls close to a bird feeder.

However, at first I went to the bridge. And I was indeed quite impressed by the amount of birds flying around.

On that feeding site I saw especially many blue and great tits.

Nevertheless, I didn't stay for such a long time at this feeding ground, as I wanted to go to the second feeding ground close-by.

The light on that sunny day was just beautiful. Despite the bare trees in winter, I very liked the environment of the Tiergarten on that day. I used the warm colors of the light to photograph the birds.

I walked along the river, but at all times I remained as attentive as possible.

Of course, I also had to count the birds in the water I encountered on my stroll to the second feeding ground. From a distance, I even saw a grey heron.

The bird count 2021 "Stunde der Wintervögel" reached a new record. More than 200.000 nature lovers participated in this Germany-wide bird count. Almost twice as many as last year!

It is great to see that so many people take part in a citizen science project and the number even seems to increase year after year.

However, which bird species have reached the top positions during the bird count 2021?

Well, there are no big surprises with respect to at least the two first positions.

Last year house sparrows, great and blue tits were most often seen during the bird count weekend. This year, however, the Eurasian tree sparrow replaced the blue tit on the third position. The blue tits, in contrast, even fall back to rank five. The common blackbird reached position four.

Why has the blue tit reached only rank five during the bird count 2021? Has the number of blue tits decreased in general? And if there is indeed a decline, is this decline connected to the bacterium Suttonella ornithocola and the resulting lung disease? Or were blue tits just searching for food in other places? Because the colder and snowier a winter, the more birds come to bird feeders. Was the winter not cold enough to attract more blue tits to the gardens or parks? But why have house sparrows and great tits reached their first positions again while blue tits have not?

There are still many open questions to be answered...

Nevertheless, there might be some differences among the regions in Germany. For example, house sparrows and great tits have also reached the first two top positions in Berlin. But the hooded crow has finished up in third place and not the Eurasian tree sparrow.

I was a little bit surprised that the long-tailed tit was observed more often in Berlin than the nuthatch. I was surprised, because I regularly see nuthatches in the Tiergarten, but not long-tailed tits. However, of course, the observations for the bird count 2021 not only came from the Tiergarten, but from all over Berlin!