Bird of the year (Germany)
Bird of the Year is a campaign that has been run by the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU) and the State Association for Bird Protection in Bavaria (LBV) since 1971 . These nature conservation organizations were the first to draw attention to the threat to animals and habitats by proclaiming a candidate every year. Since 2000, the bird of the year chosen by NABU has also been adopted by BirdLife Austria for Austria.
history
The first election for Bird of the Year took place in 1970 as a regional annual bird test run in the Baden-Württemberg state association of NABU - at that time still the "German Association for Bird Protection" (DBV) - with the election of the gray heron. The campaign has been carried out nationwide since 1971.
Selection criteria
The bird of the year is selected according to the endangerment of the species or its habitat by humans. It can happen that the same species is awarded this title several times, such as the white stork (1984, 1994), kingfisher (1973, 2009) and skylark (1998, 2019). The re-election of the white stork was, however, accompanied by controversy within the association. The second choice of the kingfisher in 2009 is due to the fact that this animal is the heraldic bird of the LBV and the association celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. The re-election of the skylark is justified by the fact that more than every fourth bird has disappeared from the breeding population in Germany since the first choice. In the future, the re-election of a bird should only be possible with two thirds of the votes in the voting body.
International elections
The action has found many imitators to this day. The Swiss Bird Protection Agency has been choosing the Swiss Bird of the Year since 2001 , and natur & ëmwelt in Luxembourg has also chosen its own annual birds. Birds of the year are voted for in more than a dozen countries in Europe.
Non-European polls for Bird of the Year are held in South Africa and New Zealand , among others .
Nature of the year
The election for Bird of the Year was the model for a whole series of choices from animals and plants to species and biotopes to habitats of the year. The term nature of the year has established itself as the generic term for these campaigns .
Previous birds of the year in Germany (from 2000 also Austria)
year | German name | scientific name | Illustration |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | Peregrine falcon | Falco peregrinus | |
1972 | Little owl | Athene noctua | |
1973 |
Eisvogel (again in 2009) |
Alcedo atthis | |
1974 | House martin | Delichon urbicum | |
1975 | Golden plover | Pluvialis apricaria | |
1976 | hoopoe | Upupa epops | |
1977 | Barn owl | Tyto alba | |
1978 | crane | Grus grus | |
1979 | Barn swallow | Hirundo rustica | |
1980 | Black grouse | Lyrurus tetrix | |
1981 | Black woodpecker | Dryocopus martius | |
1982 | Great curlew | Numenius arquata | |
1983 | Sand martin | Riparia riparia | |
1984 |
White stork (again in 1994) |
Ciconia ciconia | |
1985 | Red backs | Lanius collurio | |
1986 | rook | Corvus frugilegus | |
1987 | Whinchat | Saxicola rubetra | |
1988 | Turning neck | Jynx torquilla | |
1989 | Reed Warbler | Acrocephalus scirpaceus | |
1990 | oriole | Oriolus oriolus | |
1991 | partridge | Perdix perdix | |
1992 | robin | Erithacus rubecula | |
1993 | Little ringed plover | Charadrius dubius | |
1994 |
White stork (first started in 1984) |
Ciconia ciconia | |
1995 | nightingale | Luscinia megarhynchos | |
1996 | lapwing | Vanellus vanellus | |
1997 | great spotted woodpecker | Dendrocopus major | |
1998 |
Skylark (again in 2019) |
Alauda arvensis | |
1999 | Goldhammer | Emberiza citrinella | |
2000 | Red kite | Milvus milvus | |
2001 | Great crested grebe | Podiceps cristatus | |
2002 | House sparrow | Passer domesticus | |
2003 | Common Swift | Apus apus | |
2004 | Wren | Troglodytes troglodytes | |
2005 | Eagle owl | Bubo bubo | |
2006 | nuthatch | Sitta europaea | |
2007 | Kestrel | Falco tinnunculus | |
2008 | cuckoo | Cuculus canorus | |
2009 |
Kingfisher (first started 1973) |
Alcedo atthis | |
2010 | cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo | |
2011 | Common redstart | Phoenicurus phoenicurus | |
2012 | Jackdaw | Corvus monedula | |
2013 | Common snipe | Gallinago gallinago | |
2014 | Green woodpecker | Picus viridis | |
2015 | hawk | Accipiter gentilis | |
2016 | goldfinch | Carduelis carduelis | |
2017 | brown owl | Strix aluco | |
2018 | star | Sturnus vulgaris | |
2019 |
Skylark (first started in 1998) |
Alauda arvensis | |
2020 | turtledove | Streptopelia turtur |
See also
literature
- Helmut Opitz: The birds of the year 1970–2013. Review - Status - Perspectives. AULA-Verlag , Wiebelsheim 2014, ISBN 978-3-89104-783-5 .
Web links
- NABU - NABU: Bird of the year
- State Association for Bird Protection - LBV Bavaria: Bird of the year
- Birdlife Austria - BirdLife Austria: Bird of the year
- nature rings - NABU: Listen to Bird of the Year
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c From bag tit to ruff and redtail. Successful export item “Bird of the Year” / Now also in Armenia. Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU), February 9, 2009, accessed on February 16, 2009 .
- ^ Opitz, Die Vögel des Jahres 1970–2013 , p. 20.
- ↑ Typical agricultural bird in descent - the skylark is "Bird of the Year 2019"
- ^ Opitz, Die Vögel des Jahres 1970–2013 , p. 21.