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

• Bird of the year (international)
• Bird of the year (Switzerland)

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

1. ↑ ^{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 . 
2. ^ Opitz, Die Vögel des Jahres 1970–2013 , p. 20.
3. ↑ Typical agricultural bird in descent - the skylark is "Bird of the Year 2019"
4. ^ Opitz, Die Vögel des Jahres 1970–2013 , p. 21.