Bird trapping

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Illustration of bird trapping in ancient Egypt, beating nets filled with birds and the plucking and gutting of birds ( grave of the night around 1400 BCE)

The bird-catching than the capture of wild birds is a food supplement since the Stone Age operated; the catch for songbird keeping has been handed down since the Middle Ages. Archaic bird traps such as nooses made of animal tendons and hair, limed rods or stone structures were used very early , under which the birds were buried. In the Iron Age , more elaborate methods were developed, for example bow traps that caught small birds on their legs using sophisticated mechanics, or cages that functioned like fish traps and caught birds alive. Nets were already used in the time of the Egyptians and Romans.

meaning

Depending on the type and purpose of the captured animals, they were sold, consumed, held captive or tamed and trained. Poultry caught in bird trapping were mainly consumed. Particularly beautiful singing or colorful songbirds were taken from nature for cage. Prisoners were hunting birds for the stain to hunt birds dressed. Since the reproduction of birds of prey has only existed since the 1970s, all hunting birds used to be wild-caught . Birds caught alive were also used as decoys in large bird trapping systems and were also used in underground mining to warn of mine gas . The cages with siskins and other finches were placed on the floor. If the heavy gas seeped into the shaft, the animals would suffocate and warn the miners. With the increasing prosperity in Europe, catching birds for securing food became less and more important.

poaching

Hunting songbirds and protected bird species is prohibited in the European Union according to the EU Birds Directive . In many Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Cyprus , however, this is disregarded on a large scale. In Egypt , Syria and Lebanon alone , over ten million birds were illegally hunted annually in the mid-2010s. The birds are usually shot or caught with nets , bird traps or liming rods , in which they often die.

Bird trapping in Austria

Bird trapping and keeping wild birds is still practiced in the Austrian Salzkammergut today, but the birds are only in cages for the time of the award (1–2 days). They are kept in aviaries over the winter time, only to be returned to nature in the spring, with the exception of decoys. In 2010, the Austrian Commission for UNESCO included this tradition in the “ Directory of intangible cultural heritage in Austria ”.

Bird trapping in Germany

Historical

Songbirds have been eaten in Europe since the Middle Ages .

Leipzig larks

Larks were long considered a delicacy in Germany. The Leipzig region was a main fishing area for centuries. Recipes for Leipzig larks and other lark preparations were found in every well-known cookbook in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1720 alone, over 400,000 larks were sold at the Leipzig city gates. In the 19th century, the animal welfare movement increased in importance and influence. Finally, in 1876, King Albert I of Saxony officially banned lark hunting. According to tradition, the Leipzig lark was created as a substitute as a sweet pastry with the suggestion of the tying of fried larks.

Palatinate finches

Mountain finch hunt (Bohemian hunt)

From ancient times until the night bird hunting was banned in 1908, mountain finches were hunted at night in the southern Palatinate with the help of blowguns and clay balls. The animals sat close together on the branches of the pines and spruces. When a bird was shot from the tree, the other animals would move together again to close the gap. So the mountain finches were easy prey. In the southern Palatinate of Brambling also is Böhämmer or Behemmer called and this hunt so Böhämmerjagd .

Environmental movement

The ongoing destruction of habitats with industrialization brought about an environmental movement in the twentieth century, under whose pressure particularly cruel fishing methods such as snares, liming rods and bow traps were banned before the beginning of the First World War. In the German Empire, on July 1, 1888, bird trapping was largely prohibited by law, primarily with regard to birds that were considered useful. On May 30, 1908, the Reich Birds Protection Act came into force, as a result of which bird trapping with manslaughter traps was banned. The live catch of house birds, however, was allowed.

today

In addition to scientific catches, birds are still illegally caught in Germany today. In a work from 2001, the Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) referred to the pursuit of partially protected bird species. Since the use of bird traps is forbidden in Germany with a few exceptions, illegal bird trapping seemed to be a thing of the past. The cases of illegal pursuit with traps identified since the 1970s paint a different picture: Despite the existing ban on use, bird traps are still produced, sold and illegally used to catch protected bird species such as B. hawk, buzzard, sea eagle, peregrine falcon, red and black kite are used. These birds of prey are mainly caught by keepers of ornamental and useful birds. The goshawk is particularly closely followed by pigeon and poultry keepers. The NABU suspects that the illegal stalking of the hawk will result in significant regional populations up to and including the local disappearance of this species. The fishing gear can pose a significant risk to human health, especially to children playing who find traps in the forest.

The focus of the cases that became known was in the federal state of Brandenburg , where the local environmental agency (LUA) carried out extensive investigations in this area. According to NABU, cases from other federal states also show that the illegal persecution of protected bird species is obviously the order of the day nationwide, especially with regard to birds of prey . In March 2012, two bird traders from Münsterland who looted the nests of endangered bird species and sold their contents on the Internet were sentenced to two years probation by the Münster district court , and they also have to bear the costs of the proceedings in the amount of € 95,000.

Animal rights activists are calling for a general ban on the manufacture, sale and use of bird traps, non-selective traps, nets and glue as part of the amendment to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance (BArtSchV) and a ban on possession of the traps. This could be remedied by the restricted sale of traps approved for hunting only to authorized persons by presenting a hunting license.

Europe

In other European countries, the catching of wild birds fell into disrepute after the Second World War. Italy banned the use of bow traps in the 1950s, and in Belgium the use of snares was discontinued in the early 1960s. With the adoption of the EU Birds Directive in 1979, bird trapping was prohibited in all countries of the European Union . During the passada , the time when birds fly, numerous flocks of birds are caught , especially in Malta . Even internationally protected and very rare species are hunted. In Malta, the expected restrictions on bird hunting as a result of EU accession were an important argument among hunters against accession.

Bird trapping in the 21st century

Bird trapping is now banned in many European countries. In southern Europe in particular , however, numerous flocks of birds are still in function today, some despite bans under nature conservation law. To preserve traditions allow Sweden (loops), France (snares, nets, rock fall traps and limes), Spain (lime sticks, nets), Italy (networks), Malta (networks) and Austria , limited to the Upper Austrian Salzkammergut from Attnang to Obertraun and from St. Wolfgang and Mondsee to Scharnstein (catching cages, net blocks), even today the local removal of wild birds from nature. With reference to Austria, however, it must be noted that the captured birds are not eaten as in other countries (France, Italy), but are released back into nature after the winter. Bird trapping is common throughout the Mediterranean. In Italy, southern France as well as Malta, parts of Greece and Cyprus in particular , the hunt for songbirds for consumption or purely as a leisure activity without actually using the shot birds is a mass phenomenon.

In addition to the massive catch (around 25 million birds annually in France alone), animal welfare associations criticize the uncontrolled catch of birds of protected species such as B. golden plover , curlew or skylark . France is also the only country in the European Union where Stone Age rockfall traps were officially allowed again only in 2005 . In addition to catching or shooting migratory birds, even birds are hunted during the breeding season in France. “In France, Provence is the scene of the cruel hunt for songbirds with thousands of limesticks. But although the EU has banned fishing with sticky traps, the government in Paris has declared the use of liming rods to be an endangered tradition and allowing each catcher to use up to 30 liming rods. Experts assume that up to half a million birds per year die in the traps. "

The largest bird trapping facility in the form of five meter high nets stretches with a few interruptions over almost 700 kilometers on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Here mainly migratory birds from Europe in the estimated double-digit million range are caught exclusively for consumption. The extent of legal bird trapping in Egypt has increased significantly since the 2011 revolution , but is little known even among the Egyptian population.

Bird trapping in art and culture

The bird catcher Papageno is one of the protagonists in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute .

literature

  • Kurt Lindner : Contributions to bird trapping and falconry in antiquity. Berlin and New York 1973 (= sources and studies on the history of hunting , 12).
  • Karl Otto Sauerbeck: 'Mr. Heinrich was sitting at the Vogelherd'. Observations on medieval bird hunting and its symbolism. In: Specialized prose research - Crossing borders. Volume 10, 2014, pp. 57–79, in particular pp. 73–75 ( Kleinvogeljagd and Falkenbeize ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Unlawfully shot, trapped or glued , BirdLife, August 2015, accessed May 10, 2017
  2. ↑ Information from the Leipzig City Museum
  3. ↑ Law on the Protection of Birds
  4. ↑ §2 Reichsvogelschutzgesetz (scan of the Reichsgesetzblatt dated May 30, 1908)
  5. ↑ Illegal bird trapping in Germany ( Memento from April 28, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.1 MB)
  6. ↑ Committee against Bird Murder e. V .: Alleged bird breeders convicted by the Münster Regional Court (March 22, 2012) , accessed May 30, 2012
  7. ↑ salzi.at: 500 bird trapping licenses issued in the Salzkammergut - September 15, 2011 ( memento of November 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), accessed May 30, 2012
  8. ↑ Committee against Bird Murder e. V .: Hunting routes in Europe 2005 , accessed May 29, 2012
  9. ↑ Committee against Bird Murder e. V .: Bird trapping and hunting in France , accessed May 29, 2012
  10. ↑ Political Working Group for Animal Rights e. V .: News - March 5, 2011 , accessed May 29, 2012.
  11. ↑ Elke Bodderas: The 700 kilometer long death trap on the Mediterranean. On. welt.de from April 22, 2013; last accessed on December 1, 2016.
  12. ^ Adam Welz: Jonathan Franzen: 'Egypt is the worst place to be a migratory bird'. On: theguardian.com July 19, 2013; last accessed on December 1, 2016.