Category Archives: Netherlands

Free range chickens, ducks and other poultry birds in the Netherlands must be penned or otherwise sheltered from contact with wild birds starting February 20. The measure is to prevent the H5N1 virus from spreading into the country. The Dutch interior minister Veerman declared this new regulation on Monday in response to the virus being found in three EU countries: Greece, Italy and Slovenia.

Initially Veerman called the cooping up of birds to begin on March 1st. A spokesperson from the Dutch Organization for Poultry Farmers (NOP) was satisfied with the measures taken by the government. He stated that everyone from tourists to bird farmers should be aware of the situation and alert to the dangers on the spread of the virus.

Source: Nederlandse kippen versneld opgehok

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Nature organizations and volunteers conducted a survey of Bohemian Waxwings in the Netherlands on 4 and 5 February. Waxwings are not native to the Netherlands.

A total of 1745 birds were counted. The birds come from arctic forests and have typically been rare visitors to the Netherlands. According to Waarnerming.nl, a website where users can note birds and other animals they have spotted in the wild, it is the third time in four years that the number of Waxwings counted in the Netherlands has increased. This year, however, was the first time an organized count was conducted.

Most of the birds were counted in Gelderland, with 443 individuals counted in ten groups. Many birds were also noted in the provinces Zuid Holland, Noord Holland, Overijssel and Utrecht. In the other provinces a maximum of 4 groups per province was noted.

The Waxwings are presently concentrated in the middle of the country. At the beginning of January a great number of the birds were noted in the north of the country, but most of them have now disappeared. Therefore it is expected that the population is moving south, as it has also been noticed in past years.

The Waxwing lives in the forest in northern areas, but while overwintering in the Netherlands they prefer to roost in urban areas. The birds are not afraid of people, likely because in their breeding areas they normally don’t have contact with humans.

Because of their unexpected, invasive behavior, in earlier times they were considered to be bringers of misfortune, hence their Dutch name Pestvoge”, or plague bird.

Source: Resultaten Pestvogeltelling 4 en 5 februari 2006

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The number of resident birds in the natural area Buurserzand in the province Overijssel, the Netherlands, has strongly increased in the past years. The number of different species as well as individual breeding pairs has seen an increase.

According to the organization Natuurmonumenten, the increase in birds here is in large part due to the successful management of the area. In several parts of Buurserzand more water has become available for wildlife. Approximately 30 hectares of the former private holding Rietschot were added to the Buurserzand protected area in 2005 and since then the number of waterfowl species in the area has increased from six to ten. The number of individual birds has increased from 26 to 88.

Source: Stijging broedvogels in het Buurserzand

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There is no proof that migratory birds are involved in spreading the deadly bird flu virus H5N1. In a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives, bird advocacy group Vogelbescherming Nederland urged members of the house to stop making statements to the contrary without scientific proof to back them up.

Ten thousand migratory birds have been tested for signs of the virus, with no positive results so far. According to Vogelbescherming, it is much more likely that the flu is being spread by the transport of contaminated poultry birds or meat.

Virologist A. Osterhaus advised that the possibility of migratory birds contributing to the spread of the virus has also not been formally ruled out. The fast spread of the virus from China to Siberia in the direction of Eastern Europe does warrant further investigation.

Vogelbescherming points out that the spread of the virus has not followed normal bird migration patterns. The fact that the virus has so far not shown up in Africa, parts of South-East Asia and Australia is also in favor of their theory, as migratory birds from virus-infected lands would be wintering in those lands this season.

The main message that Vogelbescherming wants to get across is that politicians should rather concentrate on taking measures to control the movement of poultry birds and products across land borders rather than waste time inciting needless panic over the perceived dangers of wild, migrating birds.

Last week interior minister Veerman said that measures should be taken to prevent returning migratory birds from coming in contact with poultry birds in the spring in case they bring the bird flu with them. In principle, Vogelbescherming is not against the quarantining of poultry birds.

The animal protection group Dierenbescherming, however, is against any unnecessary quarantine plan for chickens and other domestic fowl. The protection it would offer the birds is miniscule, while the potential suffering (being kept indoors, in small cages, for example) would be great.

According to virologist Osterhaus, every week hundreds of wild birds are examined for traces of bird flu. Some mild versions of the H5 virus have been discovered in wild birds in Holland, but so far none have had the deadly H5N1 strain.

Source: ‘Trekvogels geen bewezen rol in verspreiding vogelgriep’

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