Category Archives: Europe

City Birds Beloved In The Netherlands

by Amy Posted on 30 April 2006

The Dutch BirdLife International affiliate Vogelbescherming conducted a survey of city dwellers and found that at least 93% of respondents find bird life in their city important.

The Netherlands is urbanizing at a fast pace and that means that more and more birds have to find a home in a city environment. They have to adapt to find their food, nesting locations and shelter in urban areas as their more natural habitats are developed by humans. Most people find that bird life makes a city more attractive and therefore space must be created for our feathered friends.

Vogelbescherming has developed an Action Plan with guidelines for cities to follow in order to make the environment more bird-friendly. The plan also has bird-friendly ideas for city planners, architects, housing agencies and construction companies.

The action plan calls to attention several projects which have already been completed which help to make cities friendlier for birds. These include swallow projects in Woensdrecht, Kampen, Almere and Bergen op Zoom.

The top three beloved city birds in the Netherlands are the House Sparrow, Tit and European Robin.

Source:
Nederlanders houden van stadsvogels! The Dutch love city birds!

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The Saga Of The ‘Hamble Point’ Ringed Oystercatcher

by Amy Posted on 28 April 2006

On 13 December, 1999, an adult Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) was ringed at Hamble Point, England. The adult bird was at least three years old at the time. Since then, the bird has been spotted feeding at Hamble Point and at the popular Dutch bird hangout Starrevaart.

The bird is often spotted at Starrevaart in the springtime, so it is presumed the bird breeds in the Netherlands. The bird was spotted in Starrevaart as recently as April 2006; sightings are posted on the bird’s official website at Vogelwerkgroep Vlietland.

The story of the bird, An Oystercatcher’s Tale, can be found at this link.

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Dutch Police Catch Raptor Killers

by Amy Posted on 26 April 2006

The police in the Dutch town of Aarle-Rixtel last week arrested three people in connection with illegal killing of birds of prey. Two men and one woman were apprehended after an investigation into the poisoning deaths of six buzzards found in nearby parkland.

During a search of the suspects’ house, dead pigeons and poison were found. The pigeons were used to bait the birds of prey.

In nearby Laarbeek a day earlier the police arrested a man for killing a Northern Goshawk. The man, who was caught red-handed, explained he was eliminating raptors in order to preserve the other wildlife in the area.

The man also used dead pigeons to lure the birds of prey into cages. Once caught, he would kill the birds. Authorities were able to save a buzzard and some crows which sat in his cages.

Source:
AID en politie pakken illegale roofvogeljagers
Inspection Service and police catch illegal raptor hunters

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Posted in Law, Netherlands | Leave a comment

Rotterdam Nature Museum Fitted With Giant Crow

by Amy Posted on 19 April 2006

Last week a six-meter tall crow was placed atop the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum hopes the statue will prevent birds from flying into the glass windows of the building.

Birds regularly fly into the windows of the museum, killing themselves in the process. The birds are generally added to the collection of the museum. The museum has tried using models of birds of prey on the building to prevent the window crashes, to no success.

The huge crow is a work by Rotterdam artist Florentijn Hofman. The bird silhouette is made of black metal and was created for the 2005 Crossing Border Festival and stood for a time atop the city hall of The Hague.

Source: Natuurmuseum krijgt reusachtige vogelverschrikker

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Domino Sparrow To Join Other Fallen Birds In Hall Of Fame

by Amy Posted on 16 April 2006

The body of the unfortunate Domino Sparrow will join other sparrows in the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam in a “Hall of Fame” exhibit. The Domino Sparrow was shot last November in a bid to save a domino-felling record chance.

Other birds will join the Domino Sparrow in the museum’s Sparrow Hall of Fame. For example, a sparrow killed by a live cricket ball during a 1936 cricket match in the U.K., currently housed in the MCC Museum in London, will probably be included in the exhibit.

The Sparrow Hall of Fame will be open to the public on 14 November 2006, exactly one year after the Domino Sparrow’s death.

Source: Dominomus samen met collega’s in ‘hall of fame’

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Dutch Stork Population Up – Way Up

by Amy Posted on 11 April 2006

There are over 500 breeding pairs of storks in the Netherlands today, the same amount as in 1900. The bird has been doing especially well in the Green Heart area between Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht.

Dutch bird protection group Vogelbescherming is extremely happy with the return of the stork to the Netherlands. In 1970, only fourteen birds were recorded in the country, and only one breeding pair. In that year the group took action and volunteers began a protection program to save the bird in the Netherlands.

Twenty-eight pairs of storks from Switzerland were brought to a breeding area set aside for the birds. Breeding here was successful and gradually the population began to spread from the original breeding area. In all twelve areas were set aside for stork breeding and the protected zones were managed by volunteers. Most of these areas were in the Green Heart and the northern province Friesland.

Approximately half of the 500 breeding pairs build their own nests, while the rest use nests still in existence in the protected areas. One such zone, in the town Alphen aan den Rijn, will close down because it is not necessary to offer the birds extra protection there anymore.

Because of a love for animals, some people feed the storks. According to Vogelbescherming this poses a great risk to the birds – if they are provided food on a regular basis they may fail to migrate south in the fall.

Storks are found in watery areas because they find their food, including frogs, there. Most nests are also found close to water, but there are some known exceptions in Dutch cities today. A pair of birds lives in the area of the Amsterdam zoo, Artis, and they obtain their food from the zoo. There is also a pair of birds living in the Kralingse Woods close to Rotterdam, and one pair living close to the center of the Hague.

Source:
Aantal ooievaars terug op oude niveau
Number of storks back up to old level

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Wild Black Swans Living In Leiden

by Amy Posted on 10 April 2006

The black swan (Cygnus atratus) is a native of Australia. Imported birds, brought to private parks, gardens and ponds outside of Australia, sometimes escape or are set free and live wild. In Britain in 2001, there were at least nine breeding pairs of black swans reported.

Black swans differ from other swans not only in color but also in behavior. They nest on large mounds that they build in the middle of shallow water, reusing the same nest year after year. Unlike many other water birds, black swans do not migrate, instead spending their entire lives in the area where they were hatched.

The black swans living in Leiden, The Netherlands, are found mostly on the moat surrounding the city and close to a petting zoo in the Merenwijk neighborhood. The birds breed in the Dutch winter, because their biological clocks are set to Australian time.

Sources:
Een zwarte zwaan: gewoon en toch bijzonder
Black Swan on Wikipedia
Non-native birds breeding in the United Kingdom in 2001

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UK eBay Users Can Use Auctions To Benefit BirdLife

by Amy Posted on 10 April 2006

BirdLife has partnered with service provider MissionFish to allow sellers on eBay.co.uk to donate a portion of their auction proceeds to BirdLife. Sellers using the service may donate 10% – 100% of the final auction sale price to BirdLife. For more information see the article List on eBay to benefit BirdLife on the official website of BirdLife.

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Meadow Birds Return To Dutch Polder

by Amy Posted on 10 April 2006

Meadow birds have returned to the Aalkeetbuitenpolder in South Holland. Due to measures taken by the agriculture group Vockestaert, the polder will host hundreds, if not thousands, of godwits, snipes, lapwings and plovers in the coming months.

In the last few years the polder has been much too dry to host the birds. The polder now has its own water system, including a dam which keeps the water levels high enough for the birds.

Source: Weidevogels terug in Aalkeetbuitenpolder

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