The State of Birds in Switzerland Report 2019 Headlines

The State of Birds in Switzerland Report 2019 Headlines The harsh winter 2017/18 decimat- ed the populations of residents and short-distance migrants such as Eurasian Treecreeper, European Robin and Gold- crest. page 6 Thanks to the common breeding bird monitoring scheme (MHB), the population trends of common and widespread breeding birds have been carefully docu- mented since 1999. page 8 Despite the massive expansion of resi- dential areas, birds typically found in set- tlements declined between 1993–1996 and 2013–2016. Causes include a lack of nesting cavities and highly manicured, uniform gardens. page 12 The EuroBirdPortal (EBP) tracks the spatial and temporal distribution of birds in Europe in near real time. The EBP was developed with support from the Swiss Or- nithological Institute. page 22 2 For 25 years, we have been documenting the population trends of scarce winter visitors. While the rise of Red Kite and Common Woodpigeon extends to the breeding season, the Eurasian Skylark is declining in winter, too. page 24 The overall number of wintering water- birds in Switzerland has declined slight- ly since the mid-1990s, but long-term trends are positive for herons and geese. page 26 Farmland birds have experienced steep declines throughout Europe, their population decreasing by 57 % since 1980. The trends of woodland species are largely stable. page 32 Contents Editorial ........................................................................................ 4 Breeding birds .............................................................................. 6 Migrants ..................................................................................... 18 Winter visitors ............................................................................ 24 Further information International news .................................................................... 32 You can find further information online, in- cluding population trends for breeding birds Acknowledgements ................................................................... 34 and additional analyses: Authors and copyright ................................................................35 www.vogelwarte.ch/state 3 EDITORIAL Measuring slow and gradual change It’s 5 o’clock in the morning in the mid- of breeding birds over several years dle of May. I am standing in a typical in «ordinary» habitats that are home mixed deciduous woodland on the to «ordinary» birds reveals how Swit- Central Plateau, listening to the exu- zerland and its avifauna are chang- berant birdsong. The singing males of ing. With great foresight, in recogni- ordinary species belt out their tunes as tion of the importance of this kind of if competing in a song contest. A Red data, the common breeding bird mon- Kite and several Carrion Crows eager- itoring scheme («Monitoring Häu- ly search for food in the freshly mown fige Brutvögel», MHB) was launched field nearby. I spent countless hours in 20 years ago. Today, valuable data se- this same stretch of forest more than ries from 267 kilometre squares are 30 years ago, together with two school available, documenting the distribu- friends. We looked for birds’ nests and tion and population trends of com- compared the eggs and nestlings with mon breeding bird species. A tremen- the pictures in our field guide. In the dous achievement! early hours of the morning we lay in As head of the conservation, hunt- wait at the forest edge, delighted to ing and fisheries division in the Canton fieldworkers will increasingly be used spot a hare or deer. While the finch- of St. Gallen, I have often been grate- to help conserve our country’s biodi- es, thrushes and tits continue to outdo ful for the ornithological data collect- versity. I look forward to getting up at each other in song, I try to recall which ed by the Swiss Ornithological Insti- 4.30 am again next Sunday to survey species I used to hear whose songs are tute, in the MHB and other schemes «my» MHB square! For the sake of our absent this morning. I remember hear- – when preparing ecological assess- birds. ing my first Wood Warbler in this very ments for wind-power plants, for ex- spot. It was a regular member of the ample, or making adjustments to the choir in these woods, as was the Euro- cantonal spatial development plan, but Dr Dominik Thiel pean Pied Flycatcher. Impossible at the also when we developed the biodiver- Head of the Conservation, Hunting time to imagine the forest edge with- sity strategy for the Canton of St. Gal- and Fisheries Division, Canton of out brown hares. All three species have len. We started by conducting a com- St. Gallen, and member of the since disappeared from this place. prehensive situational analysis of bio- Swiss Ornithological Institute’s Have you tried similar exercises in diversity in the canton before defining Scientific Commission memory? We get accustomed to the effective measures. The breeding bird changes in habitats and their residents data were among the most reliable and all too quickly. These processes hap- high-quality data we had access to. pen gradually, without us even notic- It is my hope that the results ing. Only the systematic monitoring compiled by countless dedicated When conducting territory mapping surveys for the common breeding bird monitoring scheme (MHB), the early start and physical exertion are often rewarded with once-in-a- lifetime observations. In 2017 and 2018, the warmth-loving Rock Bunting reached the highest numbers of the past ten years. 4 The Swiss population of Wood Warblers has declined by two thirds since 1990. Regional surveys reveal even more dramatic collapses. If the decline con- tinues, the species will soon occur in too few sampling sites to be included in the common breeding bird monitoring scheme (MHB). The Fieldfare population has declined by more than a third in Switzerland in 20 years – is this an effect of climate change? The situation of breeding birds 2018 was another extreme-weather the 1981–2010 average by 3.9 °C. The Several rare or scarce species such year. It set a new record for mean an- summer months of 2018 broke the pre- as Short-toed Snake-eagle, Europe- nual temperature, and summer was vious heat record of 2003 with tem- an Bee-eater and Common Stonechat the warmest since records began in peratures 2.4 °C above average (2003: appear to benefit from climate change 1864. Besides the extreme heat, there +2.2 °C). Remarkable during this peri- as breeding birds in Switzerland. Simi- was hardly any rain for months. Such od, besides the heat, was the persistent larly, the Swiss Bird Index SBI® Climate «crazy weather» years impact our lack of rain. In Switzerland as a whole, Change Plus (SBI® CC Plus) has in- breeding birds, both in the short and only 71 % of the normal rainfall oc- creased significantly since 1990, while long term. curred from July to August; in some ar- the SBI® CC Minus shows no corre- eas (e.g. eastern Switzerland), the per- sponding negative trend. SBI® CC Plus Lots of snow in winter, but mild centage was even lower. and Minus were calculated by selecting breeding season These weather conditions improved the 20 species for which models pre- The snowy and at times very cold winter the breeding success of many species. dict the largest range gains or losses. of 2017/18 caused the populations of On the other hand, species that forage However, the SBI® averages the rela- several residents and short-distance mi- mainly on the ground (e.g. thrushes) tive changes of individual species, and grants to collapse. Species such as Coal had difficulty finding a sufficient sup- so the European Bee-eater, for exam- Tit, Crested Tit, Eurasian Crag Martin, ply of worms in the baked earth. ple, a new breeding species in Swit- Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Treecreep- zerland, shows a huge increase. If we er, Eurasian Blackbird, European Rob- Climate effects by no means look at the changes in population size in and Goldcrest declined significantly positive in absolute rather than relative terms, compared to the previous year. The massive increase in summer tem- we get a different picture. Using the re- The severe winter was followed peratures in the past few years is a con- sults from the new breeding bird atlas by favourable conditions during the sequence of global warming. At first and combining them with the breed- breeding season with warm but also glance, the effects on breeding birds ing bird indices, we can compare the dry weather. April was warmer than seem to be predominantly positive. estimates of population sizes from 6 BREEDING BIRDS 2013–2016 with those from 1993– losses: the populations of Ring Ou- breeding birds. The negative effects 1996. In the past 20 years, the 20 spe- zel (–30 000 pairs), Eurasian Bullfinch are most felt by mountain birds. This cies that make up SBI® CC Plus have in- (–32 500 pairs) and Fieldfare (–26 500 is a major cause for concern, as Swit- creased by about 7700 pairs altogeth- pairs) decreased significantly. But be- zerland has an international responsi- er (from 25 400 to 33 100). The three cause this group, unlike SBI® CC Plus, bility for the survival of many of these most abundant species in this group also contains species with a huge in- species. are Rock Bunting (+380 breeding crease in relative terms (especially the pairs between 1993–1996 and 2013– White Stork, +161 %), the increases 2016), Eurasian Crag Martin (+2600) and declines balance each other out and Eurasian Golden Oriole (+920). and the index is level overall. A com- However, the species in this group prehensive overview of the numbers have much smaller populations than for all 40 species is available online. those in SBI® CC Minus. In the SBI® Although other factors also play a CC Minus group, all 20 species togeth- role, such as agricultural intensifica- er declined by about 91 000 breeding tion and woodland encroachment fol- pairs (from 453 000 to 362 000) in the lowing abandonment of marginally Further information same period.

Load more