Many bird species endangered - ospreys on the rise

In the meantime, the helpers have discovered a handsome youngster in the eyrie, put it in a bag and lowered it down on a rope. On the ground, ornithologist Rico Spangenberg weighs the young bird, measures its wings and then puts a ring on each leg. According to the experts, it is impossible to tell whether it is a boy or a girl. The ring can later be used to identify it using a telescope, for example. "We can therefore say that its father was ringed as a chick in northern Saxony in 2020," explains Spangenberg. He estimates that the young bird is around 50 days old and will fledge in just over a week. It will begin its long journey to its wintering grounds in Africa in August.

The bird quickly survives the procedure and then heads back up to the eyrie. Not far away, one of the parent birds is already circling impatiently.

Racons and drones a problem for birds

A total of around 180 bird species breed in Saxony every year, with isolated breeding records of around a dozen more. Almost 40 percent are considered endangered, as Karin Bernhardt from the State Office for the Environment explains. These include lapwing and snipe, whinchat, meadow pipit, partridge and the ortolan. The tawny pipit and wheatear, which benefited from opencast lignite mining in past decades, are also included. They are at home in post-mining landscapes, but the habitats are becoming smaller and smaller due to natural changes in the landscape and new land uses.

A growing problem for bird conservation is the spread of the raccoon, explains Bernhardt. This is because raccoons scavenge nests on the ground and in trees. Another problem is that birds are disturbed by drones when breeding and rearing their young, adds ornithologist Hering. "That's a huge problem." Curious people without any sense would sometimes steer their drones close to the nests and cause birds to panic.

Some bird species have already become extinct as breeding birds in Saxony in recent decades. According to the authorities, these include the capercaillie, the Eurasian curlew and the black-tailed godwit.

Hering confirms that good conservation measures have allowed the numbers of ospreys and white-tailed eagles to grow in Saxony. However, we should not rest on our laurels. "That can quickly change again." There is also room for more breeding pairs in Thierfeld: just a few electricity pylons away, a second nesting aid is waiting to be occupied by a pair of eagles.

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