BIRD THE WORLD
THE URBAN BIRDER VISITS
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THANKS TO... ➤ Steffi Thomas for showing me around, Kosmos Verlag kosmos.de and to Leica Cameras AG us.leica-camera.com ➤A dditional information from Nanette Roland. More information on birding in Stuttgart: ➤ BirdLife Germany birdlife.org/news/ country/germany Reference guides: ➤ Collins Bird Guide Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney & Dan Zetterström. ➤ Photographic Guide to Birds of Europe, North Africa & the Middle East Frédéric Jiguet & Aurélien Audevard. 86 October 2017
HERE ARE CERTAIN CITIES in the world that just do not conjure up images of being an urban birding paradise. Stuttgart is one of those cities. It is perhaps better known for any and everything else but nature. However, a visit to Stuttgart proves that nature does flourish here. It is also quite hilly, with some of the slopes draped in vineyards crisscrossed by hedges, especially around the Neckar River that skirts the city. During the summer, some of the vineyards are home to Green Woodpeckers and thin populations of breeding Cirl Buntings and Red-backed Shrikes. The slopes also look good for sheltering passing migrants, as there is plenty of cover, with bare patches of earth for the ground foragers. Sadly, the urban birding scene in the city appears to be rudimentary and very few Stuttgart birders study these areas. Situated in south-western Germany, Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Württemberg state. Its metropolitan population is in excess of five million people, but it doesn’t feel crowded. It’s a wooded city and its green credentials are further enhanced by the near universal stick-on silhouettes of raptors for the prevention of bird strikes on the perspex bus and tram shelters and on the windows of many of the area’s office buildings and homes.
Search among the parks Max Eyth See
Rosenstein Park Güterbahnhof
STUTTGART
The grass verges and the areas between the rails that the trams use have been generally allowed to become overgrown. Deliberate or not, this is a great sign of Stuttgart’s attitude towards encouraging flora and invertebrates. A glance upwards when in the city centre during summer may result in both Swift and Alpine Swift, as there is a small breeding population of the latter. As mentioned earlier, urban birding is yet to catch on in Stuttgart, therefore there are only a few recognised birding venues. It really is a case of urban exploration in the hope of discovering potential sites. One such location was an area of wasteland in Güterbahnhof, near Stuttgart Central Station. It is a bit of an odd one because, although clearly
While exploring the area, you will note that Stuttgart has many parks. Rosenstein Park, affectionately known as the ‘Green Lungs of Stuttgart’, is worthy of inspection. It is a large landscaped city park that contains within its confines the Wilhelma Zoo and the State Museum of Natural History. The park’s biggest natural history claim to fame is that it has the highest density of Brown Hares to be found anywhere in the country. Its avian phenomenon is that it is home to a feral population of Yellow-headed Parrots. This parrot’s native distribution in Mexico and northern Central America is patchy to say the least, and the species is listed as Endangered. The story goes that, in 1986, an escaped bird turned up around the zoo. The zookeepers took pity on the stray and fed it during the winter. The following summer they decided to release one of the zoo’s captive birds to keep it company and now the 50 or so birds present today in the city are a result of that original pairing. The park has a small breeding population and is a good spot for watching birds as they come in to roost. However, the word now is that the greatest density of the birds can be seen at the nearby Unterer Schlossgarten. Max Eyth See is by far the most interesting place to visit for birding in the city. It is a riparian park with a circular lake that was once an open
é WALL LIZARD The nail varnish is optional...
é RED-BACKED SHRIKE Look in vineyards for this species
quarry, situated alongside the Neckar River. A recognised nature reserve, it has a thin strip of woodland with plenty of willows around most of the lake and some small marshy areas. Beyond the river that skirts the northeastern edge of the site is a small hill replete with its own vineyard. In the summer, expect to see the occasional drifting Black Kite and Reed Warblers singing from the reedbeds. Cormorants are commonplace, variously lounging in the riverside trees or fishing close by ever watchful Grey Herons. Day roosting Night Herons are also worth looking for, but they are quite secretive and the population here is small. Much more prevalent are the colonial Fieldfares that are forever noisily guarding their nesting areas against potential marauders. Crippling views of a Kingfisher are possible and there is even the chance of finding a daytime roosting Tawny Owl if you’re lucky! Next month: David Lindo continues his tour of Germany and visits Frankfurt.
DAVID SAYS Help to put Stuttgart on the ornithological map by discovering new birding sites in the city
KE Y SPECI ES YELLOW-HEADED PARROT Also known as the Yellow-headed Amazon, this beefy Woodpigeonsized parrot is a denizen of the mangrove and riparian forests of Mexico and northern Central. It is popular as a cage bird due to its prowess as a speaker, arguably only bettered by the African Grey Parrot. Poaching to satisfy an ever-hungry pet trade led the Yellowheaded Parrot to having a patchy distribution and a declining population of, perhaps, just 4,700 birds. In the wild, the birds produce low-pitched and sometimes human-sounding cries. But, unusually for parrots, they often fly silently. Aside from the feral population in Stuttgart there are also a few others around Los Angeles, San Diego in southern California and in southern Florida.
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WORDS: DAVID LINDO
David Lindo
Although not renowned as a magnet for birders, the city of Stuttgart is home to some great species
David Lindo
GERMANY
not public land, neither is it signposted as private. It was basically a semi-active building with remnant strips of scrubland. Home to a healthy population of Common Wall Lizards, for the past couple of summers it is also the venue for a singing Melodious Warbler, that had taken up residency with the local Icterine Warblers. It has been cause for great excitement among the meagre number of Stuttgart birders, because the Melodious Warbler is its congener’s southern counterpart normally restricted to Iberia, France and Italy, and as such, a territory-holding bird is a rarity in Germany. Regrettably, the site has been earmarked for development and local ecologists have already started to evacuate the Wall Lizards to nearby safer sanctuaries. Da v i d L i n d o
STUTTGART
ê GREY HERON One of the birds you can expect to see near water, in Stuttgart
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