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© Seenland Oder-Spree/ Florian Läufer

The Top 20 Bird Species 

in the Oder-Spree Lake District

You can actually observe birds anytime and anywhere.

This can often be done with the naked eye, for example at your bird feeder at home. But if you want to get more involved with the feathered world, you'll need a little equipment.

Our Summer Bird Species 

Great Reed Warbler

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That's the creaking in the reeds! It's amazing how the voice of a bird barely the size of a blackbird can sound so creaky. The advantage of this voice is that it can be heard well even in the reeds that rustle in the wind. Like all its relatives, the Great Reed Warbler artfully attaches its nest to several reed stalks; in keeping with its size, it needs strong old reeds for this.

The Great Reed Warbler is quite common in the Mediterranean region and in continental Europe, but is rare in the west. It needs larger insects as food, which is why it only returns late from its winter quarters in tropical Africa. Its smaller cousins, the Marsh Warblers, Reed Warblers and Marsh Warblers, make do with the aphids that are common in the reeds at the beginning of the breeding season.

cuckoo

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Everyone knows the call from the children's song. But you usually don't hear it from the forest, but rather in open areas with reeds and bushes and just a few trees. From there, the bird can look out for where its preferred host birds are building their nests. Because it has to hurry: its egg has to be in the nest before incubation begins, so that the hatched little cuckoo can throw the actual brood out of the nest.

The cuckoo migrates to its tropical African winter quarters immediately after it has finished laying its eggs at the end of July. Cuckoos that can still be seen in August or September are almost always young birds.

hoopoe

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The hoopoe is a very special bird. Apparently once well-known - if you can tell from the folk song - it is now quite rare. In Brandenburg you are lucky, it is still relatively common here. Its preferred food is crickets, which it can collect from their burrows and burrows with its long, curved beak.

The hoopoe is a cave-nesting bird and is not very picky when it comes to choosing caves. It is able to defend them effectively: a targeted jet of its excrement, mixed with a foul-smelling secretion, quickly makes any curiosity to explore the cave fade.

bittern

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You will only be able to see a bittern with luck and a lot of patience. Perhaps it will come out into the morning sun at the edge of the reeds on the water side, perhaps it will fly over the reeds for a short distance, or perhaps it will cross a reed alley on foot. It is easier to track it down by its voice. Its far-reaching, deep "wuum" can be heard particularly at dusk or at night. This call earned it the name "moor ox". In typical heron fashion, it walks carefully through the reeds or along their edge, skilfully avoiding or climbing over obstacles such as fallen reeds for its size. It has excellent camouflage coloring, and its slow movements make it inconspicuous. In winter it leaves its breeding grounds and migrates to milder regions where the waters do not freeze over, as it relies on small fish for food – insects and frogs are then no longer accessible.

Common Tern

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Elegance in flight, sleek design when resting - that's the common tern. It originally settled on gravel islands in the floodplains, where it could raise its broods in good protection. Since the straightened river courses rarely offer this today, it is largely dependent on human help. It gladly accepts the rafts and artificial breeding islands provided. It also occurs on the coast, but has to share the space with the other tern species. Since suitable breeding sites are rare, terns often breed in large colonies.

As can easily be observed, it catches open-water fish in a dive. Only one in ten attempts is successful - a rather laborious undertaking!

Skylark

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In Brandenburg, the skylark's trilling can still be heard almost everywhere. It often hangs in the sky for minutes, difficult to locate and difficult to see. At the end of its jubilant song, it approaches the ground in two or three downward swings and drops into the vegetation in its territory. It lives in grain fields, which should not be particularly dense so that it can move around easily. It keeps a large distance from forests, but individual trees and avenues along the roads hardly cause any disturbance.

The skylark feeds on insects and seeds. If there is enough food available in fields that have not been properly harvested or are rich in weeds, they often stay with us well into the winter. On the other hand, depending on the weather, they return from their winter quarters as early as the end of February or in March at the latest. They are therefore a typical short-distance and partial migrant.

Swifts

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It can do almost anything in the air - it just needs a permanent place to breed, in niches in walls, in crevices in rocks or in tree hollows. Even more than swallows, it uses "air plankton", small and tiny insects that swarm in higher layers of the air, either voluntarily or carried up by updrafts. Thanks to its excellent flying ability, it is able to fly around storm cells or even small low-pressure areas. It can easily cover several hundred kilometers in search of food every day. The nestlings, as a complementary adaptation, are able to actively reduce their body temperature and can thus survive several days without food. As soon as the young have flown out and are able to search for food independently, the swifts migrate south again. Swifts are already rarely seen here in August. They are back in late April of the following year.

 

corn bunting

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In contrast to its relatives, the corn bunting is very plainly coloured and has no striking features. Like the skylark, the corn bunting prefers poorly growing grain fields and keeps its distance from the forest. However, individual bushes and fences are welcome as singing perches and for a view. The song of the corn bunting is not very attractive to our ears; its increasing buzzing can easily be overlooked.

Like all other species of bunting, it uses its specially developed beak to peel and squeeze grass seeds from the husks. Grass seeds are usually available in winter, so the corn bunting mostly overwinters in its breeding area.

Red kite

Red Kite in the Sky
© Herrmann Matthes

The red kite is impressive due to its reddish plumage, long forked tail and elegant gliding flight. During its gliding flight it looks persistently downwards, where it searches the area for clumsy young, dead animals or even rubbish. This makes it vulnerable to collisions with wind turbines, for example, because it cannot really expect to hit objects at this altitude.

After heavy rainfall, red kites and buzzards can be seen walking through the grass to catch earthworms. Earthworms are a worthwhile prey even for such large birds of prey: no bones, no fur, just muscles...

oriole

The golden oriole brings tropical color to the area; it is one of the species whose entire family is only at home in the tropics. The golden oriole lives in the uppermost canopy layer, where it particularly prefers papules with their loose branches. But it also seems to get along well with Scots pine; its characteristic flute call can also be heard in the Brandenburg pine forests.

The golden oriole hangs its nest artfully in a fork in a branch; it does not need a solid base. The main food source for it and its brood is large caterpillars.

white stork

The white stork traditionally enjoys the protection of the population and is used as a symbol in many ways (desire to have children, names for restaurants and pharmacies, harbinger of spring). In contrast to its shy relative from the forest, the black stork, it mainly breeds on houses or technical facilities. To find food, it needs moist grassland, which must be low-growing or kept short from time to time by grazing or mowing. There it finds its food, which ranges from grasshoppers and other large insects to small vertebrates. Neither frogs nor mice nor lapwing chicks are safe from it.

In the Oder-Spree district, individual breeding pairs of white storks can be found in many places, but larger flocks only occur when they gather in August to fly south.

Nightjar

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The nightjar inhabits open heathland and “wasteland” and has become relatively rare nowadays, but it is characteristic of the Reicherskreuzer Heide. Its long purring can be heard everywhere at dusk.

The nightjar's large eyes indicate that it is active at dusk and at night. It lives on insects, which it catches with its elegant flight, even at night. Its peculiar purring and flying around grazing animals, in whose vicinity insects often stay, gave rise to the superstition that it eats the animals and drinks their milk.

house martin

The house martin originally stuck its nests to rock walls, but found a welcome replacement in buildings. Today it is widespread in settlements, but has become rarer because it often lacks moist clay to build its nests in. In contrast to the barn swallow, its nests are only found on the outside of buildings; they are often considered a nuisance because of the droppings and are illegally removed.

House martins like to hunt at high altitudes, and they also prefer higher altitudes during migration and in their African winter quarters. This is the main reason why much less is known about their habits during these times than, for example, for barn swallows and sand martins.

Osprey

The osprey catches fish by diving. Unlike common terns, for example, it dives into the water with its fangs rather than its head, often almost completely submerged. Only its wings are still raised between the spraying fountains, and it uses its wings to lift itself up again. In contrast to the sea eagle, which has an enormously wide range of prey, the osprey is a real fish specialist. This is also due to its rather small beak, as fish are comparatively easy to open and dissect.

Ospreys have discovered the masts of high-voltage power lines as ideal nesting sites. The huge nests can withstand even strong storms and leave nest enemies no chance.

nightingale

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The scientific name means loud mouth - the nightingale sings surprisingly loudly and piercingly. It can therefore afford to stay in the undergrowth, but it can still be heard. As an observer, you rarely see it for this reason. It prefers moist forests, eg in the floodplain, as well as semi-open areas with lots of bushes. If you do manage to see it, you will be surprised by the reddish-brown plumage on its back and tail.

red-backed shrike

The pretty red-backed shrike belongs to the shrike family. The name indicates that these species regurgitate indigestible food remains, which is rather unusual for songbirds and we are more familiar with from owls and birds of prey. The shrike's diet consists mainly of large and hard chitinized insects (beetles, large grasshoppers, etc.). The name of the red-backed shrike refers to the fact that - like other shrikes - it stores some of the animals it catches in depots, since on cool days many insects remain inactive and therefore cannot be tracked down by the shrikes. Shrikes are ambush hunters that lie in wait for their prey to move. Whether the red-backed shrike traps nine out of ten prey in forks in branches or impales them on thorns is an open question.

The red-backed shrike's preferred habitats are thorn bushes in poor grassland, and also along paths, where it can easily track down its prey.

quail

Here and there in the fields you can hear the cheerful "pick-wer-wick" of the quail. But it is almost impossible to see the bird because it is very difficult to judge how far away the calls are coming from. So you go towards it, but the person who is making them still seems to be the same distance away. At some point the quail ducks away and falls silent. To hunt the quail, which used to be much more common, a special breed of dog was used, the "quail", which was specially trained to flush out the little chicken. Today the quail is strictly protected. 

Quails are the only migratory birds among the chickens, they travel long distances to their tropical winter quarters. Quails therefore rarely start breeding before June. Loosely growing grain fields are good for their young, but the fields must not be harvested too early. If you allow 10 weeks for raising the brood, that can be tight with today's early mowing times. Wet, cold weather is bad for raising the chicks and is fatal to many broods. As a result, quail numbers have always fluctuated greatly, depending on the breeding success of the previous year. 

turtledove

Pigeons are a symbol of tenderness, and not just the turtle doves. Mutual feather care in places where one cannot even reach with one's beak strengthens the bond between breeding pairs.

Pigeons are originally a tropical bird family, but of the pigeons found in Germany, only the turtle dove overwinters in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, they are hunted along their entire migration route and their numbers are declining. In the Oder-Spree Lake District, however, there is still a good chance of hearing their drawn-out cooing. Turtle doves love light forests, groves and varied fields. 

wood warbler

Finally, a bird of the forest interior, one might say: the Wood Warbler loves the hall forest, preferably with beech trees, where it often changes its perch under the canopy and then sings its song. This consists on the one hand of a swelling whirring sound and also - in stark contrast to this - of pure, melodious flute tones. 

The warblers keep it a bit complicated; they feed on insects in the branches, but they build their nests on the ground. The wood warbler in particular needs small branches in the open hall forest along which it can "descend" to its nest. Not so easy if the nesting site is to remain undetected. Mice have been found to be frequent nest robbers; however, the wood warbler is apparently able to estimate the presence of mice based on the UV reflection of mouse urine, similar to some birds of prey. This enables the wood warbler to recognize and avoid areas with a high mouse population.

Blackcap

The name perhaps needs an explanation: the black spot on the crown is reminiscent of a priest's cap, warbler comes from gra-smiege, which means "grey smuggler", i.e. a grey bird ("gra") that slips through the branches ("smiegen").

The blackcap makes itself known throughout the breeding season from mid-April to mid-July with its loud song. With pure flute tones, accentuated trills and beats, it appears dominant in the undergrowth of deciduous and mixed forests, in parks and natural gardens. As much as it makes itself known with its song, it knows how to keep its breeding activities very secret. 

Common Redstart

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Common Redstart on a meadow
© Hans-Heiner Bergmann

You can even spot a redstart in the light when it is sitting upright on a roof or treetop, with its legs bent and its tail trembling. The black redstart is predominantly sooty black (its Italian name is "chimney sweep"), whereas the common redstart is brightly colored and has a short, pleasant song. Redstarts are the first to wake up early in the morning and are singing long before sunrise.

When a severe drought hit the Sahel at the end of the 1960s, the common redstart and the whitethroat, both of which overwinter there, were particularly affected. It took a long time, until after 2000, for their breeding bird populations to return to their previous levels. The common redstart is found mainly in old orchards and in sparse pine forests. 

 

Our Winter Bird Species 

Crane

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© Christian Kessler

The crane is particularly valued by people. In Brandenburg it is one of the regular and not rare breeding birds. Its voice is impressively loud and resonant and carries over long distances, so that you can usually hear migrating flocks before you see them flying. Cranes love swampy forests and the adjacent bodies of water where they can raise their young in relative safety. In summer they are drawn to the fields, and in autumn harvested corn fields are popular. They feed on plants or animals, depending on what is available. 

Cranes migrate in large flocks and stick to narrow migration corridors more than other migratory birds. They also visit traditional resting places. Cranes can easily tolerate cold if they can find enough food. Just two or three weeks of mild weather in winter causes them to migrate back towards their breeding grounds. A small part of the crane population overwinters in Brandenburg almost every year.

Black Woodpecker

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Our largest woodpecker loves spruces and pines, where it can create "display windows" to get to the wood ants that live inside hollow trunks. Its large nesting holes are popular with subsequent users: stock doves, boreal owls and the noctule, one of the largest native bat species, fit perfectly into these holes, but smaller species such as nuthatches, dormice and many smaller bat species also use the holes. 

The black woodpecker's powerful beak requires a relatively long neck so that it can be used effectively in woodworking. The flight pattern of the black woodpecker is therefore easy to recognize, especially since it is not afraid to fly over long distances between forest areas. 

coot or moorhen

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The black bird with the white pallor above its bill is not a duck, but a relative of the much larger crane. The coot is an all-rounder on the water. It reaches its predominantly vegetarian diet on foot, by swimming or by diving. Accordingly, it can make a living on very different bodies of water. Sometimes it also feasts on the freshly sprouting grass on the park lawns.

Coots often stand out because of their loud voice: squeaking sounds, barking noises and a loud, sudden "spit" can be heard. Coots defend their territory vehemently, and even in winter there are often arguments to be observed. If you observe for a longer period of time, you get the impression that the arguments in a group often only take place between a few individuals and take on an almost "personal" character.

greylag goose

The greylag goose is known from the behavioural biology studies of Konrad Lorenz. Previously a popular hunting game, greylag geese have now become accustomed to being close to humans and have multiplied rapidly. Their breeding grounds are usually well hidden in inaccessible reed areas. Outside of the breeding season, greylag geese can be seen anywhere there is food: meadows and floodplains, grain fields, shallow water areas. They move daily in noisy flocks between their overnight places and their feeding areas and are easy to observe.

Cormorant

The metallic black cormorant is an effective fish hunter. It feeds almost exclusively on fish; in inland waters it prefers fish that are 10-20 cm long, and in the sea it prefers larger prey. In East Asia, tame cormorants are still used for fishing today; a ruff prevents them from swallowing larger fish. The conspicuous nests are often built in large colonies. The colonies have to move occasionally because the nest trees die over time and the droppings damage the bark and roots. Cormorants travel long distances to their feeding grounds, so they can be found in almost all bodies of water within a wide radius of the colonies.

It is noticeable that the feathers dry with their wings spread. Cormorants produce a fat in their preen glands that is less water-repellent than that of other birds. This has advantages when diving - less air between the feathers means less buoyancy - but the feathers have to be dried from time to time.

goosander

Mergansers, a group of ducks that specialize in fishing, got their name from the saw-like edge of their beaks. This special adaptation allows them to hold onto fish better. They often hunt in flocks, which makes it easier to catch the fish.

Goosander are pretty birds; the almost white males with green heads are just as white as the grey-brown females. The tuft of feathers on the back of the neck is characteristic. Like all water birds adapted to diving, they lie deep in the water and are attractive due to their sleek shape. Goosander breed in caves or niches, often using broken trees as nesting sites because they are better protected there from four-legged nest enemies. Goosander fish on large lakes as well as in rivers and fast-flowing streams.

Many thanks to xeno canto for providing the bird song files.