Ecomare

The member states of the EC are required to protect habitats of sufficient size and quality for all bird species living in their country. Regions where rare bird species live or where rare migrating birds forage must be given extra protection. The Bird Directive contains a list with species which fall under this extra protection, which the member states must designate as special protective areas (SPA).

The species requiring extra protection in the Netherlands are: red-throated divers, black-throated divers, cormorants, great and little bitterns, purple herons, spoonbills, tundra swans, whooper swans, barnacle geese, smews, honey buzzards, red kites, white-tailed eagles, marsh harriers, hen harriers, Montagu's harriers, Peregrine falcons, black grouses, spotted crakes, corn crakes, cranes, black-winged stelts, avocets, golden plovers, bar-tailed godwits, Mediterranean gulls, gull-billed terns, Caspian terns, sandwich terns, common terns, Arctic terns, little terns, black terns, short-eared owls, European night jars, black woodpeckers, wood larks, bluethroats and red-backed shrike. In 2008, the common kingfisher was removed from the red list of threatened species, thanks to its recovery of more than 650 pairs within 10 years.

The member states of the EC are required to protect habitats of sufficient size and quality for all bird species living in their country. Regions where rare bird species live or where rare migrating birds forage must be given extra protection. The Bird Directive contains a list with species which fall under this extra protection, which the member states must designate as special protective areas (SPA).