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Dieren en planten

Animals   Birds   Waders   Bird Protection   Raptors and owls   Swimming birds   Songbirds   Other birds   Bird migration   

Water en land

Mens en Milieu

Nature recreation   Bird-watching   
Bird watchers, Ecomare

Bird-watching

Bird-watching is a form of recreation which is continually growing in interest. In the Netherlands, there are around 130,000 bird-watchers. A bird-watcher usually performs this hobby in nature areas with binoculars or a telescope and a guide. By keeping as silent as possible, the birds are not disturbed by this human intrusion. The wadden region is a particularly suitable place for observing many different kinds of birds. In addition to coastal birds, such as terns and gulls, many migrating birds are also sighted.

  • Counts

    Bird watchers often help out with national bird (and other animal) counts. The relationship between shellfish fisheries and the decline in oystercatchers was made obvious from such counts.

  • On Texel

    In 1998, the SOVON Bird Studies Netherlands made a nesting bird inventory for the State Forestry in many areas of Texel: the dunes, the Dennen, Waal and Burger dike, Krim Woods and the Roggesloot. There were 111 species of nesting birds counted on a surface area of 4187 hectares. Some species nested in high percentages on Texel in 1998, such as 14 short-eared owls (27% of the total in the Netherlands), 30 hen harriers (26%), 57 little terns (12%) and 120 spoonbills (10%). These figures vary per year. In 2006, there were only 4 nests of the owls and over 300 spoonbill nests. For other species, more than 1% of the number of nesting birds of the species in the Netherlands was found on Texel.