Bird ID book for Germany (1 Viewer)

[UtahnBirder]

At the end of the month, I'll be spending a week in Gummersbach (near Cologne).

It's not a birding-only trip, but I would like to be able to get out at least a little and ID what I see.

Any recommendations for a book? I use Sibley's here and love it. I greatly prefer illustrations to pictures in any ID book.

I'll be flying into Amsterdam and getting to Germany by train, so a book that covers both Germany and the Netherlands is a plus but not a necessity.

(Any tips about trails or place to go would be much appreciated as well!)

 

[dalat]

Hi, that is easy, the book to get is Collins Bird Guide by Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterstrom and Peter J. Grant. Covers all Europe and is clearly the best and most popular guide. It's available in different formats, most practical is the paperback version, or as app.

 

[MTem]

Hi, that is easy, the book to get is Collins Bird Guide by Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterstrom and Peter J. Grant. Covers all Europe and is clearly the best and most popular guide. It's available in different formats, most practical is the paperback version, or as app.

Seconded - best European field guide I've found

 

[Hauksen]

Hi,

Any recommendations for a book? I use Sibley's here and love it. I greatly prefer illustrations to pictures in any ID book.

I totally agree with Dalat on getting Svensson et al.!

My impression is that it's generally considered the best field guide for Germany, and it's very similar to the Sibley guides in structure and quality.

For a recent trip to the US, I bought a Sibley's and felt right at home in it, so I hope it works the other way round, too

(The Svensson actually contains all European species, so you won't need an extra book for the Netherlands.)

The Moning/Weiß guide to birding areas in Northern Germany lists the Wahner Heide as good birding spot in the vicinity of Cologne. It's a vast area around the airport that was off-limits to the public until 2004, with a mixture of oak forest and open heath. There's an information point of some kind for the area at Altenrath:

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=50.85807&mlon=7.19478#map=19/50.85807/7.19478

Some pictures from the German Wikipedia article on the area:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahner_Heide#/media/File:Wahner_Heide_2.jpg <edit: link fixed>

I've never been there personally, but Moning/Weiß generally know their stuff well

I wish you a great time in Germany!

Regards,

Henning

 

[Sangahyando]

Fixed the wikipedia link:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahner_Heide

(Any tips about trails or place to go would be much appreciated as well!)

Depends on which species you're most interested in, how far you can go, and which kind of transport you want to use (a car is nearly always the best option, but at this time of year, the highways can be a bit crammed due to holiday traffic).

For example, if your radius of possible targets is at 100 km, you will be in range of the Eifel National Park in the west and the Kellerwald NP east of you. These are great if you want to experience old growth forests, although in late July/August, birds will be more difficult to find in that kind of environment.

If you're primarily interested in getting as many bird species as possible, wetland reserves may be the best choice, although the aforementioned Wahner Heide also looks tempting - people have reported Honey Buzzard, Turtle Dove, Golden Oriole, Woodlark and Red-backed Shrikes there over the last few days.

 

[Hauksen]

Fixed the wikipedia link:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahner_Heide

Danke!

 

[UtahnBirder]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I have a Collins Guide headed my way.

Unfortunately, I will not have any transportation besides my feet (or maybe a taxi) and I will likely be occupied for most of the day throughout the week. I'll see if I can swing a trip to Wahner Heide but I won't get my hopes up.

 

[Sangahyando]

Well, even from a train or from the highway (provided you're not the one driving), you should be able to see some typical species of the region, if you keep your eyes open. Usually, these are: Common Buzzard (soaring, and perching on fence posts), Red Kite, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Heron, sometimes Great Egret, Carrion Crow, Eur. Magpie, sometimes other corvids, Common Kestrel, and Roedeer.
And maybe the locals can show you decent spots around Gummersbach too; at least it's surrounded by forests and fields.

 

[Hauksen]

Hi,

And maybe the locals can show you decent spots around Gummersbach too; at least it's surrounded by forests and fields.

In ornitho.de, there two dedicated reporting spots (which indicates profitable birding sites):

- The Beckestau basin
- Berstig hill

Both in the east part of the town. The west part has a cemetary which might be worth checking out.

Regards,

Henning

 

[albatross02]

Even in Germany we use Svensson.
In the newest version are german, scientific an english names.
In area around Duesseldorf is good chance for Little Owl even just after sunset.

I have only description in German language, but maybe the map will help ?
http://www.nabu-duesseldorf.de/index.php/vogelwelt-in-duesseldorf/22-steinkauzschutz-in-duesseldorf

The federal country Nordrhein Westfalen has 75 % of whole Little Owl in Germany. It means over 5.000 breeding pairs.