Birds in built-up areas and elsewhere
Towns and cities are important for birds. Some birds occur more in the urban area than elsewhere.
| Birds preferring towns and cities in winter | ||
| Species | Town, city and village | Elsewhere |
| % of survey points where species has been sighted | ||
| Magpie | 35.5 | 30.2 |
| Greenfinch | 10.9 | 2.5 |
| Dunnock | 10.4 | 4.2 |
| House sparrow | 61.5 | 8.4 |
| Jackdaw | 44.1 | 21.2 |
| Linnet | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Black-headed gull | 63.6 | 36.8 |
| Great tit | 58.5 | 32.7 |
| Blackbird | 59.9 | 29.3 |
| Blue tit | 29.6 | 18.6 |
| Tree sparrow | 7.9 | 4.4 |
| Robin | 16.0 | 10.8 |
| Starling | 53.1 | 21.1 |
| Collared turtle dove | 22.5 | 3.6 |
| Chaffinch | 35.1 | 24.3 |
| Song thrush | 2.2 | 0.9 |
| Source: SOVON, CBS | CBS/NC/Oct02 | |
Current situation
The table shows the bird species that in winter are found more often in built-up areas than elsewhere. As well as the known city-dwellers like house sparrow and collared turtle dove these include other species, such as chaffinch and magpie.
Technical note
This comparison is based on data from the 1980-1999 censuses of the PTT (Punt Transect Tellingen) project. These censuses are done annually, between 15 December and 1 January. The PTT census points are well distributed through the Netherlands. At each census point all the bird species heard or seen during a 5-minute period are noted. All the census points in towns, cities and villages (121 in total) have been pooled and compared with those elsewhere (the agricultural area and nature reserves: 895 census points in total).
References
- Boele, A., K. Koffijberg, C. van Turnhout en R. Meijer (1999). Punt Transect Tellingen van wintervogels in Nederland in 1996 en 1997. SOVON-monitoringrapport 1999/08. SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nederland. Beek-Ubbergen.
- Foppen, R. (2001). Bijdrage SOVON voor Natuurcompendium en Natuurbalans 2001. SOVON. Beek-Ubbergen.
