Saving threatened owls in Germany

DW (English)

Across Germany, volunteers are going on patrol to protect owls and their disappearing habitats. Grazing areas often have to make way for new building projects.

Transcript

00:01On owl patrol in a fruit orchard.

00:04Andrea Carvitzel and Jonas Borda are conservation volunteers.

00:09In summer they monitor nesting boxes set up by an owl protection society,

00:14here between Bonn and Cologne in western Germany.

00:17The boxes are specifically for little owls,

00:20one of the ten species of owls that breed in Germany.

00:25That looks good.

00:30If you get five chicks that hatch, that's great.

00:33You can be proud.

00:34It always depends on what food is on offer.

00:37A good habitat, a good brood,

00:40and lots of young owls that the parent birds can feed.

00:47I'm going to get them out now.

00:51There are four chicks in this nesting box, a successful brood.

00:56The parent birds are sitting nearby,

00:58watching what is happening to their offspring.

01:07The health and the age of the young owls is being checked.

01:13They look well.

01:17These four are approximately two weeks old.

01:19To allow conservationists to monitor the birds' distribution,

01:22the chicks are fitted with identification rings.

01:26Once male little owls establish their territory,

01:28they tend to hunt close to their nests,

01:31as long as there is enough food on offer.

01:33Owls tend to hunt a lot on the ground.

01:38They can pounce on their prey from low perches,

01:42but they also run a lot.

01:45They chase mice.

01:46They eat earthworms or beetles.

01:49Because they move a lot on the ground,

01:51it's important to have short grass.

01:53For little owls, finding a perfect home in Germany is increasingly difficult.

02:05The problem is that orchard meadows are also always on the edge of villages,

02:10and they often have to make way for new building projects.

02:14There are also no grazing areas anymore.

02:18So the best habitats close to villages are being lost.

02:21Disappearing habitats are a problem for many owl species.

02:27But there are also success stories.

02:30Using webcams, the Society for the Preservation of Owls, EGE,

02:35guards the nests of Germany's largest owl, the Eurasian eagle owl.

02:41In the 1960s, it was on the brink of extinction.

02:44Now there are some 850 breeding pairs in Germany.

02:47Onto the next box.

02:50There are 75 in the area.

02:52This year, about half contain little owl broods.

02:55The Society has been looking after owls for some 35 years.

03:02They make a good impression.

03:05Promising.

03:10The tawny owl is one of the least endangered owl species here in Germany.

03:14They don't need looking after or any habitat protection measures.

03:18They can look after themselves.

03:19The most endangered remain Eurasian eagle owls and the little owls here.

03:25Barn owls are also in the top three.

03:30Some birds need more help than the owl conservationist can provide.

03:36That's where Dirk Sindhu comes in.

03:38He set up an animal rescue service for birds of prey.

03:42Abandoned chicks, injured and ailing birds are brought here and restored to health.

03:49We aim to ensure animals can return to the wild.

03:53If they came to me for food, that wouldn't happen.

03:55In summer, up to 15 birds a day arrive in his shelter.

04:01Some had got into pretty sticky situations.

04:07This bird was fished out of the Rhine two weeks ago by the fire service.

04:13It was still wet and very weak when it came to us.

04:17But Dirk Sindhu can't do his work alone.

04:23We work together with surrogate parents.

04:26We have little owls that rear young birds for us and an eagle owl and a tawny owl.

04:31We also have buzzards that act as surrogates.

04:34The old birds can always do it better than us.

04:37But sometimes he does have to step in himself when there isn't a veteran bird to swoop in.

04:42We have to make sure all of them get the same amount.

04:49The most rewarding moment is when Dirk Sindhu can release a healthy bird back into the wild.

04:56Today it's the turn of a common buzzard that was found trapped in a gymnasium completely exhausted a few weeks ago.

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