Last weekend was dominated by the National Garden Bird Count 2025, in which 105,721 people participated nationwide. That is a slight increase compared to last year, although the record of 140,000 participants in Coronatijd remains unbroken.
In Drenthe, 4,253 people participated and a total of 66,749 birds were counted. This amounts to an average of 16 birds per garden. Together with Zeeland, Drenthe is the leader in the Netherlands. The annual count was held for the 22nd time this year by Bird Protection Netherlands.
Just like in previous years, the house sparrow leads the list as the most seen bird in Dutch gardens. No fewer than 17,805 house sparrows were counted in Drenthe. Saskia Hausel of the Bird Protection explains why the sparrow is doing so well: “House sparrows live in groups of four to five animals, sometimes even more. As a result, they are spotted relatively often. Yet the species is not doing well in the long term. The living environment for sparrows deteriorates due to petrification and less green in gardens. “
The house sparrow also dominates 207,954 observations, followed by De Koolmees (147,898) and the Pimpelmees (100.706).
A striking change in the count is the fall in the blackbird in the rankings. The bird, once a regular guest in the top three, is now in fifth place in Drenthe. A similar picture can be seen nationwide. Hausel explains: “The blackbird has been struck for years by the usutuvirus, which is spread through mosquitoes. Although the population seems to be slowly recovering, the species still has a hard time.”
In addition to the usual species, some special birds were also spotted during the count. “This year, among other things, plague birds, water troubles and crossbarchs have been reported. We also see more and more black heads and chifts in the winter, which indicates their increased wintering in the Netherlands, “says Hausel.
In addition, in Drenthe, different types of woodpeckers speak of themselves: the green woodpecker, the small colorful woodpecker, the great colorful woodpecker, the middle spotted woodpecker and the black woodpecker.