GERMANY ~ Bird of the Year - The Whinchat ~

... Every year a new bird is chosen as the "Bird of the Year" in Germany... the whinchat received by far the most votes in the election for Bird of the Year 2023... which aims to draw attention to the threats to native bird species... then as now, intensive agriculture is making life difficult for the Whinchat: more and more habitats and potential breeding sites are giving way to farmland, so that we can observe it in nature less and less often... as a ground-breeding bird, it needs flower- and insect-rich meadow landscapes with shrubs or fence posts where it can spot food... these are landscapes that are becoming increasingly rare to find in their pristine form... with wonderful matching Bird postmark💚... Thanks a lot Dustin!ヽ(ヅ)ノ

The whinchat is a short-tailed bird, moving on the ground with small, rapid hops and frequently bobbing and flicking its wings and tail.  It is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in central Africa.

Both sexes have brownish upperparts mottled darker, a buff throat and breast, a pale buff to whitish belly, and a blackish tail with white bases to the outer tail feathers.

In Hamburg, the Whinchat has been on the Red List of endangered bird species since 2018 and is also considered critically endangered throughout Germany.

Postcard: papersisters

 

Stamp: 

World of Letters

(Issued 04-08-2022)