CBS: more breeding birds in the Netherlands, but not in all places

Of the 185 species monitored, 92 increased in number, 83 decreased, nine species remained stable and the trend of one species is uncertain.

According to Statistics Netherlands, the populations of 59 species that prefer to breed in swamps and freshwater areas have increased on average by almost three times. This concerns, for example, the great egret and the barnacle goose. According to the statistics office, the increase can mainly be attributed to species that have started breeding in the Netherlands for the first time or again, such as the white-tailed eagle, eagle owl and crane.

The strongest decline can be seen among farmland birds. The population of this group of birds fell by 45 percent. Of the 27 species, 21 species decreased in number. These are mainly species that prefer to breed in open farmland, such as the godwit, lapwing and oystercatcher. According to CBS, there are also species that are more common, such as the goldfinch and stonechat.

The population of birds that prefer to breed in dune areas also decreased by 40 percent. This mainly happened before 2010, due to the overgrowth of open dunes. Since that year there has been a recovery and in the past twelve years more species have increased than decreased.

Statistics Netherlands says that all kinds of factors determine the number of birds. These include climate and weather, breeding success and mortality due to bird flu, for example. The latter was the main cause of a decline in the sandwich tern population. This fell by more than 40 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year.