Red List of breeding birds in Rhineland-Palatinate: 55% of species at risk

Birds shape our landscapes, accompany our everyday lives, and are also sensitive indicators of the state of nature. When their populations shrink, it is almost always a warning sign of profound ecological problems. The new Red List of breeding birds in Rhineland-Palatinate clearly shows: The loss of biodiversity continues to advance and no longer only affects rare specialists, but increasingly also familiar, common species.

The current Red List is based on the observations and mapping of several hundred volunteer ornithologists. Under the coordination of the bird sanctuary of the State Office for the Environment, they recorded the breeding bird populations in Rhineland-Palatinate nationwide between 2017 and 2022.

Overview of current threat categories

The Red List classifies the 200 breeding bird species recorded in Rhineland-Palatinate as follows:

• Extinct or missing: 17 species (9.8%) – including capercaillie, great bustard, short-toed eagle, and Eurasian curlew
• Critically endangered: 31 species (17.8%) – such as garganey, barn owl, penduline tit, northern lapwing, and purple heron
• Endangered: 21 species (12.1%) – e.g., grey partridge, European turtle dove, European honey buzzard, and Eurasian tree sparrow
• Vulnerable: 20 species (11.5%) – including common quail, long-eared owl, golden oriole, or barn swallow
• Extremely rare: 5 species (2.9%) – common shelduck, red-crested pochard, common merganser, Eurasian oystercatcher, and bearded reedling
• Insufficient data: 1 species (0.6%) – Eurasian hobby

On the pre-warning list are 13 species (7.5%). They are not yet considered acutely endangered, but already show significant population declines. Without countermeasures, they are threatened with relegation to higher hazard categories. Affected are, among others, great crested grebe, Eurasian coot, common starling, peregrine falcon and red crossbill.

Currently, not endangered are 66 species (37.9%). These are predominantly common and moderately common breeding birds such as blackbird, great tit, common wood pigeon and Eurasian magpie.

Not assessed were 26 species, including irregular breeding birds, neozoa, and species with unclear status.

Overall, around 55% of all established breeding bird species in Rhineland-Palatinate are considered endangered, rare, or already extinct or missing. If the pre-warning list is included, even more than 62% of the breeding birds are under observation or acute threat. Only about 38% of the species are currently classified as not endangered.

It is worrying that this negative trend is no longer limited to rare specialists. Increasingly, even previously stable and widespread species are coming under pressure.

Continuing downward trend since 2014

Compared to the last Red List from 2014, the balance is clearly negative. The proportion of non-endangered species has continued to decline, while more and more breeding birds have risen to higher hazard categories.

This is particularly evident in the classification changes. Only four species have improved since 2014: the tree pipit (from endangered to vulnerable), the red kite (from the pre-warning list to not endangered) as well as Eurasian wryneck and Eurasian skylark (critically endangered to endangered).

This is offset by 36 deteriorations. While in the Red List of 2014 only 8 species were considered endangered, there are already 21 in 2025. In addition, today 5 more species are classified as critically endangered and 8 more species as vulnerable. At the same time, the number of non-endangered breeding birds has fallen from 90 in 2014 to only 66 in 2025. The ratio of improvements to deteriorations is therefore about 1 to 9 – a clear sign of a continuing downward trend.

It is also particularly noticeable that 25 species previously considered not endangered are now on the pre-warning list or in a hazard category. These include widespread bird species such as common swift, Eurasian collared dove, sedge warbler or fieldfare. Their decline shows that even supposedly robust species are increasingly reaching their limits.

Rhineland-Palatinate also stands out negatively in a nationwide comparison. The proportion of endangered breeding birds is higher here than the average documented in the nationwide Red List of 2020. The development in the state thus reflects not only a regional, but a superordinate trend – with particularly pronounced losses in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the same time, the Red List of breeding birds in Berlin from 2025 shows that alarming conditions also prevail in other federal states: There, half of all breeding bird species are now considered threatened.

Habitats in comparison: Where breeding birds are particularly at risk

The hazard analysis shows that the species extinction in Rhineland-Palatinate is particularly concentrated on certain habitats. The situation is worst in the wetlands and in the agricultural landscape: In both habitats, around 85% of the breeding bird species are considered endangered, extremely rare or already extinct (39 of 46 and 17 of 20 species respectively).

The proportion of affected species in the forests is significantly lower, but by no means unproblematic. Here, 29 of 72 species, i.e. around 40%, are considered endangered or declining. Forests thus continue to represent comparatively important retreat areas. At the same time, however, the pressure from climate change, drought stress and intensive forestry is also growing here.

In small woodlands, 11 of 19 species are affected, which corresponds to a share of just under 60%. The burden is also high in the settlement area: Here, 6 of 9 species – around two thirds (67%) – are considered endangered. Even in these landscapes shaped by humans, suitable breeding sites and feeding areas are increasingly being lost.

The rock biotopes also have a very high proportion of around 75% with 6 of 8 affected species. Due to the small total number of species occurring there, this habitat is less important, but still shows clear losses.

Overall, it becomes clear that water-rich habitats and intensively used agricultural areas are among the central hotspots of bird decline. However, forests, settlement areas and structurally rich small landscapes are also increasingly losing ecological quality. The species extinction is therefore no longer limited to individual special habitats, but affects almost all landscape types in Rhineland-Palatinate – with particularly serious consequences where drainage, standardization and overuse prevail.

The most important causes of bird decline

The current Red List makes it clear that the population losses of breeding birds cannot be attributed to individual causes. Rather, several burdens act simultaneously and reinforce each other – especially in intensively used landscapes.

A central role is played by the intensification of agriculture. Large monocultures, high pesticide use, lack of fallow land and the loss of hedges and field margins lead to a massive decline in insects and thus to food shortages, lack of breeding sites and high juvenile bird mortality. Typical field birds such as northern lapwing, Eurasian skylark or grey partridge are particularly affected.

In addition, there is the progressive loss and degradation of natural habitats. Wetlands are drained, rivers straightened, floodplains drained, forests structurally impoverished and more and more areas sealed. As a result, important breeding and feeding areas are lost, which often cannot be replaced. Affected are, among others, species such as common snipe, Eurasian bittern, Eurasian reed warbler or common kingfisher.

The climate change is increasingly acting as an additional stress factor. Longer periods of drought, heat waves and extreme weather events affect the water availability, the insect supply and the breeding success of many species. Especially wetland and forest birds like whinchat, common redstart, wood warbler or grey-headed woodpecker are thus further under pressure.

The economic use of the forests also exacerbates the situation. Old trees, dead wood and light structures are lacking in many places, which significantly worsens the living conditions for cavity-nesting and specialized species. Sufferers include black woodpecker, stock dove and Eurasian wryneck.

Finally, burdens in the settlement area also contribute to the decline. Building renovations without nesting opportunities, increasing light pollution and sealed surfaces lead to the fact that even adaptable cultural followers such as house sparrow, common house martin, common swift or common starling disappear in many places.

Why bird decline affects us all

The decline of breeding birds is not an isolated nature conservation problem, but a indication of fundamental disturbances in many ecosystems. Declining bird populations are often associated with the decline of insects, the loss of natural pest regulation, a decreasing seed dispersal and a decreasing ecological stability.

In the long term, this development also affects the foundations of human quality of life, such as the quality of soils and waters or the stability of agricultural production systems. Against this background, the new Red List of breeding birds in Rhineland-Palatinate is a clear warning signal: More than every second native species is already threatened, extremely rare or disappeared. At the same time, recovery trends remain the exception so far.

Without fundamental changes in agriculture, land use, forest management and climate policy, this trend will hardly be reversed. The protection of biological diversity must therefore not be understood as a subordinate task, but must be more strongly integrated into political, economic and social decision-making processes.

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Source

• State Office for the Environment Rhineland-Palatinate. (2025). Red List of breeding birds in Rhineland-Palatinate. https://lfu.rlp.de/fileadmin/lfu/Service/Publikationen/Naturschutz/Rote_Listen/Rote_Liste_Brutvoegel_-_Internet.pdf