Birds of Bremen 🕊️🗝️

An adult male blackbird with leucism. He is a glossy black bird with an orange beak, and an area of mottled white feathers around his eye.

This blackbird (Turdus merula) is one of a kind. That's because he has leucism, a genetic mutation that causes some feathers to develop without pigment.
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Universität Bremen, 6 Feb 2026
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #voegel #germany #bremen #birdsofbremen #nature

A female common merganser swims in an area of water in front of a patch of ice. She is a medium-sized duck with a thin, red bill, a reddish-brown head with spiky feathers, and a grey-and-white body.

Mergus merganser
🇩🇪: Gänsesäger
🇬🇧: Common merganser, goosander
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Bürgerpark, 2 Feb 2026
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#birdfact: Females (like the one shown here) often care for their babies in groups called creches.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbremen #voegel #deutschland #nature #ducks #bremen #germany

A common pochard drake swims in the water. It's a medium-sized duck with a reddish-brown head, red eyes, a long, dark grey bill, a light grey body and a black rear.

Aythya ferina
🇩🇪: Tafelente
🇬🇧: Common pochard
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Bürgerpark, 2 Feb 2026
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#birdfact: This duck is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to #climatechange and habitat destruction.
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#birds #birding #birdsofbremen #birdwatching #voegel #germany #bremen #deutschland #ducks #nature

A goldcrest stands on snowy ground next to a green bench. It's a tiny brown-yellow bird with black wingtips and a striking black eye.

Regulus regulus

🇩🇪: Wintergoldhähnchen
🇬🇧: Goldcrest
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Bürgerpark, 7 Jan 2026
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#birdfact: Weighing only 4-7 grams when fully grown, the goldcrest is the smallest bird in Europe.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #voegel #germany #bremen #birdsofbremen #nature

A redwing in a berry bush. It's a brown bird with a speckled white and brown belly, and a red side.

A redwing in a berry bush. It's a brown bird with a speckled white and brown belly, and a red side.

Turdus iliacus

🇩🇪: Rotdrossel
🇬🇧: Redwing
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Bürgerpark, 7 Jan 2026
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#birdfact: This bird is a non-breeding winter visitor to #Germany. It breeds in the tundra of Russia and Scandinavia.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #bremen #birdsofbremen #voegel #deutschland

A male reed bunting in tall grass. It's a small bird with brown wings, a black head, a white neck, and a grey belly.

A male reed bunting in tall grass. It's a small bird with brown wings, a black head, a white neck, and a grey belly.

Emberiza schoeniclus
🇩🇪: Rohrammer
🇬🇧: Reed bunting
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Borgfelder Wümmewiesen, 29 May 2025
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#birdfact: During the summer breeding season, the male (pictured) perches atop reeds and sings for a female.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen #germany #nature

A northern shoveler drake swims in the water. It's a stocky duck with a black-green head; a white, ruddy brown, and black body; and a large black bill.

Spatula clypeata
🇩🇪: Löffelente
🇬🇧: Northern shoveler
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Polder Kreuzdeich, 8 May 2025
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#birdfact: Shovelers use their large, specialized bills to filter food from the water, much like flamingos.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #germany #bremen #deutschland

A male eider duck swimming in the North Sea. It's a large duck with a black and white body and a short, grey bill.

Somateria mollissima
🇩🇪: Eiderente
🇬🇧: Common eider
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Wattenmeer, 1 May 2025
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#birdfact: St. Cuthbert instituted one of the first known bird protection laws in England to protect the eider, also called "Cuddy's duck."
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#birds #birdwatching #birdsofbremen #birdsofbluesky #voegel #ducks #germany

A wren perches on a branch. It's a small, round, brown bird with its tail sticking straight up.

Troglodytes troglodytes
🇩🇪: Zaunkönig
🇬🇧: Eurasian wren
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Bürgerpark, 25 Apr 2025
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#birdfact: The male wren builds nests in his territory to attract a mate. Females favor mates who have built more nests.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbremen #birdsofbluesky #voegel #bremen #deutschland

An adult greylag goose swimming with three babies. The adult is a large, grey goose with an orange bill. The goslings are small, fluffy and yellow.

Three adult greylag geese and nine babies grazing. The adults are large, grey geese with orange bills. The goslings are small, fluffy and yellow.

Anser anser
🇩🇪: Graugans
🇬🇧: Greylag goose
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Kleine Werdersee, 21 Apr 2025
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#birdfact: Up to 20% of couples in a flock are same-sex pairs. They tend to acquire high-ranking status in the flock.
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#birds #birding #geese #goose #birdsofbremen #birdsofbluesky #voegel #germany #bremen

A brant goose swimming in the ocean. It's a small, short-necked goose with a black neck and a dark brown body.

Branta bernicla
🇩🇪: Ringelgans
🇬🇧: Brant
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Wattenmeer, 18 Apr 2025
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#birdfact: It was once believed that barnacles were the larval form of this goose since they nest in the far northern Arctic and no one saw them hatch.
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#birds #birdwatching #birdsofbremen #birdsofbluesky #germany #voegel #nordsee

A male chaffinch sitting on a branch. It's a small reddish-brown bird with grey on top of its head and white bars on black wings.

Fringilla coelebs
🇩🇪: Buchfink
🇬🇧: Chaffinch
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Osterdeich, 28 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: Outside of the breeding season, chaffinches eat seeds. During the breeding season, they eat insects and worms.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #germany

An oystercatcher in a field. It's a large black and white bird with a long orange beak.

Haematopus ostralegus
🇩🇪: Austernfischer
🇬🇧: Oystercatcher
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Uni Bremen, 10 Apr 2025
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#birdfact: The oystercatcher has an exceptionally long life. This year, one was found to be at least 46 years old in the UK!
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbremen #birdsofbluesky #voegel #germany

I know how you feel. My best picture of a robin was it perching on top of a graffiti'd bin!

A rook standing next to a pile of seed. It's a large black crow with a patch of white at the base of its beak.

A rook walking on a sidewalk. It's a large, black crow with an off-white beak.

Corvus frugilegus
🇩🇪: Saatkrähe
🇬🇧: Rook
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Uni Bremen, 11 Apr 2025
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#birdfact: The Puy du Fou theme park in western #France has trained these highly intelligent corvids to pick up litter.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen #germany #corvid #crow

A female Eurasian blackcap amongst tree branches. She's a small, grey bird, and the top of her head is reddish-brown. She's looking up and to the left.

A male Eurasian blackcap amongst tree branches. He's a small, round grey bird with a characteristic black "cap" on his head. He's looking at the camera.

Sylvia atricapilla
🇩🇪: Mönchsgrasmücke
🇬🇧: Blackcap
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Stadtwald, 6 Apr 2025 / Uni Bremen, 10 Apr 2025
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#birdfact: Male blackcaps aggressively defend their territory and use their warbling song to warn others to stay away.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen

A tiny brownish-yellow bird sits atop a tree branch. It's camouflaged and hard to notice.

Phylloscopus collybita
🇩🇪: Zilpzalp, Weidenlaubsänger
🇬🇧: Chiffchaff
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Bürgerpark, 21 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: This little bird's song is one of the first signs of spring, as it is one of the earliest migrants.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen #chiffchaff

A nuthatch hanging upside down on a tree trunk. It's a small bird with a blue-grey back and a muted orange underside. There is a black stripe across the eye.

Sitta europaea
🇩🇪: Kleiber, Spechtmeise
🇬🇧: Eurasian Nuthatch
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Herdentor, 21 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: If the entrance to their nest is too large, they plaster it with mud to make it smaller and keep predators out.
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#birds #birding #birdsofbremen #birdsofbluesky #birdwatching #voegel #bremen

Two adult Egyptian geese and their three babies. One adult and all of the babies are eating grass. The other adult is keeping watch.

Dad was there too! They mate for life and raise the babies together.
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#birds #birding #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #spring #voegel #geese #ducks #bremen

An Egyptian goose looks out at the water. Her three goslings are in the grass next to her.

Egyptian goslings (Nilgans) have arrived in Bremen!
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Bürgerpark, 10 Apr 2025
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#birdfact: The Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is not a goose at all, but more closely related to shelducks.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen #spring

A starling in the ivy. It's an iridescent black bird with little white spots and a yellow beak, which is open in song.

A starling sitting amongst ivy. It's an iridescent black bird with little white spots.

Sturnus vulgaris
🇩🇪: Star
🇬🇧: Starling
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Herdentor, 21 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: The starling has up to 35 different song types. Males with more complex songs tend to be favoured by females.
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#birds #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #birding #birdwatching #voegel #bremen #germany

They're here! 🥰

Please keep your distance when you see them so that mum and dad can raise their chicks in peace. Use a camera or binoculars to get a closer look without disturbing them.
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Wallanlagen, 5 April 2025
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen #germany #babybirds

A white wagtail in a tree. It's a small grey bird with a white face and a black beard.

A white wagtail in a field. It's a small grey bird with a white face and a black beard and chest.

Motacilla alba
🇩🇪: Bachstelze
🇬🇧: White wagtail
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Herdentor, 20 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: This is the national bird of #Latvia! It gets its name from how its tail bounces up and down as it walks.
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#birding #birds #birdsofbluesky #birdwatching #voegel #birdsofbremen #germany #bremen

A coot sitting in its nest. It's a medium-sized black bird with a white face, sitting amongst a pile of twigs. It's looking at the camera.

Coming soon to #Bremen: Baby coots (Blässhühner)!

Coots lay 6-10 eggs in a floating nest in shallow water. Chicks are black with a red face surrounded by wiry yellow feathers and sadly have a high mortality rate.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #voegel #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen

A jackdaw looking at the ground. It's a small, crow-like bird with a grey and black head and pale grey eyes.

A jackdaw looking at the ground. It's a black bird with a black and grey head.

Coloeus monedula
🇩🇪: Dohle
🇬🇧: (Western) Jackdaw
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Nelson Mandela Park, 19 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: Jackdaws form mobs to attack and scare away larger birds, such as vultures and ravens.
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#birds #birding #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #birdwatching #bremen #voegel #germany

A goldfinch amidst the branches of a tree in bloom. It's a small brown bird with a red face.

A goldfinch perched atop bare branches, looking up at the sky. It's a small, light brown bird with a white belly and a red face.

Carduelis carduelis
🇩🇪: Stieglitz
🇬🇧: Goldfinch
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Osterdeich, 18 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: The goldfinch is frequently depicted in Renaissance Christian art, such as in Raphael's "Madonna del cardellino."
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen #germany

Two gadwalls on the surface of a pond. The left one is a female; she is spotted brown and looks quite similar to a female mallard. The right one is a male; he is a lighter grey in color with a black bill and a black rump.

Mareca strepera
🇩🇪: Schnatterente
🇬🇧: Gadwall
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Ostertor, 18 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: This duck tends to steal food from diving waterfowl such as coots.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #voegel #birdsofbremen #bremen #germany #ducks

A handmade red scarf is folded on a white park bench. A great tit (a small bird with a grey and pale yellow body and a black and white head) holds a tuft of red fuzz in its mouth, plucked from the yarn that the scarf is made of.

A kind person left this free handmade scarf on a bench in the park for someone in need to take and stay warm.

This great tit (Parus major) decided to help itself to the yarn fuzz for its nest. 🪺 🐦

#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen

A long-tailed tit amongst tree branches. It's a small, white bird with a black stripe on the tail and the head.

Aegithalos caudatus
🇩🇪: Schwanzmeise
🇬🇧: Long-tailed tit
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Wallanlagen, 14 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: These birds are highly social. Parents whose chicks don't survive help raise the young of others within the flock.
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#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #voegel #bremen

Buteo buteo
🇩🇪: Mäusebussard
🇬🇧: Common buzzard
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Wallanlagen, 14 Mar 2025
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#birdfact: As with many birds of prey, female buzzards are usually bigger than males.
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#birds #birdwatching #birding #birdsofbluesky #birdsofbremen #bremen #germany #voegel