Overview
- The Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nabu) released the 2026 results on May 26, 2026 showing the long‑term decline continued with an average of about 28.4 birds reported per garden.
- Counts from roughly 56,000 volunteers in more than 38,000 gardens recorded steep year‑on‑year drops for common species, including house sparrows down 9 percent, field sparrows down 6 percent, swifts down about 25 percent and house martins down 12 percent.
- Some finches bucked the trend, with chaffinches up 14 percent and greenfinches up 3 percent after earlier losses linked to disease outbreaks such as trichomonads.
- Nabu experts link the changes to falling insect food supplies, loss of nest sites from non‑bird‑friendly building renovations and past disease waves, while noting that late return of some migrant birds could partly affect yearly comparisons.
- Nabu paired the data with practical guidance for the public and policymakers, urging feeder hygiene, daily water changes, use of feeder columns, and bird‑friendly building practices to reduce disease spread and help urban bird recovery.