Red-throated diver is "Seabird of the Year" 2024
The red-throated diver is the "Seabird of the Year" 2024. "The intensive expansion of offshore wind power poses a major threat to the red-throated diver, as it avoids wind farm areas over a wide area," said the first chairman of the Jordsand nature conservation association, Veit Hennig, on Monday, commenting on the association's decision.
Studies have shown avoidance radii of more than ten kilometers in offshore wind farm areas. The nature conservationists from Jordsand are therefore calling for caution in the expansion of wind energy. On the Baltic Sea coast, gillnet fishing poses a further threat to the red-throated diver and similar bird species. They end up as bycatch - and to an unknown extent, as such losses are not reported. A rethink is also urgently needed here, the association said.
Every year since 2014, Jordsand has named a bird species "Seabird of the Year", which is representative of an acute problem that poses a particular threat to a species community or habitat.
The red-throated diver (Gavia stellata) is listed as critically endangered in the Red List of migratory bird species in Germany, according to Jordsand. The smallest representative of the loon species is a short- to long-distance migrant. The birds, which breed in Scandinavia, northern Russia, Svalbard and Greenland, come to the North and Baltic Sea region to moult or spend the winter. Up to 20 percent of the European wintering population can be found in the German North Sea, making this marine region an internationally important resting area.
The red-throated diver owes its name to the white, star-like speckles on the gray plumage of its winter plumage and its search for food: propelled by its feet like a propeller, it dives through the water in search of fatty fish species.
The red-throated diver's critical status highlights the need for enhanced nature conservation efforts. Research in the field of science reveals that offshore wind farms and gillnet fishing pose significant threats to this seabird and its habitat.
Source: www.dpa.com
