Germany Special Protection Area for birds
Vogelschutzgebiet 'Medebacher Bucht'
122 bird species recorded; the most in May and in August.
Friedhelm Schnurbus · CC BY-SA 3.0
This month here
56 species in January.32 species in February.50 species in March.70 species in April.85 species in May.55 species in June.62 species in July.83 species in August.58 species in September.36 species in October.23 species in November.21 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

























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- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
122 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 122Speciesrecorded more than once
- 65Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 3ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 4,041Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 379 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 18Raptors
- 6Waders
- 1Gulls & seabirds
- 7Ducks & geese
- 3Herons, ibises & grebes
- 3Storks & cranes
- 66Songbirds
- 18Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 122 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors18 species
- Red KiteMilvus milvus
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- Common BuzzardButeo buteo
- Western Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
- Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus
- Montagu's HarrierCircus pygargus
- Rough-legged BuzzardButeo lagopus
- Long-legged BuzzardButeo rufinus
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- European HobbyFalco subbuteo
- European Honey-buzzardPernis apivorus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Red-footed FalconFalco vespertinusVU
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Eurasian GoshawkAccipiter gentilis
- Griffon VultureGyps fulvus
Waders6 species
- Northern LapwingVanellus vanellusNT
- Eurasian DotterelCharadrius morinellus
- European Golden PloverPluvialis apricaria
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- Eurasian CurlewNumenius arquataNT
- Jack SnipeLymnocryptes minimus
Gulls & seabirds1 species
- Long-tailed SkuaStercorarius longicaudus
Ducks & geese7 species
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Egyptian GooseAlopochen aegyptiaca
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Mute SwanCygnus olor
- Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
- Eurasian TealAnas crecca
- GoosanderMergus merganser
Herons, ibises & grebes3 species
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
Storks & cranes3 species
- Common CraneGrus grus
- Black storkCiconia nigra
- White StorkCiconia ciconia
Songbirds66 species
- Eurasian MagpiePica pica
- Great titParus major
- Eurasian BlackbirdTurdus merula
- Lanius excubitorLanius excubitor
- Eurasian Blue TitCyanistes caeruleus
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
- Eurasian ChaffinchFringilla coelebs
- Carrion CrowCorvus corone
- European RobinErithacus rubecula
- Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- White WagtailMotacilla alba
- European GreenfinchChloris chloris
- FieldfareTurdus pilaris
- YellowhammerEmberiza citrinella
- Black RedstartPhoenicurus ochruros
- Common House MartinDelichon urbicum
- SkylarkAlauda arvensis
- European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Northern RavenCorvus corax
- BullfinchPyrrhula pyrrhula
- Common LinnetLinaria cannabina
- Eurasian NuthatchSitta europaea
- Common ChiffchaffPhylloscopus collybita
- Northern WheatearOenanthe oenanthe
- Western JackdawColoeus monedula
- Red-backed ShrikeLanius collurio
- BlackcapSylvia atricapilla
- Eurasian WrenTroglodytes troglodytes
- WhinchatSaxicola rubetra
- Marsh TitPoecile palustris
- Eurasian JayGarrulus glandarius
- Song ThrushTurdus philomelos
- WhitethroatSylvia communis
- Western Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava
- White-throated DipperCinclus cinclus
- Lesser whitethroatSylvia curruca
- Coal TitPeriparus ater
- Tree PipitAnthus trivialis
- European SerinSerinus serinus
- Common RedstartPhoenicurus phoenicurus
- Willow TitPoecile montanus
- Mistle ThrushTurdus viscivorus
- RookCorvus frugilegus
- Garden WarblerSylvia borin
- Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
- DunnockPrunella modularis
- Eurasian SiskinSpinus spinus
- Willow WarblerPhylloscopus trochilus
- HawfinchCoccothraustes coccothraustes
- European Crested TitLophophanes cristatus
- Tawny PipitAnthus campestris
- European StonechatSaxicola rubicola
- BramblingFringilla montifringilla
- Meadow PipitAnthus pratensis
- Common Reed BuntingEmberiza schoeniclus
- Spotted FlycatcherMuscicapa striata
- Woodchat ShrikeLanius senatorNT
- RedwingTurdus iliacus
- Short-toed treecreeperCerthia brachydactyla
- European Pied FlycatcherFicedula hypoleuca
- GoldcrestRegulus regulus
- Eurasian River WarblerLocustella fluviatilis
- Common FirecrestRegulus ignicapilla
- Ring OuzelTurdus torquatus
Other birds18 species
- Common Wood PigeonColumba palumbus
- Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
- Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major
- European SwiftApus apus
- Grey PartridgePerdix perdix
- Stock DoveColumba oenas
- Green WoodpeckerPicus viridis
- Common QuailCoturnix coturnix
- European Turtle DoveStreptopelia turturVU
- Grey-headed WoodpeckerPicus canus
- Common CuckooCuculus canorus
- Common KingfisherAlcedo atthis
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- Black WoodpeckerDryocopus martius
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Middle Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocoptes medius
- Lesser Spotted WoodpeckerDryobates minor
- WryneckJynx torquilla
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in May and in August.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan2°/-3°69 mm
- Feb3°/-3°52 mm
- Mar7°/-1°54 mm
- Apr13°/3°47 mm
- May17°/7°74 mm
- Jun20°/10°70 mm
- Jul23°/12°82 mm
- Aug23°/12°74 mm
- Sep18°/8°60 mm
- Oct12°/4°59 mm
- Nov6°/1°66 mm
- Dec2°/-2°72 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Vogelschutzgebiet 'Medebacher Bucht'.
Special protection area in the EU defined by the birds directive in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Vogelschutzgebiet 'Medebacher Bucht' is a Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive in Germany, 379 m above the sea.
122 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 4,041 open records.
The most recorded are the Red Kite, the Common Kestrel and the Eurasian Magpie.
43 species come for the summer, 17 for the winter and 5 only pass through.
3 are threatened worldwide, including European Turtle Dove, Red-footed Falcon and Grey Plover.
The most species are recorded in May and in August.

Get there and watch
- Trekkingplatz Aartalcampsite · 1.3 km · 16 within 10 km
- Hotel Medebachplace to stay · 3.8 km · 108 within 10 km
- Medebachnearest town · 3.6 km in a straight line
- Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 48 km in a straight lineCar hire at PAD airport (Büren)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1observation towers within 6 km
- 26marked trails within 4 kmMedebacher Bergweg, Lichtenfelser Panoramaweg, Raute Medebach - Siedlinghausen and 23 more
- 1visitor centres within 6 kmTouristinformation
- 7viewpoints within 5 km
- 7car parks within 3 km
- 16campsites within 10 kmTrekkingplatz Aartal, Camping Zur Hasenkammer, Jugendzeltplatz and 13 more
- 108places to stay within 10 kmHotel Medebach, Hotel zur Igelstadt, Ferienwohnung Huhn and 105 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Vogelschutzgebiet 'Medebacher Bucht'.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q61040470) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 4,041 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.



