It’s here! – Birds in Berlin: The Guidebook
Websites
eBird, a large portal for birdwatchers worldwide, is an essential reference for any birding expedition and has plenty of data on birds in Berlin. Find a list of birds recently spotted in hotspots around Berlin as well as helpful bar charts showing which species are likely to be in town when you are, making for an easy checklist. Sign up and record your sightings while you’re there. Check out my eBird profile for a record of some of my sightings in Berlin.
Naturgucker is also a portal with observation data like eBird, but it is more extensive in scope, including plant, animal and insect data as well as birds. Primarily in German (although searches can be made in English) and run by NABU (Naturschutzbund Deutschland), the German conservation agency, it is a fantastic resource if you’ve got the diligence to navigate through it.
Germany Birding is the blog of Roger White, the foremost English birder in the Berlin area and the author of an excellent English-language guidebook to the region (see below). The site has a useful news feed and nicely detailed trip reports. It is especially useful if you plan to do some birding in the surrounds of Berlin and Brandenburg.
Fatbirder has a dedicated page for Berlin, with a nice description of the city’s birdlife and many useful links to tours, organizations, checklists, and other resources.
Books
Birds of Britain and Europe by Rob Hume
My favorite general guide for birds in Europe. You’ll find all the birds in Berlin within its pages. I’ve found it to be very good for identification, plus it’s somewhat waterproof and easy to carry around. Like all DK publications it is full of beautiful photographs and lots of data. View the book on amazon.de or on amazon.com.
A Birdwatching Guide to Brandenburg and Berlin by Roger White
An excellent, detailed guide to birding spots both in the city and in the surrounding region. This book is especially useful if you plan to travel outside of the city limits, as it provides maps and transit directions. If you intend to do some serious birding in Berlin, this guidebook is essential.
My Camera
For most of the photos on this blog I used the Canon SX50 HS, for which there is now a new, improved version. I love this camera and highly recommend it for urban birding. It is lightweight and sturdy: I carried it all over town in the flimsiest of bags. It’s not so huge that you look like a super-tourist in the train. The zoom is powerful and fast: I stopped using binoculars because it was easier to look through the viewfinder. If I ever failed to catch the shot I wanted it was my fault, not the camera’s.
