Urban birds are in steep decline in the Netherlands since 1990

In the period from 1990 to 2017, 13 out of 20 breeding bird species typically found in a Dutch city declined in number, precisely in the urban areas. Many breeding birds depending on or commonly found in an urban environment are on the decline. This applies to 13 out of the 20 urban bird species, including the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), the western jackdaw (Coloeus monedula), the common blackbird (Turdus merula) and the common starling (Sturnus vulgaris). The crested lark (Galerida cristata) has even fully disappeared from the city. In 2017, the European serin (Serinus serinus) population was only 1 percent of the total population in 1990.

In 2015, the urban area in the Netherlands covered 16 percent of the total land area. All bird species with a population share of 32 percent or more breeding in the city are referred to as urban birds. This is the case for 20 bird species. Over the past 27 years, these populations have declined by more than half in urban areas.

Source; Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (NL) -Central Statistics Office (NL), 07/12/2018
https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2018/49/decline-in-13-out-of-20-urban-bir…