Population of crows in Kalbe in the city park and at the cemetery increased

To heart

The city of Kalbe can maintain its “beacon position” with regard to the rook population in the city area, especially in the city park, this year, as mayor Karsten Ruth announced. The situation has even worsened. The number of animals has increased. The most recent census in April showed that there are 761 crows’ nests in the entire city. This means that 761 breeding pairs nest in calves. With the high number of animals declared as songbirds, Kalbe achieved a certain fame, according to the mayor. There is the largest rook colony in Saxony-Anhalt in the city park.

The crows were counted by the employees of the Kalbens Ordnungsamt. “We are subject to a reporting obligation to the Upper Nature Conservation Authority,” explains Ruth. City employees registered 741 nests or breeding pairs in the previous year.

The nature conservation officer Michael Arens has been counting the rook population in Kalbe since 2001. However, his count takes place every year on March 30th. “The counting date is advised by the state bird protection station,” he explains. On March 30th of this year it registered 527 nests. In 2020 there were 604 breeding sites, in 2019 there were 437 and in 2018 even only 361. A high incidence according to this counting variant was in 2001 with 714 nests, according to Arens.

Dirt and noise pollution

The high number of crows brings dirt and noise pollution for residents of the city park. Actions to dissuade are formally permissible, as Karsten Ruth informs on request. “The last notification gives us room for maneuver there until 2022.” However, these measures would make practically no sense, “because they are severely restricted locally,” said the mayor. “The benefits don’t justify the effort here. In addition, the current Corona conditions also limit us here, ”he points out.

However, “minor regulations were made by the building yard in the area of ​​the active part of the cemetery complex.” Because animals that are protected throughout Europe are allowed to be driven away along the paths and in individual trees in the cemetery. The Upper Nature Conservation Authority issued conditions for this years ago. There is a protection zone in the southern part of the city park, in which the animals should not be scared off. Driving away the birds in the area where it is allowed usually only causes the rooks to settle in other parts of the park to rear their brood.

However, Kalbe is not alone in the anger about the high number of rooks. In Wanzleben, too, there has recently been anger due to faeces, dirt and noise in the cemetery. In Osterburg, the black birds have moved into their nesting sites adjacent to a day-care center. With reference to the “higher hygienic requirements”, the city has applied for an exemption from the State Administration Office (LVWA) for the expulsion of the birds. And in Stendal, too, rooks nest on the trees above the way to school to Winckelmann-Gymnasium and there, too, leave behind dirt, noise and resentment among the population (Volksstimme reported).