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Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla ©Surub - Wiki Commons

Coastal Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is one of the 16 Federal States of Germany and lies in the northeast of the country covering an area of 23,294.90 km2 (8,994.21 square miles) with a population of around 1.7 million people. It is bordered by Brandenburg to the south, Lower Saxony to the southwest, Schleswig-Holstein to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north and east. It is also is bordered on the east by Poland. The capital is Schwerin although the largest city is Rostock. It has a low density of habitation being the sixth largest geographically, but fourteenth in populations size.

The Baltic Sea coast of the state is about 2,000 kilometres long and features several islands, most notably Germans to biggest islands, Rügen and Usedom, but also a number of smaller islands such as Hiddensee and Poel. Mecklenburg- Vorpommern’s varied coastline also has many peninsulas and lagoons.

Jasmund National Park – Wikimedia Commons

The southern part of the state is characterised by a multitude of lakes, the largest of which is Lake Müritz, which is also the largest lake in the whole of Germany. Other large lakes include Lake Schwerin, Plauersee and Lake Kummerow, giving that part of the state the sobriquet, ‘land of a thousand lakes’. It is also noted for its unspoilt nature. Due to its clean air and idyllic setting, medical tourism has developed. In general it is the top state form tourism with many seaside resorts , natural areas and heritage cities & castles etc.

Birding Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

The state has a total of 283 nature reserves, 110 landscape reserves, and three of Germany’s 14 national parks scattered throughout. The south of the State are gentle wooded hills and the many large lakes of the Müritz National Park. The remainder of the State is largely flat except for some tall coastal cliffs on the island of Rügen. As with the neighbouring State of Brandenburg, there are extensive forests, and many wetlands with rivers, lakes, fishponds, polders, and coastal marshes. In addition to the wide variety of birds that are attracted by this diverse habitat, the Baltic coast attracts many wintering sea ducks.

Kummer See, Müritz National Park – ©Lotte76 CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The sandy shores and coastal marshes are an attraction for large numbers of migrating waders. In winter the visiting water birds include divers, particularly Black-throated, Whooper Swan, and geese, mainly Brent, Barnacle, Bean, Greylag and Whitefront. Slavonian Grebes and very large flocks of sea duck, sometimes in thousands, collect offshore. They include Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Eider, Scoters, Goldeneye, Smew and other sawbills.

In the polders are colonies of Black-necked Grebes and all three marsh terns. Several sites have breeding Black and Whiskered Terns and a variable number of White-winged Black Terns.

Raptors are well represented. White-tailed Eagles breed and numbers increase in winter. Of particular interest are Lesser Spotted Eagles. They breed in the forests and along the river valleys. Although there are a few in Brandenburg, most of the German population is in this region. Ospreys and both Red and Black Kites are summer visitors in good numbers.

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Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park – ©Günter Seggebäing CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Breeding passerines are similar to those in Brandenburg, with Golden Oriole, Thrush Nightingale, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Icterine, Barred and River Warbler and in addition there are a few Greenish Warblers along the coast. Bluethroats and Rosefinches favour the surroundings of wetland sites and the coast.

Some time ago a guide to the best birding sites in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was published: ‘A Birdwatching guide to North East Germany and its Baltic Coast’. It describes more than 70 major sites and has colour maps and photographs, and details of habitats, access and species.

Contributors
Number of Species

  • Number of bird species: 404

    (As at June 2026)

    State Bird - White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla

Checklist

  • Avibase

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist includes all bird species found in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to report them.

  • eBird

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist is generated with data from eBird (ebird.org), a global database of bird sightings from birders like you. If you enjoy this checklist, please consider contributing your sightings to eBird. It is 100% free to take part, and your observations will help support birders, researchers, and conservationists worldwide.
Useful Reading

  • A Birdwatching Guide to North East Germany and its Baltic Coast

    | By Roger White | Roger White | 2018 | Edition 2 | Paperback | 214 pages, colour photos, colour maps | ISBN: 9780957169524 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Museums & Universities

  • Universität Rostock

    Website
    Study courses in the field of Agricultural- and Environmental Sciences
Organisations

  • Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Ornithological Association

    Website
    As a Baltic coastal state, with Germany's equivalent of the English Lake District, it is home to a great variety of birds including White Stork, Osprey, Common Crane and is the extreme western edge of the Lesser Spotted Eagle's breeding range…

  • NABU - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

    Website
    Founded in 1899, NABU (Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union), is one of the oldest and largest environment associations in Germany. The association encompasses more than 620,000 members and sponsors, who commit themselves to the conservation of threatened habitats, flora and fauna, to climate protection and energy policy.
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • NP Jasmund

    InformationSatellite View
    The Jasmund National Park is a nature reserve on the Jasmund peninsula, in the northeast of Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is famous for containing the largest chalk cliffs in Germany, the Königsstuhl (German = "king's chair"). These cliffs are up to 161 m (528 ft) above the Baltic Sea. The beech forests behind the cliffs are also part of the national park. A variety of birds live in the park: white-tailed eagle, kingfisher, house martin and the peregrine falcon.

  • NP Mueritz

    InformationSatellite View
    Bird tours and cheap hostel accommodation in the National Park (in English)

  • NP Western Pomerania Lagoon Area

    InformationSatellite View
    It is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's largest national park, situated at the coast of the Baltic Sea. It consists of several peninsulas, islands and lagoon shore areas in the Baltic Sea, belonging to the district of Vorpommern-Rügen. All portions of the national park are famous for being a resting place for tens of thousands of cranes and geese.

  • NR Greifswalder Oie

    InformationSatellite View
    Greifswalder Oie is a small island in the Baltic Sea, located east of Rügen on the German coast. The island covers an area of about 54 hectares. As of the 2000s, the islet is an uninhabited sea bird reserve.

  • NR Bay of Pomerania

    InformationSatellite View
    The reserve was created to preserve and reinstate the sea region's function as a feeding, over-wintering, moulting, migration and rest area for the species living there, especially for red-throated loon (Gavia stellata), black-throated loon (Gavia arctica), horned grebe (Podiceps auritus), little gull (Larus minutus), common tern (Sterna hirundo), Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyernalis), scoter (Melanitta nigra), velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), common gull (Larus canus), lesser black-backed gull (Larus fiscus), guillemot (Uria aalge), razorbill (Alca torda) and black guillemot (Cepphus grylle).

  • NR Die Insel Walfisch

    InformationSatellite View
    Since 1977, Rolf Nessing has voluntarily invested much of his time in the conservation team managing this seabird island and nature reserve on the Mecklenburg Baltic coast near Wismar… Email: RONES@t-online.de

  • NR Fährinsel

    InformationSatellite View
    Fährinsel is a small Baltic Sea island off the eastern shore of the island of Hiddensee and which belongs to the Insel Hiddensee municipality. It is separated from Hiddensee by the narrow Bäk, only 120 metres wide in places. It forms the western part of the border between the Schaproder Bodden and the Vitter Bodden. The island is 1.23 km long and up to 580 metres wide. It is a roosting place for thousands of birds and the grazing area for a herd of Gotland sheep. Shelduck nest between the juniper bushes nest and it is one of the most important breeding sites for red-breasted merganser in the Hiddensee area. On the Roschen there are breeding colonies of many black-headed, common and Mediterranean gulls. teal also breed here

  • NR Görmitz

    InformationSatellite View
    The island is a nature reserve, which is managed by the Jordsand Society for the Protection of Seabirds and Nature (Verein Jordsand zum Schutze der Seevögel und der Natur).

  • NR Kirr

    InformationSatellite View
    The island is covered by salt marshes and dissected by creeks. It is an ideal breeding ground for numerous birds, especially waders like dunlin, ruff, redshank, black-tailed godwit, oystercatcher, avocet and lapwing as well as the black-headed gull. In autumn the island acts as a resting place for several thousand crane over several weeks as they migrate south. As a consequence of its natural importance, walking on the island or landing boats there without permission is forbidden.

  • NR Lake Boissow & Lake Neuenkirchen South

    InformationSatellite View
    Highly protected bird species here include the bittern, marsh harrier, crane, kingfisher and river warbler as well as the middle spotted woodpecker, red kite, red-backed shrike. The greylag goose, greater white-fronted goose, bean goose and tufted duck are also at home here.

  • NR Lake Tetzitz, Liddow Peninsula and Banzelvitz Hills

    InformationSatellite View
    The area under protection is a section of the North Rügen Bodden (bodden are shallow lagoons typical of the region) which has a great variety of habitats and is an important roosting and breeding area for the bird world.

  • NR Langenwerder

    InformationSatellite View
    The island is a nature reserve, due to the birds that live on the island, and therefore access to the island is not usually allowed.

  • NR Neuendorfer Wiek and Beuchel Island

    InformationSatellite View
    The island of Beuchel is an important breeding ground for many bird species, such as ducks, geese, swans, mergansers, waders, gulls and common and Sandwich terns. The Neuendorfer Wiek protects the island from disturbance and is also of great importance as a breeding ground for other species such as great crested grebe, coot, pochard, marsh harrier, reed warbler, bearded and penduline tit. In the autumn and spring, thousands of individual migratory birds use the area as a resting, roosting and feeding area. White-tailed eagle, crane and otter also occur in the area. The nature reserve is used by fish as a spawning ground. The reserve may be observed from the surrounding roads.

  • NR Riether Werder

    InformationSatellite View
    Rare bird species such as the common tern and the snipe may be encountered here. White-tailed eagle, Montagu's harrier, marsh harrier, red kite, black kite, kestrel, hobby, honey buzzard and common buzzard are also found here. Access to the island is forbidden.

  • NR Wreechener See

    InformationSatellite View
    The breeding birds in the reserve are the reed warbler, reed bunting as well as various ducks. The reserve is of outstanding importance as a roosting area for ducks like the mallard, pochard, tufted duck, goldeneye and pintail as well as red-breasted merganser, goosander and smew. In spring and autumn Caspian terns may also be seen. The Wreecher See is a large cove with a short, narrow channel linking it to the Rügischer Bodden to the east, a large bay on the coast of Rügen. A wide belt of reeds surrounds the lake, which acts as a breeding, resting and overwintering area for many birds.
Sightings, News & Forums

  • Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Rare Bird Alert

    Sightings
    The report below shows observations of rare birds in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Includes both unreviewed and reviewed/approved observations.
Guides & Tour Operators

  • Birding tours in Mecklenburg and Poland

    Tour Operator
    Organised tours of the National Parks in the Northeast of Germany and Poland…

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