Kingdom of Belgium

Blue Tit Parus caerulaus ©Monique Bogaerts Website

Birding Belgium

Belgium is probably not the best country for birding, although there are Belgian Hotspots. You will probably expect flocks of geese grazing the polders, but may be surprised to know that the wooded hillsides in the East of the country can hold Hazel Grouse and Tengmalm’s Owl.

The coastal area (especially of the north) attract over 30.000 Pink-footed Geese (about 75% of the Svalbard-population) and 20.000-35.000 Greater White-fronted Geese every winter. The Damme / Uitkerke polders hold the vast majority of these birds. Most winters also produce a few Red-breasted and Lesser White-fronted Geese. Between the geese you can find Hen Harriers, Short-eared Owls and regular Merlin.

The new harbour of Zeebrugge has become one of Belgium’s top-birding sites. The mixture of industry and wastelands is hardly the most attractive backdrop for a birding visit and access is not always easy, but the rewards can be considerable. Pay a visit to the nature-reserve of the Zwin too; on migration it can be very good.

The west coast can be very productive in the polders with the triangle Diksmuide – Lo – Merkem. For seabirding the west-mole in Nieuwpoort including the reserve of the Ijzermonding and the east-mole in Oostende are an ideal places. It can be good for wader passage too.

In the north of the country you can visit Blokkersdijk – almost in the middle of the Antwerpen left-harbour. The nearby colonies of Mediterranean Gull can hold over 400 birds. Also near Antwerpen you can find the Kalmthoutse Heide, always good for warblers or a Hobby. There is an excellent website for the North of Belgium; that of Walter van Spaandonk (De Wielewaal = ornithological society in Flanders); it gives an agenda of their activities. See the links below.

Closer to the capital Brussels, you can have a great walk in the Zonienwoud, an old beech forest of over 4000ha. Always good for a lot of typical forest birds. Honey-Buzzard breeds there. Near Tervuren (the lakes and the museum) and in the National Garden of Meise you can find our exotics – Egyptian Goose and Ring-necked Parakeet. Apart from the birds of the Zonienwoud, you can get an idea whats on around Europes capital.

In contrast to the west and middle of the country, eastwards you will find great forests – The Ardennes. For the south of the country (French speaking part) AVES is the contact – see below. Stavelot can be the best place to start your trip. Places like Trois-Ponts, Wanne and Logbiermé produce regular Nutcracker (in autumn) and are the breeding ground of Tengmalm’s Owl. Black and Grey-headed Woodpecker occur often.

There is also a walk with very impressive landscape in Hautes Fagnes, between Eupen and Monschau, which is very good. With luck you can see the migration of Common Cranes. Sadly Black Grouse have become very rare in this area. Easier to see is the Eagle Owl, now breeding regularly in several quarries (even those that are still working). The valley of the river Meuse is known for them.

Beautiful walks with some fairly good birding can be had in the surroundings of some great Ardennes rivers like Ourthe or Semois. Places like Bohan, Botassart, La Cuisine and Samree are known for Raven, Black Stork and Dipper. Do not forget, Belgium is also the home country of the European colour-ring Birding website. On this site you can find regular an up-date on the colour-ringing projects in Europe.

A Recent Trip to Belgium concentrated on some birds one cannot see (either at all or easily) in the UK; here is a précis: (Also Lac du Der may well be worth going to.) Ethe: Hazelhen, Hawfinch, black & middle-spotted woodpeckers. Eupen: Grey headed woodpecker Logbierme: Tengmalms owl in nest boxes and birds heard calling after dark. [Do not disturb nestboxes without permission from locals]. Nutcracker here too.

Contributors

Dirk Raes
| raes.dirk@pi.be
http://www.cr-birding.org/

Number of Species

Number of bird species: 456

(As at July 2018)

Checklist

iGoTerra Checklist
iGoTerra Checklist
Fatbirder Associate iGoTerra offers the most comprehensive and up to date birds lists on the web

Useful Reading

Birds of Belgium and Holland

| (MP3 Sound Collection) | Peter Boesman | Birdsounds Netherlands | 2011 | Audio CD | Runtime 15 hours | #197194 | ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
Where to Watch Birds in Holland Belgium & Northern France

| By Arnoud Van Den Berg & Dominique Lafontaine | Stackpole Books | 1998 | Paperback | 216 pages, Colour & b/w illustrations, maps | ISBN: 9780811731119 Buy this book from NHBS.com

Useful Information

National Bird

Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus

Organisations

AVES asbl societe d'etudes ornithologiques
Website
Leading French language site
Antenne régionale RNOB - Famenne & Ardenne
Website
Regional group
Belgian Rare Birds Committee (BRBC)
Website
Welcome on the BRBC website. The rumour has been out for a while and now it has finally materialised: the new Belgian rare birds committee is a fact! The new committee formally called the Belgian Rare Birds Committee (BRBC) is placed under the auspices of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science (KBIN/IRSNB), Natuurpunt Studie and Aves-Natagora. The BRBC will be operational from January 2015 onwards.
Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Website
The INBO carries out research that is essential to governmental policy and provides scientific support for conservation, development, management and sustainable use of biodiversity and its environment. It publishes the two-yearly Nature Report, which evaluates the state of nature and relevant policy efforts in Flanders…
Kerkuilwerkgroep Vlaanderen
Website
Eind van de jaren `70 stond de Kerkuil (Tyto alba ) op de Rode lijst van de met uitsterven bedreigde diersoorten in Belgi
L'antenne régionale Centre-Ouest Hainaut
Webpage
Our region covers a territory composed of entities of La Louviere, The Roeulx, Mons Quévy, Frameries, Quaregnon Saint-Ghislain, Boussu, Colfontaine, Dour, Honnelles, QUIEVRAIN, Hensies, Bernissart Péruwelz, Beloeil, Jurbise, Lens.
Natuurfonds Westland
Website
Natuurpunt Tussen Leie en Schelde
Website
Natuurpunt Bree
Website
Birding in Bree
Natuurpunt Gent
Website
Natuurpunt Gent is een regionale natuurvereniging voor Gent en Sint-Martens-Latem. Samen met meer dan 3800 gezinnenleden maken wij werk van meer natuur voor iedereen. Meer dan 160 lokale vrijwilligers zetten zich dagelijks in voor het beheer van natuurgebieden, een sterke beleidswerking, een onovertroffen verenigingswerking…
Natuurwerkgroep De Kerkuil
Website
Vereniging voor agrarische natuur en landschap in regio IJzer en Polder…
Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen
Website
Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen is een vereniging zonder winstgevend doel die zich inzet voor alle in het wild levende vogels en andere dieren. Ze werd op 28 juni 2002opgericht te Antwerpen en is door de Vlaamse overheid erkend als Gewestelijke Thematische Natuurvereniging. Wij heten je hartelijk welkom op onze website.
Vogelwerkgroep Cinerea
Facebook Page
Mission - Het promoten van interesse in en het onderzoek naar vogels van de Dendervallei.
Vogelwerkgroep Fruitstreek
Website
Welkom op de site van Vogelwerkgroep Fruitstreek…
Vogelwerkgroep Noord Oost-Vlaanderen
Webpage
U bevindt zich op de gloednieuwe website van de Vogelwerkgroep Noord Oost-Vlaanderen. Deze website zal zoveel mogelijk bijgewerkt om u op de hoogte te houden van de vogelpopulaties in onze streek. Hieronder vindt u het meest recente nieuws i.v.m. onze werking… Véél surfplezier!
Vogelwerkgroep Noord-West-Vlaanderen
Website
Vorig weekend werd een nieuwe nestbak voor 'onze' Slechtvalk geplaatst op de toren van de Sint-Salvatorskerk. Een 5-tal spotters werd onder leiding van Guido Orbie en Guy Robrecht naar boven geleid
Vogelwerkgroep Noordwest-Brabant
Website
Welkom op het webstekje van Natuurpunt Vogelwerkgroep Noordwest-Brabant
Vogelwerkgroep Zuid-West Vlaanderen
Website
The South of the Province of West-Flanders in Belgium has a very active birding club. The Vogelwerkgroep Zuid-West Vlaanderen's website is in Dutch with many pictures, trip reports and information on recent observations in the Kortrijk area.
la Ligue Royale Belge pour la Protection des Oiseaux
Website
La Protection des Oiseaux belge (officiellement la Ligue Royale Belge pour la Protection des Oiseaux asbl) est une association de protection de la nature nationale qui fut cr

Reserves

Abbreviations Key

Birdwatching Sites in Belgium
Website Satellite View
Links to a number of pages for different birding places
Hesbaye Refuges
Website Satellite View
Ce site est une réalisation du Groupe de protection et de développement de la nature en Hesbaye et du Siajef, Entreprise de Formation par le Travail.
NP Hoge Kempen
Information Satellite View
The habitat is mostly coniferous trees and heath land. There are some deciduous trees, dunes, marshes, streams, dry valleys, ponds, gravel pits and former mine spoil heaps. Typical flora and fauna include juniper; gorse; bell heather; sweet gale; club moss; asphodel; dragonfly; silver studded blue butterfly; swallow tail butterfly; Granville fritillary butterfly ; Moor frog; Natterjack toad; Smooth snake; Common lizard; Brook Lamprey; Black woodpecker; Nightjar and Roe deer.
NPa Eifel
Information Satellite View
The nature park lies between Langerwehe and Eupen in the north and Bad Münstereifel, Prüm and Sankt Vith in the south and covers six regions: the Rur Eifel, the High Eifel, the Limestone Eifel, the Our valley, the Venn Foreland and the Hohes Venn, a raised bog and heath landscape, remnants of the last ice age.
NPa Provinciaal Natuurpark Zwin
Website Satellite View
Welkom op de website van het Provinciaal Natuurpark Zwin in Knokke-Heist…
NR Uitkerkse Polder
Information Satellite View
...the area is perhaps most known as an outstanding wintering area for thousands of waders, ducks and geese (Pink-footed Goose, White-fronted Goose…). Up to 90% of the entire Svalbard population of Anser brachyrhynchus winters in the Oostkustpolder, i.e. the area between Ostend and Knokke-Heist in which the Uitkerkse Polder plays an important role.
NR Zwin
Information Satellite View
Zwin has an area of 1.25 square kilometres in Knokke-Heist, Belgium and 0.33 square kilometres in Sluis, Netherlands. It is famous for its large variety in salt-resistant flora, such as sea lavender. It is also popular with bird watchers. There is a small zoo with some major domestic birds and it is one of the few places in Belgium with a population of white storks. In March 1986 it was declared a Wetland of International Importance
Wetlands
Website Satellite View
Belgium currently has 9 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 46,944 hectares.

Forums & Mailing Lists

Natuurpunt Bree
Forum
Wild Life spotting forum

Trip Reports

Click on WAND to see Fatbirder’s Trip Report Repository…

2010 [05 May] - Mark E P Hows
Report
Once again I embarked on a trip to see some of Europe's exotics and a couple of resident species (though only a few as information was very hard to come by)…
2012 [08 August] - Mark Hows
Report
With a wealth of wildlife just over the channel it was time for another foray, this time mainly for Amphibians but a few other bits and bobs….

Places to Stay

Click on WAND to see Fatbirder’s Trip Report Repository…

La Ferme de l'Airbois
Accommodation
Just a 2 hour and 35 minute drive from Calais, set in 60 acres of unspoilt countryside, you will find our beautiful old farmhouse. Overlooking the River Meuse, it boasts en-suite luxury accommodation, a heated swimming pool and traditional French cooking. Skilled guides (including your host) will lead you, based on the latest sightings, to the best bird sites of the Ardennes and South Belgium, where you can see up to 25 species, which are now rare or absent in the UK

Kingdom of Belgium

Birding Belgium

Dirk Raes

Number of bird species: 456

iGoTerra Checklist

Birds of Belgium and Holland

Where to Watch Birds in Holland Belgium & Northern France

National Bird

AVES asbl societe d'etudes ornithologiques

Antenne régionale RNOB - Famenne & Ardenne

Belgian Rare Birds Committee (BRBC)

Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)

Kerkuilwerkgroep Vlaanderen

L'antenne régionale Centre-Ouest Hainaut

Natuurfonds Westland

Natuurpunt Tussen Leie en Schelde

Natuurpunt Bree

Natuurpunt Gent

Natuurwerkgroep De Kerkuil

Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen

Vogelwerkgroep Cinerea

Vogelwerkgroep Fruitstreek

Vogelwerkgroep Noord Oost-Vlaanderen

Vogelwerkgroep Noord-West-Vlaanderen

Vogelwerkgroep Noordwest-Brabant

Vogelwerkgroep Zuid-West Vlaanderen

la Ligue Royale Belge pour la Protection des Oiseaux

Birdwatching Sites in Belgium

Hesbaye Refuges

NP Hoge Kempen

NPa Eifel

NPa Provinciaal Natuurpark Zwin

NR Uitkerkse Polder

NR Zwin

Wetlands

Natuurpunt Bree

2010 [05 May] - Mark E P Hows

2012 [08 August] - Mark Hows

La Ferme de l'Airbois

Breeding Birds Ringing Centre

Migration

Natuurbeleving

Natuurpunt

Natuurpunt

Natuurpunt Bocholt

Vivara

Vogelbescherming Vlaaderen

Young Belgian Birder

Photograper - Pierre Nowosad - Birds In Flight

Photographer

Photographer - Cedric Willekens

Photographer - Dany's Wildlife Photography

Photographer - Michael Van Bosch - Time Smuggler

Photographer - Nathalie Annoye - Lueurs Sauvages

Photographer - Nicolas Rasson - Naturasson