With pollution levels in Europe plummeting as millions of people are forced to remain indoors under the COVID-19 lockdown, cities are gradually seeing more animals and birds becoming bolder.
The nesting season has gathered pace and birds stand to benefit most from the quieter parks and streets.
There’s currently no shortage of ideas for how to spend those hours locked inside, so why not add birdwatching to the list!
Euronews spoke to Mya-Rose Craig, a 17-year-old ornithologist based in the UK but also known as ‘Birdgirl’. Born in 2002, she won the National Biodiversity Network’s 2018 Gilbert White Youth Award for recording terrestrial and freshwater wildlife. She also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol.
She explained the sort of birds we could see fly over Europe during spring.
“You’re going to have waders, you’re going to have ducks, you’re going to have smaller species of birds there should be some swallows and swifts flying through.”
“And I think now more than ever, it’s a really good time to really keep an eye out for the birds that are flying by to be able to get that connection to nature and the outdoors that you just might not be getting otherwise in quarantine.“
“We really are reaching peak migration season now,” added Craig. “My assumption would be that the bird numbers are going to spring up this summer because we’re all stuck inside.”
