"""English species profiles. Deliberately written rather than translated. A profile that reads like a translation reads badly — the German text leans on words like „Futterhaus" and „Streuobstwiese" that have no clean equivalent, and the facts worth telling differ slightly for an English-speaking reader. Same shape as ``species_info.py``: category, two paragraphs, and the short fields. Keys must match the slugs in ``species_de.py``. """ from __future__ import annotations from dataclasses import dataclass # Type names as shown in the interface. The keys match TYPES in species_info. TYPE_NAMES_EN = { "meise": "Tit", "fink": "Finch", "sperling": "Sparrow", "drossel": "Thrush", "schnaepper": "Chat", "grasmuecke": "Warbler", "specht": "Woodpecker", "rabenvogel": "Corvid", "taube": "Pigeon", "schwalbe": "Swallow", "greifvogel": "Raptor", "eule": "Owl", "klettervogel": "Climber", "buschvogel": "Skulker", "stelze": "Wagtail", "ammer": "Bunting", } ZUG_EN = { "stand": "Resident", "teil": "Partial migrant", "zug": "Migrant", } RARITY_EN = { "haeufig": "Common", "gelegentlich": "Occasional", "selten": "Rare", "episch": "Epic", "legendaer": "Legendary", } @dataclass(frozen=True) class InfoEN: kategorie: str nahrung: str lebensraum: str stimme: str text: str # fmt: off INFO_EN: dict[str, InfoEN] = { "kohlmeise": InfoEN( kategorie="The Loudest in the Garden", nahrung="Caterpillars and insects in summer, seeds and fat in winter", lebensraum="Gardens, parks and woodland — anywhere with a cavity to nest in", stimme="A bright “tea-cher, tea-cher”, like a squeaky bicycle pump", text=( "The bird most people notice first at a feeder. It is the largest tit in " "Europe, unmistakable with its black head, white cheeks and yellow belly. " "The black stripe running down that belly tells you the sex: broad and " "reaching between the legs on a male, narrow and often broken on a female." "\n\n" "Great Tits have a remarkably large vocabulary — more than forty distinct " "calls have been described, which is why birders say that anything you " "cannot place is probably a Great Tit. They are also problem solvers. In " "1920s Britain they learned to pierce the foil caps of doorstep milk " "bottles, and the trick spread across the country as one bird copied another." ), ), "blaumeise": InfoEN( kategorie="The Ultraviolet Signal", nahrung="Aphids and caterpillars, seeds and nuts in winter", lebensraum="Broadleaf woodland and mature gardens", stimme="A quick, tinkling “tsee-tsee-tsirrr”", text=( "Smaller and rounder than a Great Tit, with a blue cap, blue wings and a " "dark line through the eye that looks like a bandit's mask. The belly is " "yellow, though paler than its larger cousin's." "\n\n" "What we see is only half the story. The blue crown reflects ultraviolet " "light, and Blue Tits can see into the ultraviolet. To another Blue Tit " "that patch blazes far brighter than it does to us — and the brighter it " "is, the more attractive. Females choose mates partly on a colour that " "human eyes cannot detect at all." ), ), "tannenmeise": InfoEN( kategorie="The Hoarder", nahrung="Spruce seeds and small insects", lebensraum="Conifer woodland, gardens in winter", stimme="A high, two-note “see-too see-too”, faster than a Great Tit", text=( "The smallest tit here at just nine grams. The head is black like a Great " "Tit's, but with a white patch on the nape — that is the reliable mark. " "The underparts are buff rather than yellow." "\n\n" "Coal Tits cache food for winter, hiding seeds one at a time in bark " "crevices, and remember hundreds of sites for weeks. The part of the brain " "responsible measurably grows in autumn and shrinks again in spring." ), ), "schwanzmeise": InfoEN( kategorie="The Cotton Ball on a Stick", nahrung="Tiny insects, spiders, aphid eggs", lebensraum="Scrub, hedgerows and woodland edges", stimme="A thin “srrih-srrih”, usually from a whole passing party", text=( "A ball of feathers with a tail longer than the rest of the bird. " "Long-tailed Tits almost never travel alone — where there is one, eight " "more are on the way." "\n\n" "Their nest is among the finest structures built by any European bird: a " "closed pouch of moss and lichen lined with up to two thousand feathers " "and bound with spider silk, which stretches as the chicks grow. In winter " "they roost pressed together in a row along a branch — eight grams cannot " "survive a frosty night any other way." ), ), "haussperling": InfoEN( kategorie="The Lodger", nahrung="Seeds and scraps, insects for the chicks", lebensraum="Villages and cities — almost always alongside people", stimme="The familiar “cheep”, usually a chorus from inside a hedge", text=( "The house sparrow. Males wear a grey cap and a black bib; females are " "plain brown with a pale stripe behind the eye. The species has lived " "alongside humans for over ten thousand years and is scarcely found " "anywhere people are not." "\n\n" "Despite its abundance it is in trouble. Renovated facades leave no " "crevices to nest in and sealed surfaces produce no insects for the young. " "In some European cities the population has more than halved since 1990." ), ), "feldsperling": InfoEN( kategorie="The One With the Ear Spot", nahrung="Seeds and grain, insects while breeding", lebensraum="Field margins, orchards, village edges", stimme="Like a House Sparrow but higher and sharper", text=( "At a glance a sparrow, at second glance considerably smarter: a chestnut " "cap instead of grey, and a clean black spot in the middle of a white " "cheek. No other bird here has that ear patch." "\n\n" "Unlike the House Sparrow, males and females look identical. The Tree " "Sparrow is shyer and keeps its distance from buildings — if one turns up " "at your feeder, there is usually farmland or an old orchard nearby." ), ), "amsel": InfoEN( kategorie="The Early Riser", nahrung="Earthworms and insects, berries and windfall fruit in autumn", lebensraum="Gardens, parks and woodland — one of the great adapters", stimme="A rich, fluting song from a high perch, often before sunrise", text=( "Males are jet black with a bright yellow bill and eye-ring; females are " "an unassuming dark brown with a mottled breast. Anyone who sees a “brown " "blackbird” is looking at a female, not another species." "\n\n" "The Blackbird was originally a shy forest bird. It only moved into towns " "in the nineteenth century, and city birds now behave measurably " "differently from their woodland relatives: they sing at a higher pitch to " "cut through traffic noise, start earlier because street lights bring the " "day forward, and let people approach within two metres." ), ), "singdrossel": InfoEN( kategorie="The Snail Smasher", nahrung="Snails, worms and berries", lebensraum="Woodland with dense undergrowth, larger gardens", stimme="Short phrases, each repeated two to four times — the giveaway", text=( "Brown above, cream below with dark arrowhead spots. Smaller and neater " "than a Blackbird, and a warmer shade of brown." "\n\n" "Song Thrushes use a tool, or more precisely an anvil. They carry snails " "to a favoured stone and hammer the shells open on it. A stone ringed with " "broken snail shells is a thrush's anvil, and the same birds often use it " "for years." ), ), "wacholderdrossel": InfoEN( kategorie="The Winter Visitor", nahrung="Berries, fallen fruit, worms", lebensraum="Open country; large winter flocks in gardens", stimme="A harsh “shack-shack-shack”, usually in flight", text=( "Grey head, chestnut back, spotted yellowish breast. In winter they " "descend on apple trees and berry bushes in flocks — twenty thrushes " "appearing in a garden in January are almost certainly Fieldfares." "\n\n" "They defend their nests with a method worth seeing once: the whole colony " "bombards crows and raptors with droppings, aimed and in volume. It mats " "the plumage so thoroughly that an attacker can be grounded." ), ), "star": InfoEN( kategorie="The Impressionist", nahrung="Insects and grubs, masses of berries in autumn", lebensraum="Open country with trees, towns, pasture", stimme="A wild medley of whistles, rattles and borrowed sounds", text=( "Black from a distance; up close a metallic green and purple sheen flecked " "with pale spots. Heavily spotted in winter, the pale feather tips wear " "away by spring and the bird turns almost uniformly glossy." "\n\n" "Starlings mimic whatever they hear: other species, phone ringtones, car " "alarms, lawnmowers. Their murmurations are famous — tens of thousands of " "birds moving as one cloud. Each individual tracks only its seven nearest " "neighbours; the shape of the whole flock emerges from that alone." ), ), "rotkehlchen": InfoEN( kategorie="The Territory Holder", nahrung="Insects, worms and berries — follows the spade", lebensraum="Undergrowth, hedges, gardens with cover", stimme="A wistful, silvery song, sung through winter and at dusk", text=( "The orange-red breast runs up into the face; the rest is olive-brown. " "Males and females are identical. Young Robins have no red at all, which " "keeps their own parents from treating them as rivals." "\n\n" "For despite the friendly reputation, Robins are uncompromising. They hold " "territory year-round and will attack their own reflection. In experiments " "they attack a bare tuft of red feathers. Up to a tenth of adult Robins " "die in fights with their own kind." ), ), "hausrotschwanz": InfoEN( kategorie="The Gutter Dweller", nahrung="Insects, some berries in autumn", lebensraum="Buildings, quarries, industrial sites — originally cliffs", stimme="A scratchy song that sounds like gravel being shaken", text=( "Dark grey to almost black with a rust-red tail that it shivers " "constantly. That shivering is the surest way to name it at fifty metres. " "Females are plain grey-brown but share the same red tail." "\n\n" "It originally nested on mountain cliffs. Houses, barns and factory halls " "are cliffs with better engineering, and most of the population now lives " "in settlements. It is among the first to sing in the morning, often " "before the Blackbird." ), ), "gartenrotschwanz": InfoEN( kategorie="The Long-Haul Flier", nahrung="Insects taken in flight or from the ground", lebensraum="Old orchards, open woodland, mature gardens", stimme="A short, melancholy phrase with a distinctive twist at the end", text=( "Far more colourful than its cousin: the male has a black throat, white " "forehead, grey back and a burning orange breast. A bird worth going out " "of your way for." "\n\n" "It winters in the Sahel south of the Sahara — some five thousand " "kilometres each way for a bird of fifteen grams. Numbers have fallen " "sharply because two things failed at once: old orchard trees with " "cavities here, and rainfall in the Sahel there." ), ), "trauerschnaepper": InfoEN( kategorie="The Nest Box Tenant", nahrung="Flying insects caught on the wing", lebensraum="Broadleaf woodland, parks, gardens with nest boxes", stimme="A simple, slightly wooden “zick-zick tru-tru”", text=( "In spring the male is crisply black and white with a white forehead spot " "and a bold wing panel. Females and autumn males are brown — the same " "species, an entirely different impression." "\n\n" "It takes to nest boxes more readily than almost any other species, which " "has made it one of the best-studied birds in Europe. Its problem is " "climate change: it times its departure from Africa by day length, but the " "caterpillars its chicks depend on now hatch earlier in the warmth. It " "increasingly arrives after its own banquet has ended." ), ), "grauschnaepper": InfoEN( kategorie="The Sit-and-Wait Hunter", nahrung="Flies, midges and moths — taken exclusively in flight", lebensraum="Woodland edges, gardens, churchyards", stimme="A thin, unremarkable “tsri” that is easy to miss", text=( "Nondescript grey-brown with fine streaking on the breast. Easy to " "overlook, but the behaviour gives it away: it sits upright on an open " "perch, launches, snaps up a fly and returns to exactly the same twig. " "Again and again." "\n\n" "You can sometimes hear the bill snap shut. It is among the last migrants " "to return in spring — rarely before mid-May, because before then there " "simply is not enough flying." ), ), "buchfink": InfoEN( kategorie="The One With an Accent", nahrung="Seeds, insects for the chicks", lebensraum="Woodland, gardens and parks — one of Europe's commonest birds", stimme="A descending rattle finishing with a flourish", text=( "The male has a blue-grey cap, a russet breast and two bold white wing " "bars. Females are olive-brown but show the same white bars, which is how " "you name them in flight." "\n\n" "Chaffinches have regional dialects. A bird from Bavaria sings measurably " "differently from one in Schleswig-Holstein, and the boundaries between " "dialects can be drawn on a map. Young finches learn the song from their " "neighbours; one raised in isolation manages only a stammer." ), ), "gruenfink": InfoEN( kategorie="The Seed Cracker", nahrung="Large, hard seeds — sunflower hearts above all", lebensraum="Gardens, parks, churchyards", stimme="A drawn-out, nasal “dzweee” like a slow squeak", text=( "Olive-green with yellow flashes along wing and tail that catch the light " "in flight. Males are a stronger yellow-green, females greyer." "\n\n" "Its heavy conical bill cracks sunflower seeds that defeat the tits. At a " "feeder it is dominant and drives smaller birds off the best spot. One " "caution: Greenfinches are particularly prone to trichomonosis, which " "spreads through soiled food and water. Cleaning feeders regularly matters." ), ), "stieglitz": InfoEN( kategorie="The Thistle Specialist", nahrung="Thistle and teasel seeds, alder and birch seed", lebensraum="Rough ground with tall herbs, orchards, wilder gardens", stimme="A bright, tinkling call, cheerful and unmistakable", text=( "The most colourful finch here: a scarlet face, a black-and-white head and " "a broad golden wing bar. Males and females look nearly the same." "\n\n" "Its long, fine bill reaches seeds inside thistles and teasels that " "nothing else can get at. So if you want Goldfinches, the single most " "useful thing is to leave dead flower heads standing over winter. A tidy " "garden is an empty larder to them." ), ), "erlenzeisig": InfoEN( kategorie="The Irruption Guest", nahrung="Alder and birch seed, spruce seed", lebensraum="Conifer and mixed woodland; alders and feeders in winter", stimme="A wheezy “tsooee” and constant chatter within the flock", text=( "Small, yellow-green and finely streaked, the male with a black cap. They " "hang upside down from alder cones the way tits hang from a fat ball." "\n\n" "Some winters they are everywhere, others almost absent. It depends on the " "spruce and alder seed crop further north: when it fails, whole " "populations move south. Such irruption years cannot be predicted." ), ), "gimpel": InfoEN( kategorie="The Bullfinch", nahrung="Buds, seeds and berries — fruit tree buds in spring", lebensraum="Conifer woodland, gardens with hedges, churchyards", stimme="A soft, mournful “deu” — quiet and easy to miss", text=( "The male carries the strongest colour of the whole winter half-year: a " "glowing rose-red breast, black cap, grey back and a white rump. Females " "are grey-brown instead of red but marked identically." "\n\n" "Bullfinches are strikingly calm and not especially shy — they can be " "watched at length and rarely flush in a hurry. Pairs often stay together " "for life and keep close contact even within a winter flock." ), ), "girlitz": InfoEN( kategorie="The Smallest", nahrung="Very small seeds of herbs and grasses", lebensraum="Settlements with conifers, vineyards, churchyards", stimme="A hurried, jangling whirr like clockwork running down", text=( "Europe's smallest finch at eleven grams. Yellow-green, heavily streaked, " "with a very short blunt bill — that is what separates it from a Siskin." "\n\n" "It spread north from the Mediterranean only in the nineteenth century. " "Its song flight is worth watching: it flutters over its territory like a " "butterfly, with slow, exaggerated wingbeats." ), ), "kleiber": InfoEN( kategorie="The Upside-Down Walker", nahrung="Insects from bark, nuts and seeds in winter", lebensraum="Mature broadleaf woodland, parks, gardens with big trees", stimme="A loud, ringing “twit-twit-twit”, carrying surprisingly far", text=( "Blue-grey above, buff-orange below, with a black eye-stripe, a short tail " "and a strong pointed bill. It looks like a small woodpecker without the " "prop of a stiff tail." "\n\n" "It is the only bird here that can walk head-first down a tree trunk — " "woodpeckers and treecreepers only manage upwards. Its German name comes " "from plastering: if the entrance to its nest hole is too wide, it walls " "it in with mud to the size it wants." ), ), "zaunkoenig": InfoEN( kategorie="The Loudest per Gram", nahrung="Spiders and small insects from ground cover", lebensraum="Dense scrub, brush piles, stream banks, wild garden corners", stimme="A startlingly loud, ringing trill — up to 90 decibels", text=( "Tiny, round and rust-brown, with the tail cocked steeply upward. Nine " "grams, and one of the loudest birds in Europe — relative to body size, " "the loudest of all." "\n\n" "The male builds several nests and leads the female round so she can pick " "one; the rest serve as winter roosts. In hard frost more than a dozen " "Wrens have been found packed into a single such ball. It lives in ground " "cover, so a garden cleared of every bramble loses it." ), ), "heckenbraunelle": InfoEN( kategorie="The Understated One", nahrung="Small insects, fine seeds in winter", lebensraum="Hedges, scrub, densely planted gardens", stimme="A quick, even warble with no clear melody", text=( "At first glance a sparrow; at second glance far finer — a slender bill " "instead of a stout cone, a grey head and breast, a streaked brown back. " "It creeps mouse-like along the ground beneath bushes." "\n\n" "Behind that grey exterior sits the most complicated love life in the " "garden. Dunnocks often live in threes or larger arrangements, females " "with several males and the reverse. Males feed the chicks in proportion " "to how likely they are to be the father." ), ), "moenchsgrasmuecke": InfoEN( kategorie="The Black Cap", nahrung="Insects in summer, berries and elder in autumn", lebensraum="Undergrowth, hedges, gardens with shrubs", stimme="Quiet chatter building to a clear, fluting finish", text=( "Grey and unremarkable except for the cap: black on males, red-brown on " "females. A rare case where the sexes are unambiguous and both handsome." "\n\n" "Its migration is changing in front of us. A growing share of the central " "European population now winters in Britain rather than Spain, drawn by " "garden feeding. Those birds return earlier in spring and take the best " "territories. Evolution at speed, set off by bird feeders." ), ), "zilpzalp": InfoEN( kategorie="The One That Says Its Name", nahrung="Tiny insects and larvae gleaned from foliage", lebensraum="Woodland with undergrowth, gardens, parks", stimme="Exactly what it is named for: “chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff”", text=( "A tiny olive-green bird with no obvious features — barely separable from " "a Willow Warbler by eye. There is one mark: dark legs. The Willow Warbler " "has pale ones." "\n\n" "Fortunately you do not need to see it. The song is so distinctive that " "the bird is named after it in several languages, and it is among the " "first migrants back in spring. The first chiff-chaff in March means " "winter is over." ), ), "buntspecht": InfoEN( kategorie="The Drummer", nahrung="Grubs from deadwood, conifer seeds, fat in winter", lebensraum="All woodland types, parks, gardens with old trees", stimme="A sharp “kick”, and in spring a fast drum roll on dead wood", text=( "Black and white with a vivid red vent. The male has a red patch on the " "nape, the female none; juveniles have an entirely red crown." "\n\n" "Drumming, it strikes up to twenty times a second at a deceleration of " "around a thousand times gravity. The skull works as a shock absorber: " "spongy bone at the forehead, a hyoid that wraps right around the " "braincase, and a brain packed so tightly it cannot slosh. The drumming " "is not feeding, incidentally — it is song, and it marks territory." ), ), "gruenspecht": InfoEN( kategorie="The Ant Hunter", nahrung="Ants, almost exclusively, summer and winter", lebensraum="Old orchards, parks, gardens with short grass", stimme="A loud ringing laugh — the “yaffle”, audible across the garden", text=( "Large and green with a red crown and a black facial mask. The male's " "moustache has a red centre; the female's is solid black." "\n\n" "It behaves unusually for a woodpecker: rather than chiselling wood it " "spends most of its time on the lawn, digging out ant nests. Its tongue is " "up to ten centimetres long, sticky and barbed. In winter it tunnels " "through snow to reach nests, which makes hard frosts more dangerous for " "it than for most species." ), ), "elster": InfoEN( kategorie="The Self-Recogniser", nahrung="Anything — insects, carrion, scraps, eggs, fruit", lebensraum="Settlements and open country with scattered trees", stimme="A hard, rattling “chack-a-chack-chack”", text=( "Black and white with a long tail that shows metallic green and violet in " "sunlight. Unmistakable." "\n\n" "Magpies pass the mirror test: given a coloured mark on the throat that " "they can only see in a mirror, they try to remove it. They recognise " "themselves — something otherwise shown only in great apes, dolphins and " "elephants. The reputation as an egg thief is overstated: studies find no " "measurable effect on songbird populations. Habitat loss and domestic cats " "do that." ), ), "eichelhaeher": InfoEN( kategorie="The Forest Planter", nahrung="Acorns and beech mast, insects and eggs in summer", lebensraum="Broadleaf and mixed woodland, gardens in winter", stimme="A harsh, screeching alarm — the burglar alarm of the woods", text=( "Pinkish-brown with a black-and-white head, a white rump, and a barred " "blue-and-black wing patch that is among the finest feathers in Europe." "\n\n" "A single Jay buries up to five thousand acorns each autumn, each in a " "different spot. The ones it forgets germinate, which makes it one of the " "most important planters of oak woodland, carrying acorns uphill for " "kilometres to places they would never reach alone. It is also a fine " "mimic, and does a convincing Buzzard." ), ), "dohle": InfoEN( kategorie="The One With Pale Eyes", nahrung="Insects, seeds and scraps — highly adaptable", lebensraum="Church towers, ruins, old trees, city centres", stimme="A bright, clipped “kya” — the source of its scientific name", text=( "The smallest corvid here: slate grey with a black cap and a silver-grey " "nape. The striking feature is the eye — pale ice blue, unique among our " "crows." "\n\n" "Jackdaws are strictly monogamous and stay together for life, often more " "than ten years. Colonies have a firm pecking order, and a female " "automatically assumes her partner's rank on pairing. Konrad Lorenz " "studied social behaviour in Jackdaws and called them the most political " "birds he knew." ), ), "rabenkraehe": InfoEN( kategorie="The Toolmaker", nahrung="Genuinely anything — carrion, insects, grain, refuse, eggs", lebensraum="Everywhere: fields, woods, cities, car parks", stimme="The familiar harsh “caw”, usually three times", text=( "All black with a heavy bill, recognisable in flight by the fingered " "wingtips. Not to be confused with the Rook, which has a pale bare patch " "at the base of the bill." "\n\n" "Crows are among the most intelligent animals alive. They drop nuts onto " "roads for cars to crack and collect them at pedestrian crossings when the " "lights are red. They recognise individual human faces, remember who " "wished them harm, and pass that information to other crows — including " "ones that were never there." ), ), "kolkrabe": InfoEN( kategorie="The Largest Songbird", nahrung="Carrion, small mammals, eggs, refuse", lebensraum="Woodland, crags and open country; avoids settlements", stimme="A deep, resonant “kronk”, nothing like a crow's caw", text=( "Noticeably larger than a Carrion Crow, nearly the size of a Buzzard, with " "a wedge-shaped tail, a massive bill and shaggy throat feathers. In flight " "it soars and rolls, which crows do not." "\n\n" "The largest songbird in the world — corvids count as passerines despite " "their size. Ravens solve multi-step puzzles that defeat four-year-old " "children, plan for the future, and trade objects for better ones. In " "nineteenth-century Germany the species was almost exterminated and has " "only spread back in recent decades." ), ), "ringeltaube": InfoEN( kategorie="The Largest of Its Kind", nahrung="Seeds, grain, buds and acorns", lebensraum="Woodland and farmland, increasingly city parks and gardens", stimme="A muffled five-note coo, often all day in summer", text=( "The largest pigeon here. Blue-grey with a pink breast, a white patch on " "the side of the neck and bold white wing bars in flight." "\n\n" "That white neck patch — the “ring” of the name — is entirely absent in " "juveniles and grows in over the first winter. Wood Pigeons feed their " "young on crop milk, a nutrient-rich secretion produced by both parents. " "That frees them from the insect season, which is why they go on breeding " "into October." ), ), "tuerkentaube": InfoEN( kategorie="The Coloniser", nahrung="Seeds, grain, bread scraps", lebensraum="Villages, suburbs, gardens with conifers", stimme="A monotonous three-note coo, repeated without end", text=( "Slim and sandy-buff with a narrow black half-collar on the nape. " "Distinctly smaller and paler than a Wood Pigeon." "\n\n" "One of the fastest range expansions ever documented: in 1930 it was " "confined to the Balkans, by 1945 it had reached Germany, by 1960 Britain. " "It colonised a continent in thirty years without anyone releasing it. Why " "it suddenly set off has never been fully explained." ), ), "rauchschwalbe": InfoEN( kategorie="The Good Omen", nahrung="Flying insects, caught exclusively in the air", lebensraum="Barns and stables, open country with livestock", stimme="A twittering chatter ending in a dry rattle", text=( "A metallic blue-black back, rust-red throat and forehead, and a deeply " "forked tail with long streamers. It nests inside — in stables and barns, " "not on an outside wall." "\n\n" "Barn Swallows do almost everything on the wing: feed, drink, bathe, even " "mate. Streamer length signals fitness, and females choose the longest. " "Their numbers hang directly on farming — without open stables and insects " "over pasture they disappear, and that is exactly what has been happening." ), ), "mehlschwalbe": InfoEN( kategorie="The Mud Mason", nahrung="Flying insects, usually higher up than a Barn Swallow", lebensraum="House walls, bridges, colonies on buildings", stimme="A dry, rasping twitter", text=( "Blue-black above, entirely white below, with a conspicuous white rump " "that separates it from a Barn Swallow at any distance. The tail is only " "shallowly forked, with no streamers." "\n\n" "Its closed nest under the eaves is built from roughly a thousand mud " "pellets, each flown in separately. Puddles and bare mud are therefore its " "livelihood — in a sealed new-build estate it simply cannot find building " "material. The nests are protected year-round, even when empty." ), ), "mauersegler": InfoEN( kategorie="The Endless Flier", nahrung="Aerial plankton — tiny insects and ballooning spiders", lebensraum="Tall buildings, cavities under roofs, towns", stimme="A shrill, drawn-out scream over the rooftops on summer evenings", text=( "Scythe-shaped wings, a short forked tail, uniformly dark brown. Despite " "the resemblance it is not a swallow at all but a swift — its closest " "relatives are hummingbirds." "\n\n" "After leaving the nest a young Swift may stay airborne for up to ten " "months without landing once: it feeds, drinks, mates and sleeps in " "flight, one brain hemisphere at a time. It only lands to breed. Its legs " "are so reduced it can barely take off from flat ground. It is here for " "about a hundred days a year, early May to early August." ), ), "bachstelze": InfoEN( kategorie="The Tail Wagger", nahrung="Insects picked from the ground while walking", lebensraum="Open ground, watersides, car parks, rooftops", stimme="A bright “chissick”, usually given in bounding flight", text=( "Black and white with a long tail and grey back. It walks briskly across " "open ground rather than hopping, wagging its tail without pause." "\n\n" "Why it wags has never been settled. The most convincing explanation is " "that it signals to a predator: I have seen you, an attack is not worth " "it. In winter Wagtails like to roost communally somewhere warm — " "glasshouses, industrial plants, lit city centres." ), ), "goldammer": InfoEN( kategorie="The One With the Mnemonic", nahrung="Seeds, insects in summer", lebensraum="Field margins, hedges, open country with bushes", stimme="Remembered in English as “a little bit of bread and no cheeeese”", text=( "The male has a brilliant yellow head and breast with a chestnut rump. " "Females are duller and more heavily streaked." "\n\n" "It sings from exposed perches, often for hours in the midday heat when " "everything else has fallen silent. The song ends on a drawn-out note that " "makes the species unmistakable. It is uncommon at feeders — it prefers to " "feed on the ground beneath and needs open fields nearby." ), ), "sperber": InfoEN( kategorie="The Ambush Hunter", nahrung="Small birds, taken in flight", lebensraum="Woodland, gardens, settlements — hunts feeders deliberately", stimme="A rapid “kew-kew-kew”, mostly while breeding", text=( "Short broad wings and a long tail — built to turn between branches, not " "to fly fast in a straight line. Males at 150 grams are far smaller than " "females at up to 300, an extreme difference even for a raptor." "\n\n" "When every bird at a feeder vanishes at once and it stays silent for " "minutes, a Sparrowhawk has usually just been through. It hunts from " "cover, using hedges and house corners as screens, and is visible only at " "the last moment. That is no reason to stop feeding — it belongs there, " "and a feeder with cover nearby gives the small birds a fair chance." ), ), "turmfalke": InfoEN( kategorie="The Hoverer", nahrung="Voles, plus large insects and small birds", lebensraum="Open country, church towers, tower blocks, motorway verges", stimme="A rapid, shrill “kee-kee-kee”", text=( "A rusty-brown back with dark spots, pointed wings and a long tail. The " "male has a grey head and a grey tail with a black band; the female is " "barred brown throughout." "\n\n" "Its hovering flight is unmistakable: it holds station in the air with the " "head absolutely still while the body works. What it is looking for we " "cannot see — vole urine reflects ultraviolet light, and Kestrels see into " "the ultraviolet. To them the runs through the grass glow." ), ), "maeusebussard": InfoEN( kategorie="The Commonest in the Sky", nahrung="Voles, earthworms, carrion — often at the roadside", lebensraum="Copses, woodland edges, farmland everywhere", stimme="A mewing “peee-ow”, often mistaken for a Red Kite", text=( "Broad wings, a short rounded tail, and extremely variable plumage from " "nearly white to nearly black. Circling over a field with wings held in a " "shallow V, it is the commonest raptor in Germany." "\n\n" "It will of course never perch in a bird house. If the camera catches one " "it will be overhead or on a fence post nearby. That is exactly why it " "ranks high in this collection: not because it is rare, but because it is " "rarely in front of this lens." ), ), "steinkauz": InfoEN( kategorie="The Bird of Athena", nahrung="Voles, beetles, earthworms", lebensraum="Old orchards, pollarded willows, old barns", stimme="A plaintive, rising “goooek”, carrying far at night", text=( "Small and squat with a flat head and piercing yellow eyes under bold " "white brows that give it a permanently stern expression. Barely twenty " "centimetres tall." "\n\n" "It was the sacred bird of Athena, which is why an owl still appears on " "the Greek one-euro coin — “carrying owls to Athens” traces back to it. " "Unlike most owls it is often active by day. In Germany it is " "endangered through the loss of old orchards and pollarded willows. In " "front of a camera it is the greatest catch imaginable." ), ), } # fmt: on