Overview
- NABU and LBV announced the result after 184,044 people voted nationwide, with the grey partridge taking 81,855 votes, or 44.5 percent.
- The bird topped a field that included blackbird, long-eared owl, barn owl and little grebe.
- NABU reports an 87 percent decline in Germany since 1980, citing monocultures, pesticide use and the loss of hedges, field margins and fallows.
- Current German population estimates vary by source, ranging roughly from 28,000 to 61,000 breeding pairs.
- Conservation groups call for restoring small-scale field structures, expanding flowering strips and fallows, reducing pesticides and adjusting mowing to protect nests and chicks.