The Eastern German Bight Special Protection Area (SPA) is especially important to sea birds in the southern North Sea. The purpose of the site designation is to maintain and restore this unique marine area in its function as a feeding, wintering, moulting, transit and resting site for many endangered bird species. Key species include red-throated diver, black-throated diver, little gull, sandwich tern, common tern and arctic tern (Annex I species) and, among regularly occurring migrants, common gull, lesser black-backed gull, northern fulmar, northern gannet, black-legged kittiwake, common guillemot and razorbill. Extensive conservation objectives are laid down for these species in the legislation designating the site.
The outline of the site mainly reflects the distribution centres of two wintering species – the red-throated diver and the arctic loon. It is bounded to the east and south by the 12-mile zone (German territorial waters), where it adjoins the Heligoland sea bird conservation area and the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, both of which are nominated as Special Protection Areas under the European Birds Directive.
As the Eastern German Bight SPA overlaps the Sylt Outer Reef Natura 2000 site, it also includes important sandbanks and reefs, which serve as feeding habitats for the sea birds.
Key species in the SPA:
| Key species | Number in the SPA* | |
| Red-throated diver | 4.540 (Wi) | 3.300 (Sp) |
| Black-throated diver | 60 (Wi) | 280 (Sp) |
| Common tern | 240 (Su) | 900 (Au) |
| Arctic tern | 190 (Sp) | 650 (Au) |
| Sandwich tern | 140 (Su) | 70 (Au) |
| Little gull | 330 (Wi) | - |
| Common gull | 7.800 (Wi) | 1.700 (Sp) |
| Lesser black-backed gull | 1.600 (Su) | 1.100 (Au) |
| Great black-backed gull | 200 (Wi) | 501–1.000 (Au) |
| Black-legged kittiwake | 950 (Wi) | 3.500 (Su) |
| Northern gannet | 230 (Sp) | 110 (Su) |
| Common guillemot | 2.600 (Sp) | 1.300 (Wi) |
| Sp: Spring; Su: Summer; Au: Autumn; Wi: Winter | ||
| *Mendel et al. (2008): Profiles of Seabirds and Waterbirds of the German North and Baltic Seas, Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt, Issue 59 | ||
NATURA 2000 STANDARD DATA FORM
For sites eligible for identification as Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) and for Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
1011-401_SPA_Oestliche_Deutsche_Bucht_2009_03_31.pdf
Key conservation objectives
To ensure that the listed bird species survive and grow in number, and to safeguard their habitats, it is necessary to maintain and restore:
- The population size and population quality of the bird species, with the aim of attaining good conservation status taking into account natural population dynamics and population trends; species whose biogeographic population is shrinking are given special attention.
- The birds’ main direct and indirect food sources, and in particular the natural population densities, age range distributions and geographical distribution patterns of organisms serving the bird species as food sources.
- The site’s characteristic, heightened biological productivity at vertical fronts in the water, and its geo-hydromorphology with the related species-specific ecological functions and effects.
- Unfragmented habitats in the area, each with their own species-specific ecological functions and spatial interrelationships, along with unrestricted access between these habitats and neighbouring marine areas.
- The natural quality of habitats, and in particular their protection from pollution and harm, and protection of the bird populations from major disturbances.
Documents containing further information:
Ordinance Designating
the Eastern German Bight Nature Conservation Area , as of
15. September 2005
Bundesgesetzblatt Jahrgang 2005 Teil I Nr. 59,
ausgegeben zu Bonn am 23. September 2005
VO-OEDB-bgbl105s2782.pdf
Map of the
Eastern German Bight Nature Conservation Area
Annex to the Ordinance Designating the Eastern German Bight Nature
Conservation Area, as of 15. September 2005
nordsee-vo_vrl_2005-09-15.pdf
Importance of the SPA for red-throated and black-throated divers:
Red-throated and black-throated divers breed in Scandinavia during the summer. In autumn, they migrate south to their wintering areas, some of which are in German waters, where they stay from November to early March. The Eastern German Bight SPA protects the main parts of their wintering area in the German North Sea. They are found there in large numbers from late winter and on into spring (1 March to 15 May) while they build up sufficient fat reserves for the return journey to their northern breeding grounds.
Northern gannet (Sula bassana)
Sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis)
Black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus)
Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)
Common gull (Larus canus)
Red-throated diver (Gavia stellata)
Black-throated diver (Gavia arctica)