Animal welfare

Breeding jackdaws in the climbing wall Hanging rock

The jackdaw loves a rocky home. However, especially during the breeding season, the animals are very sensitive and must therefore be protected.(Bild: Andreas Kirchner)

Information boards for climbers and nesting aids are intended to protect the endangered jackdaw population in Vorarlberg.

The jackdaw is endangered and likes to nest in rocky environments. While there were still three large colonies of the birds in Vorarlberg in the 1980s, the population declined dramatically in the following years and two colonies died out completely.

Lack of nesting sites
It is thanks to a species conservation project in the Swiss Rhine Valley that more birds have settled again - including in Vorarlberg. However, the animals still have to contend with a lack of nesting sites, or nesting sites that are not very suitable.

Some specimens are particularly creative and set up their nesting sites on the outer weights of construction cranes. Others, however, have settled in Nüziders, on the "Hanging Rock". This rock face is not the ideal place either, as around 300 climbing routes run along the wall.

Information boards for climbers
For this reason, the province, municipality, Alpine Club and BirdLife have now worked together to install information boards for climbers to mark the nesting sites. Provincial councillor Daniel Zadra (Greens) appeals to the climbing community not to use the affected routes between March 15 and June 15, as the birds are nesting at this time. Disturbances could lead to the parents leaving their young behind.