Animals in the city

The birds of the Seine in Paris: an astonishing biodiversity

The Île de France concentrates 20% of the population of France on 2% of its territory. Paris is the seventh most densely populated city in the world. Apart from the most common species, biodiversity is concentrated in parks, cemeteries and adjacent woods. But this glacis is also crossed by the Seine, which is an exception. It even shows increasing dynamics, at least as far as birds are concerned.

Cormorant on the banks of the Seine, near Austerlitz station, Paris, February 2024 © Olivier Favier

By: Olivier Favier Follow

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In 2008, a pair of kingfishers nested near the

Eiffel Tower

. If this bird does not swim, it obviously feeds on fish, which it knocks out and then swallows head first. The river is not its favorite space – it prefers water points and canals – and its flight is extremely fast – it can reach 80 km/h. We might as well tell you straight away, your chances of seeing one in Paris are almost zero.

Much more imposing, the great cormorant measures 90 cm with a wingspan of 1.50 meters. It also feeds on fish and makes up vast dormitories of several hundred individuals in Greater Paris – on Île-Saint-Denis, for example, or in Champigny-sur-Marne. During the day, the birds are scattered all over the Seine: you will see them around the Pont Royal or near the Austerlitz station, however in winter. In the summer, it goes to breed in Northern Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.

More and more nesting birds

Gulls and gulls have spent the winter in Paris for a long time. But gulls have also been nesting there since the end of the 1980s. Today there are around a hundred pairs of

herring gulls

– from the Atlantic coast – and a few Mediterranean cousins ​​– the yellow-legged gull. Since 2005, a few dozen pairs of black-backed gulls, another oceanic species, have appeared.

Seagulls are freshwater birds, which come from all over Eastern Europe, from Finland to Moldova via Poland and Lithuania. They flee the freezing of rivers but leave France in the spring. They therefore remain migratory birds. The closest colony of black-headed gulls is located a little outside Paris, in Villeneuve-La-Garenne. The tern is present in summer and spends spring and winter in tropical Africa.

More discreet, and also more surprising, the wagtail, a bird that is usually found in mid-mountains, has settled in Paris since the beginning of the 2000s – previously it was only seen in winter. With a little luck, you might spot one of the four or five couples who have taken up residence on the banks of Île

Saint-Louis

.

Cover of the “Atlas of breeding birds of Greater Paris”, LPO-Idf, 2020. Under the direction of Frédéric Mahler. © LPO-Idf

A positive dynamic

We will have understood it. As Frédéric Malher, scientific delegate of the Bird Protection League (LPO) Île-de-France, confirms, biodiversity on the Seine in Paris is experiencing positive dynamics.

“The first storks passed by the Alma bridge in January,”

recalls the latter, who lists a long list of species:

“I almost forgot the most obvious ones, the ducks and the swans.”

In addition to those who make their home on the banks of the river, others like the greylag geese make the connection between the two woods – Boulogne and Vincennes. In 2020, herons entered Paris from Courneuve, following the destruction of nests. A couple made a replacement clutch in the Buttes-Chaumont park and the following year two or three pairs settled. We can see them feeding in the Seine, but also in all the basins and bodies of water in the capital, to the chagrin of goldfish lovers.

On the other hand, global warming has reduced the number of northern winterers. The fact remains that the cold season is the most conducive to

ornithological observations

even if spring is undoubtedly the season of greatest diversity. Although the LPO organizes numerous outings in Paris and Île-de-France, the banks of the river are not currently favored because the distances to be covered are too great. However, nothing stops you from venturing there on your own.

Our selection on the subject

To read,

to listen:

• Atlas of breeding birds of Greater Paris

• The Seine in Paris: “Passing like a dream

• Fish bathe in the Seine

Our “animals in the city” series:

• The black crow, keen observer of human comedy

• The city rat: nature and history of an unloved person

• Grandeur and mystery of the city pigeon

• Foxes, rabbits, martens, sheep, parrots... the unusual animals of Paris

• The herring gull: a free and faithful neo-urban dweller

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