House martin elected Germany's Bird of the Year 2027

The house martin (Mehlschwalbe) has been named the ‘Bird of the Year 2027’ in Germany. The announcement, made on October 15, 2026, follows a public vote organized by NABU (Naturschutzbund Deutschland e. V.) and its Bavarian partner, the LBV (Landesbund für Vogel- und Naturschutz).

Out of more than 148,000 participants, the house martin secured 67,050 votes, accounting for 45.2 percent of the total. The bird succeeds the partridge (Rebhuhn) as the titleholder. Other contestants included the European pied flycatcher (Trauerschnäpper) in second place, the raven (Kolkrabe), the white-throated dipper (Wasseramsel), and the crane (Kranich).

The house martin, a summer visitor that builds mud nests on buildings, was selected to highlight conservation issues such as the decline of flying insects and the lack of suitable nesting sites on modern architecture. At the time of the announcement, the winning species was overwintering in Africa.