Winter guests

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The Granchettes water bird reserve on Lake Geneva offers protection from hunters and humans in general (Verena Keller/vogelwarte.ch) vogelwarte.ch

The common pochard (aythya ferina) - estimated number between 75,000 and 100,000 (imagepoint/RDB) RDB

Tufted duck (aythya fuligula) - 150,000 to 200,000 (imagepoint) imagepoint

The Eurasian teal (anas crecca) - 5,000 to 8,000 (imagepoint) Reiner Bernhardt/imagepoint

Bird island in the Fanel nature reserve on Lake Neuchâtel (johannesvandergeest) johannesvandergeest

Red-crested pochard (netta rufina) - 20,000 to 25,000 Switzerland is partially responsible for the well-being of this species under the so-called Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Verena Keller/vogelwarte.ch) Niklaus Zbinden/vogelwarte.ch

Cormoran (phalacrocorax carbo) - 5,000 to 6,000 birds (imagepoint) imagepoint

Tens of thousands of different duck species end their journey at Lake Constance, like here near Kreuzlingen (Urs Keller/Ex-Press) Urs Keller / ex-press

Male gadwall (Anas strepera) - around 10,000 (imagepoint) imagepoint

Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - 45,000 - 50,000 Lake Constance is an important wintering site for these birds (keystone) Keystone

A nature reserve along the River Aare near the Swiss capital Bern (imagepoint) imagepoint

Male common goosander (mergus merganser) - 5,000 (Stefan Huwiler/imagepoint) Stefan Huwiler/imagepoint

Mallard (anas platyrhynchos) - 50,000 - 55,000 One of the most widespread water fowl species in Europe (imagepoint) imagepoint

Sunset on Lake Biel (imagepoint) biel-seeland.ch

Common goldeneye (bucephala clangula) - around 9,000 These birds spend their winters on lakes and rivers near forests as well as on dam reservoirs (Reiner Bernhardt/imagepoint) Reiner Bernhardt/imagepoint

Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - 25,000 to 30,000 Around ten per cent of all of Europe's great crested grebes spend winter in Switzerland (Erich Lüscher/vogelwarte.ch) Lüscher Erich/vogelwarte.ch

Winter impressions on Lake Sempach (foto-zimmerli/imagepoint) imagepoint

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Europe's birds feel right at home in Switzerland when the air turns cold.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of water fowl spend the winter in Switzerland. For the past 60 years, volunteers have counted them, with results that show how important Swiss waterways are as a refuge for these birds.