Birding in & around Frankfurt: The Palmengarten

Frankfurt is the financial capital of Germany. It is well known although the city limits inhabit only roughly 600,000 people. But the greater Frankfurt area of course is much more populated. If you are on business in Frankfurt and have some spare time between two meetings and you are a birdwatcher, you might be interested to know, where you can find good places to walk a bit and enjoy birding for typical european birds.

One of these sites is the Palmengarten. On an area of approx. 22 hectares near the old american embassy and just north-west of the towers of the banks, the Palmengarten botanical gardens display a range of interesting and beautiful plants. Almost every kind of exotic flora growing around the world can be found here, right in the middle of Frankfurt. The Tropicarium, an ensemble of 14 modern-looking greenhouses, houses a wealth of tropical and subtropical species. Climates around the world are perfectly simulated here, from the lush green rainforests and monsoon forests to the sultry mangroves and dry desert with giant prickly cacti.

But the park is a heaven for birds, too. You will find resident birds like Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus), Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius), Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), European Serin (Serinus serinus), Wood Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) and even Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) but also introduced species like Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus). All the bird, but the Egyptian Goose in particular are quite tame due to the masses of visitors frequenting the park. In springtime it is a big show to see the Egyptian Goose aggressively fighting each other before the mating.

Parks in Frankfurt that could be good for some birding besides the Palmengarten and adjacent Grüneburgpark (underground stop Bockenheimer Warte) are the cemetery Hauptfriedhof or the former BUGA-area at the small river Nidda flowing through the north of Frankfurt´s suburbs (e.g. Roedelheim, Praunheim).

There are other places in nearrer surroundings but access is a bit tricky. Please contact via the contact form if I can give further directions or even guide you. Please leave a valid e-mail-adress, so  I can respond to you!!

3 comments

  1. Hello Jonas,
    I am very fond of birding. Looking for someone to bird with or at least some pointers to some of the good birding places in and around Frankfurt. I am also find of owls and would be great if you could help me with that one too.
    Thanks in advance

  2. Hi Jonas
    I’m cabin crew staying over at Sheraton Hotel at the airport for a few days 16th-20th Dec and then again 12th- 18th Jan on both trips hope to have some free time for birding..after staying at the Steignberger Hotel earlier in the year had the pleasure of walking around the forest close picking up some common species usually see in the UK and some not Black and Grey headed Woodpecker Firecrest what other species could I easily get here with a bit of time spent in there. Is there anywhere close by you could recommend I will possibly have more time in January unsure how many days I’m actually flying?

  3. What is the sweet sounding bird that likes to be high on a steeple near dusk. It’s a fairly large bird. It sings so sweetly. Spring time bird I think. I used to see and hear it in Meintz.

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