In the northern German federal states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, regular synchronised counts of all Bewick’s Swans are carried out during the winter season. Recorded data include total numbers, proportion of juveniles, and feeding habitats. The counts are organised by the respective Ornithological Working Groups (OAGs) of the federal states, and the data are subsequently processed centrally by the Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA, Federation of German Avifaunists).

The survey dates are aligned with the national waterbird counts and therefore always take place on weekends around the middle of the month. In Schleswig-Holstein, additional weekly counts are conducted from February to March to determine the peak number of staging birds.

Due to the considerable time and personnel requirements, interested volunteers are always sought — both for independent count areas and as substitutes. To make this easier, a count area exchange has been set up as part of the project. This platform is primarily intended for volunteer bird counters and allows suitable count areas to be found and booked directly.