The German
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
of Liebitz lies in the lagoon of
Kubitzer Bodden
The Kubitzer Bodden is a type of lagoon known as a ''bodden'' on the Baltic Sea coast in the southwestern area of the island of Rügen in Germany. In the north the ''bodden'' is bounded by the ''Lieschow'' peninsula on Rügen. In the east and sout ...
about 700 metres west of Germany's largest island,
Rügen
Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...
, in the state of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
. It belongs to the municipality of
Dreschvitz.
The island is about 1,000 × 700 metres across and has an area of about 64 ha. In the west of this low island, only a few metres high, is the island's
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
core, which is increasingly being eroded by the water. In the east there are flat
salt meadows.
The island of Liebitz is part of the nature reserve named after it and lies within the
. It is forbidden to entering the bird reserve without permission. The eastern part of the island is the most densely populated by breeding birds. In addition to
black-headed gull
The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic including Europe and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds r ...
s,
common gull
The common gull or sea mew (''Larus canus'') is a medium-sized gull that breeds in the Palearctic, northern Europe. The closely related short-billed gull is sometimes included in this species, which may be known collectively as "mew gull". Man ...
s breed here in large colonies.
Sand martins settle on the steep coast of the morainic core. In addition, various species of
wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
,
ducks and geese breed on the island. The number of breeding pairs fell drastically after 1992, but has been stable since 1998.
External links
Website of the West Pomeranian Lagoon Area National Park
{{authority control
German islands in the Baltic
Bird reserves in Germany
Vorpommern-Rügen
West Rügen Bodden
Uninhabited islands of Germany
Islands of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Dreschvitz