Biodiversity in Budapest

The Danube, which bisects Budapest, had a great influence on the development of Budapest’s wildlife. In terms of character, the districts on the Buda side are more residential and recreational areas, while the Pest side is the center of industry, commerce and public administration, majority of parks and green areas are created by human hands. However, there are parts on both sides of the capital that have special and noteworthy wildlife and also three islands that belong to the city and whose wildlife differs from the parts of the big city.

GREEN PLACES

Places worth mentioning with special plants are mainly Gellért Hill and the entire wildlife of the Merzse Marshland. The largest standing water in Budapest dates back to the 16th century. Lake Naplás in the lake district, which immediate surroundings have been a landscape protection area since 1997. Lake Naplás, together with the nearby Cinkotai park forest and the Merzse Marshland, is an important resting place for many waterfowl during the spring and autumn bird migration periods. There are several excellent fishing waters in the city, of which the fishing spots provided by the Danube stand out, such as the Hárosi bay.

Erzsebet19 apartment Lake Naplas
Erzsebet19 apartment Budapest fauna

FAUNA

The most spectacular birds are rock dove, house sparrow, common swift, Eurasian collared dove, common blackbird and black redstart. There are also birds of prey, such as common kestrel, and some peregrine falcons. Periodically appearing migratory birds are also common is the area. In the parts of the river, Caspian gulls are processing the city’s waste, among them black-headed gull and common gull. The bird life of the Merzse Marshland is also very colourful, especially the European bee-eater and the Great Bittern. Naturally, the marsh is home to various species of frogs, toads and terrapins. On the Danube’s capital section, you can catch many species of fish such as pikeperch, wels catfish and common barbel in the current sections, while common carp, crucian carp, pike, asp fish, grass carp, various smaller fish and bream can be found more frequently in the quieter sections.

FLORA

The original vegetation of Budapest has survived only in the mountainous parts and only partially; the vast majority of the city’s plants have already been planted. These can be found on the one hand in the rows of trees planted next to the roads, and on the other hand in the city’s parks. However, it is worth mentioning the Somlatha (Ephedra distachya) living on Gellért Hill and Sas Hill, which is a highly protected medicinal plant. Another well-known plant of the Gellért Hill, which occurs only here in Hungary, is the highly protected Silene flavescens. Besides these there are several protected species, for example variegated horsetail (Equisetum variegatum), Wagner Chewings fescue (Festuca x wagneri) and the bunchgrass species (Stipa borysthenica).

Erzsebet19 apartment Budapest flora
Erzsebet19 Apartment