Birds are important elements of urban areas, promoting both ecosystem function and human well-being. Counting birds in cities requires resources that are not always available. Therefore, using easily measured variables to infer bird abundance and diversity in urban green spaces is critical for effectively informing urban conservation and planning.

The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index can be easily and cost-effectively retrieved from multispectral satellite imagery, and is commonly used to monitor vegetation cover. NDVI has also been used for predicting urban bird occurrence and diversity, although rarely at different spatial scales. Therefore, we examined whether NDVI can be used as a proxy for the occurrence and distribution of bird species in the green spaces of Kavala in Greece.