For 20 years the Ural owl population has been growing again in Austria. This large, charismatic species of owl was declared extinct across the country in the middle of the 20th century due to habitat loss and killings. There are currently around 45 breeding pairs in the wild again, around a third of them in Vienna. This positive development is the result of one of Dr. Richard Zink´s projects, a resettlement project that he initiated in 2009, which is extremely successful. Since the start of the project, 460 young birds have been released from breeding facilities such as the zoo. The project is accompanied by a continuous monitoring programme. The genetic "fingerprint" of each animal is also stored in a database. In this way, individual birds can be observed in the wild and their breeding success documented. Webcams provide insight into nesting boxes, and foot rings with transmitters enable the animals' movements to be tracked. Some of them fly as far as the Czech-Bavarian border or to Slovenia, where they can connect to the existing Ural owl populations. This mixing is important in order to increase the genetic diversity and thus the resilience of the Austrian population.

The owls are doing particularly well in Vienna. In the Lainzer Tiergarten, where there are a lot of old trees, the Ural owl finds ideal breeding conditions, because the owls like to nest in tree hollows. But also in other areas, where the forest is managed less naturally, the animals are getting new breeding opportunities. Richard Zink and his team have been installing nesting aids in the Vienna Woods since 2011 (ideal are disused urban rubbish bins that are mounted high on trees).

More information about the project is available on the Ural Owl website.

2021-09-28

20 years ago Austria's heraldic animal, the white-tailed eagle, was still considered extinct in this country. The white-tailed eagle population has now grown to around 45 breeding pairs. A great success for nature conservation, which goes back to the strict Europe-wide protection. The research and protection programme of the nature conservation organization WWF is an essential part of this. Six young eagles in Lower Austria and Burgenland have now been equipped with GPS-GSM transmitters. The Donau-Auen National Park and Esterhazy Betriebe GmbH are important cooperation partners for this year's young birds. Together with the WWF, transmitters were attached to them at three locations - in the Danube floodplains, west of Lake Neusiedl along the Leithagebirge, and in the WWF reserve in the March-Thaya floodplains.

The feather-light telemetry tags do not impact the eagles´ movements and fall off by themselves after three to four years. Rings of the Austrian Ornithological Centre, which were also attached to the legs, ensure that the animals can be identified throughout their lifetime.

Press release of the WWF (in German)

2021-06-22

A European research team led by Vetmeduni Vienna has discovered a protective mechanism in migratory birds. According to the study, common quails are able to specifically safeguard their pectoral muscles from oxidative stress during migration. The researchers believe this mechanism is an essential factor in the ability of migratory birds to successfully complete their long flights.

The article „Controlled expression of the migratory phenotype affects oxidative status in birds“ by Valeria Marasco, Manrico Sebastiano, David Costantini, Gianni Pola and Leonida Fusani was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

2021-03-30

25 March 2021, 7-8 p.m.

In a Zoom-Webinar you can learn more about the work of the AOC. (The event is held in German.)

Meeting-Link: zoom.us/j/97610800452

Meeting-ID: 976 1080 0452

Registration not required

The blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is one of the most common songbird species in Europe - and also in Austria. In their area of ​​distribution, the small birds show a variety of different migration strategies. Ivan Maggini and Wolfgang Vogl, experts from the Austrian Ornithological Centre (Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Vetmeduni Vienna), examined these migration strategies in cooperation with colleagues from Germany (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön) using geolocators, which were attached to the backs of birds. During the study, the researchers found that some blackcap populations over-winter in the UK. It seems that blackcaps discovered the more favorable climatic conditions in Great Britain very quickly and adapted their migration behavior accordingly within a short period of time.

According to Maggini and Vogl, this study shows how the common blackcap helps to understand the flexibility and adaptability of migrating bird species to rapidly changing environmental conditions.

The article “Individual variability and versatility in an eco-evolutionary model of avian migration” by Delmore K. et al. was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

2021-03-22