(Talk in German)

VetmedTalk: Heute verstehen. Morgen verändern.

12 December 2022 | 5-6 p.m. | Online 

Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees: Countless details block the view of the big picture. With this VetmedTalk, the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, together with the experts from the Donauauen National Park and the Austrian Federal Forests, wants to offer a comprehensive overview of the special features of the forest habitat. For a healthy future for animals and humans, we need a healthy forest.

Austria is a densely wooded country: 3.5 billion trees cover almost 50 percent of the national area and form a diverse habitat for a wide variety of animals. Deer and rabbits, foxes and hedgehogs, but also many birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles make the forests a unique ecosystem. The VetmedTalk "Green Lungs" presents exciting research projects from veterinary medicine and examines how the health of animals and the health of humans are related through the forest habitat.

Forests are essential for us humans. They produce oxygen for our air, wood for our furniture, store our drinking water, prevent floods and protect against mudslides and avalanches. We use the "green lungs" in our free time as a place to relax, and as a huge carbon store, they are also an important instrument in climate protection. At the same time, the forest is a habitat for countless animal species, flora and fauna in the forest are essential for a healthy environment. Nevertheless, we humans have a massive impact on the life of these forest ecosystems through climate change and intensive forest use.

How can humans and animals coexist and thrive in the forest? And what can veterinary medicine contribute to climate protection and biodiversity?

In 2022, the Vetmeduni will focus on communication on "Life on land", UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 15, with a special habitat focus each quarter. It started with air, followed by fresh water and meadows , and the forest ecosystem now concludes the series. The last VetmedTalk of this year is about the status quo of our forest dwellers and how we can protect their habitat. Science communicator Bernhard Weingartner and his guests will answer questions from the online audience.

Experts

• Claudia Bieber, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Vetmeduni
• Edith Klauser, Nationalpark Donauauen
• Alexandra Wieshaider, Austrian Federal Forests
• Richard Zink, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Vetmeduni

Moderation

• Bernhard Weingartner, Science communicator and initiator of the Science Slam Austria

Stream

Live online stream at www.vetmeduni.ac.at/vetmedtalk-wald

2022-11-17

Banding together may pay off for subordinate males

Male spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) build and defend a structure of sticks and straw - the bower. They decorate these nests with colourful objects to attract mates during the breeding season. Certain non-resident subordinate males are tolerated by resident males in their bowers over multiple breeding seasons. Previous research has shown that these male coalitions bring indirect benefits to subordinate males. So far, however, it has been unclear whether lower-ranking males also have direct advantages. A current study by the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the Vetmeduni shows for the first time that in rare cases the lower-ranking birds benefit directly from copulation opportunities.

The study documents four cases of sneaky matings or mating attempts by subordinate males. The cases were observed in the bowers of spotted bowerbirds during the 2018 breeding season. Several non-resident males disrupted ongoing copulations between the bower-owner and a receptive female, and these events were followed by vigorous aggressive interactions. "These observations shed new light on same-sex social dynamics in bowerbirds and support the hypothesis that subordinate males are sexually mature individuals who occasionally gain access to females while visiting established bowers," said study first author Giovanni Spezie of the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology at the Vetmeduni.

First observation of extremely rare events

The rarity of the events now observed is remarkable. Extensive observations have been made on spotted bowerbirds for several decades - but so far, none of the observed copulation events has been documented. Study lead author Leonida Fusani from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology at Vetmeduni: “The fact that we were able to record at least four independent observations in different individuals strongly indicates that sneaky copulations are not an isolated and abnormal behaviour. Rather, it is a behavioural pattern or alternative reproductive strategy used by subordinate males.”

Beta profits from Alpha – male coalitions are profitable

Male-male coalitions have so far been observed particularly in birds such as manakins, grouse, peacocks, wild turkeys and bowerbirds. A common feature of most courtship coalitions is that a dominant "alpha" male accounts for all or most copulations, while subordinate "beta" males abstain from breeding and have no—or very limited—access to mates. Sacrificing reproductive potential for a male association may seem paradoxical, but it has direct and indirect benefits for the subordinate males. The animals benefit indirectly, for example, from taking over the position of the alpha male after his death or from learning behaviour that is important for successful mating from him. As it turns out, they also derive direct benefits from clandestine mating with females.

The article "Sneaky copulations by subordinate males suggest direct fitness benefits from male-male associations in spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus)“ by Giovanni Spezie and Leonida Fusani was published in „Ethology“.
 

Scientific article

2022-11-30

Do bigger heads necessarily mean bigger brains? The study of brain size (as a proxy for cognitive ability) is rather difficult in wild animals, and scientists have tried to find ways to measure brain size without harming the animals. Head size has been used in the past and seems to work for some species – but not for all. In a study on quails by Vetmeduni scientists and researchers from Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland, researchers found that it was head height, rather than overall head volume was a better predictor of brain size, However, it turns out that every species is different and needs to be assessed separately.

At least in part, the brain’s capacity to process cognitive processes depends on the mass of neural tissue involved – the more tissue, the more information can be processed. In fact, studies often find a positive relationship between brain size and cognitive performance. However, the majority of these studies are based on comparisons between different species. A growing number of scientists is now trying to understand how more subtle differences between individuals of the same species are related to their cognitive skills, which is often a big challenge when studying animals in nature. To do so researchers require techniques that do not interrupt the natural life cycle of wild birds.

A first study of barn swallows proposed to use external head measurements, which require handling but not the sacrifice of the individual bird, as an accurate approximation for brain mass.

A team of researchers from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology (KLIVV) of the Vetmeduni, together with researchers from Poznań University, Poland employed this method for the first time in a small Galliform, the Common Quail. They measured both the external head dimensions of the birds as well as the weight of their brains and tested how well these two measurements were related to each other.

Head height is crucial

Although the scientists found that these measurements were correlated, the correlation values were not very strong. This means that external head measurements really cannot be used reliably to predict an individual’s brain mass with high confidence. Instead, the best predictor of brain mass was not head volume per se, as was previously shown in barn swallows, but the height of the head alone.

“Our results show that the model that explained the highest proportion of variance in brain mass contained only one head measurement, the head height,” says Valeria Marasco, one of the two first authors of the study. “Nevertheless in our study species, the Common quail, this measure explained only a small proportion of the variance in brain mass of different birds. Studies on other species have found a much more significant effect of one or the other variable.”

It is likely, therefore, that other factors also explain the variation. “For example, average beak lengths in different species could influence head measurements,” says Joanna Białas, joint first author of the study. Interestingly, brain size was not at all related to body mass or length of the bird overall. Brain size has evolved from other aspects of an animal´s morphology.

The researchers recommend validating the original method of external head measurements in each avian species before making assumptions on how these measurements might be related to brain size and cognitive performance. More studies across diverse bird species are also needed to elucidate potential relationships between relative brain size, body parameters, and sex.
 

The article “Are external head measurements a reliable predictor of brain size in the Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix)?” by Joanna T. Białas, Valeria Marasco, Leonida Fusani, Gianni Pola, and Marcin Tobółka was published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology.

Scientific article

2022-11-17

A mother´s stress during pregnancy can affect physiological and behavioural individual characteristics of their offspring in many species.  However, the environment and care of offspring after birth can modulate these characteristics. There have been many studies about the effects of maternal care in mammal species, but there has been surprisingly little research into the same effect in bird species.

An international team of scientists studied the extent to which prenatal maternal stress in Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica), and the emotional response associated with it, can be modulated by the presence of an adoptive mother during the chicks´ development. For this experimental study, they observed chicks whose mothers had experienced a socially unstable environment during laying and egg production, because social instability during egg laying and brooding is known to increase the emotional reactivity of the mothers´ offspring.

To assess the effect of mothering, the researchers raised the chicks either with or without an adoptive quail mother. They found out that those chicks who were raised with a mother, were less anxious, for example in the presence of novel objects or when being separated from their mates.

These results clearly highlight the fundamental importance of a mother´s presence in modulating stressful events before and after birth, even in a precocial species (in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching), such as quails. It may be a key mechanism driving phenotypic plasticity (i.e. all types of environmentally induced changes) in wild populations.

The article “The presence of a mother counteracts prenatal stress in a precocial bird” by C. Houdelier, M. Charrier, O. Le Bot, N. Aigueperse, V. Marasco, and S. Lumineau was published in Animal Behaviour.

Zum wissenschaftlichen Artikel

2022-10-27

Sight, smell or both? How birds find their way back to a feeding site was the subject of a recently published study conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. The researchers observed great tits and were able to show that olfaction is an essential tool for finding one's way, even in familiar surroundings. These findings highlight that in birds the sense of smell is indeed more important for orientation than previously thought.

The great tit (Parus major) is a common songbird with a wide distribution range. It is a welcome guest at birdfeeders in winter and therefore focus of a  recently published study. A team of scientists tested whether great tits use odours from the environment to find their way back to feeding sites. The researchers captured the birds and in some of the individuals, they briefly dampened their sense of smell by rinsing their noses with zinc sulfate. Afterwards, all birds were released - some in the immediate vicinity and another subset of the animals was let go at a distance of 1.5 km.

Great tits with unaltered olfactory capacity returned more quickly to their home range

Both, the great tits with a reduced sense of smell and those with a normal sense of smell found their way back to the feeding sites. "This result did not surprise us at first, as we deliberately released the birds within their familiar environment," explains study first author Katharina Mahr from the Vetmeduni's Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology. "It is interesting, however, that birds with a diminished sense of smell needed significantly more time to return. This effect is pronounced when the birds were released at a greater distance. Our results indicate that odours serve as an important source of information for orientation in a familiar environment, despite the existence of visual cues."

A good sense of smell helps to optimise foraging efficiency

According to the researchers, certain smells and scent cues in the familiar environment could serve as a reliable source of information for finding one's way around. “Similar results have already been obtained for migratory birds. But especially for species such as great tits, which often overwinter in breeding areas, orientation and navigation by means of smell could help to optimize foraging in times with little food supply, for example in the winter,” says last author Herbert Hoi, also from the Vetmeduni’s Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology. According to Hoi the results of the study strongly emphasise that olfaction might be of greater importance for the orientation of avian species than previously thought, thereby contributing to the understanding of the functional contexts of smell in avian life.

Chemistry in the air

Airborne chemicals function as sensory cues for many organisms, and their use in navigation may be one of the most important evolutionary mechanisms that explains the development of olfaction in animals. Despite solid evidence for the importance of olfaction in avian life – for example, in foraging or mating – the importance of chemical cues for avian orientation remains largely debated. Olfaction in songbirds is, despite their remarkable orientation skills, surprisingly understudied.

The article "Songbirds use scent cues to relocate to feeding sites after displacement: An experiment in great tits (Parus major)“ by Katharina Mahr, Linda Nowack, Felix Knauer, and Herbert Hoi was published in „Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution“.

Scientific article

2022-09-09

In many animal species there is strong competition among males to find a willing female partner. For this reason, elaborate courtship rituals have evolved, notably in many bird species who often perform dances that show off their strength and beauty, or, as in the case of bowerbirds, even create a special “stage” to charm females. But despite strong selective pressures inherent in competition for mates, in some species males accept same-sex visitors at display arenas.

Bowerbirds perform courtship dances on elaborate display structures — known as bowers — that are built and defended by one resident male. Several reports have suggested that bower owners tolerate the presence of so-called ‘subordinate’ male visitors at their display arenas, though their role has received little attention. It has been suggested that subordinate males may learn the skills required for successful sexual signalling via prolonged social interactions at adults’ arenas, but it remains unclear whether courtship proficiency changes with experience. It may also be that subordinates actively contribute to enhancing the resident male’s mating success, yet little is known about whether this is the case.

In a study, scientists from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology and the University of Vienna investigated male-male associations in wild spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus). They first sought to determine whether courtship behaviour differs based on bower ownership status. They then examined whether social interactions between bower owners and subordinate males may qualify as courtship coalitions.

Rudimentary courtship coalitions

Their analysis did not reveal differences between subordinate males and bower owners in specific parameters of courtship related to behavioural flexibility, but they found evidence that male-male associations in spotted bowerbirds may actually be an example of rudimentary courtship coalitions. The subordinate males may in fact be helping the bower owner, even if not by displaying cooperatively or by actively defending the arena from destruction by neighbouring marauders, by sheer strength in numbers that would discourage other males’ attempts to destroy the arenas. The magnitude of subordinate attendance correlated with owner males’ mating success (number of copulations). The researchers also found that male coalitions are stable in subsequent years. The findings point to the possibility that subordinate males in this species may not associate with bower owners as part of a form of apprenticeship, but rather may get other benefits from establishing long-term partnerships. One hypothesis is that saturation of suitable display sites may force sexually mature subordinate males to “queue” in order to gain ownership of established arenas when these become available. Moreover, the male partnerships may allow subordinate males to establish dominance hierarchies with surrounding males and gain social competence.

In the study the researchers also observed a few occurrences of subordinate males copulating or attempting to. Thus subordinate males may also obtain direct fitness benefits from such courtship coalitions — i.e. occasional access to females.

This study provides novel information about social dynamics among male bowerbirds, and further insights into the evolution of coalitionary behaviour in male displays. Further study is needed, for example to find out how these coalitions are formed, and whether subordinate males selectively choose their model, or whether bower owners tolerate some subordinate males and repel others.

The article “Male–male associations in spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) exhibit attributes of courtship coalitions” by Giovanni Spezie and Leonida Fusani was published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

Scientific paper

2022-08-29

Woodpeckers taste sweet, but wrynecks—unusual woodpeckers that specialize on ants—lost the ability to taste sugars

Many mammals have a sweet tooth, but birds lost their sweet receptor during evolution. Although hummingbirds and songbirds independently repurposed their savory receptor to sense sugars, how other birds taste sweet is unclear. Now, an international team of researchers shows that woodpeckers also regained sweet taste. Interestingly, wrynecks, specialized ant-eating woodpeckers, selectively reversed this gain through a simple and unexpected change in the receptor. These results demonstrate a novel mechanism of sensory reversion and highlight how sensory systems adapt to the dietary needs of different species.

Birds, the descendants of carnivorous dinosaurs, lack part of the sweet receptor found in mammals. This should leave them insensitive to sugars. However, recent studies have shown that both hummingbirds and songbirds have regained the ability to sense sugar by repurposing their savory receptor to now detect carbohydrates in fruits and nectar. How other birds sense sugars, and the extent to which taste receptor responses track the immense dietary diversity of birds, is unclear. To investigate this question, Julia Cramer and Maude Baldwin from the Research Group Evolution of Sensory Systems at the Max Planck for Ornithology/Max Planck for Biological Intelligence, together with colleagues from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Meiji University, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science focused on woodpeckers. Although primarily insectivorous, this group of birds also contains multiple species that include sugar-rich sap, nectar, and fruits in their diets.

Using behavioral tests of wild birds, Baldwin’s group showed that woodpeckers clearly prefer sugar and amino-acids over water. Surprisingly, wrynecks – a member of the woodpecker group whose diet is almost exclusively composed of ants – displayed preferences for amino acids but not sugars. “Our next question was whether the observed sugar preference is mirrored by the birds’ receptors,” recaps Baldwin.

Functional analyses of taste receptors confirmed that woodpecker receptors were sensitive to sugars, whereas those of wrynecks were not. Interestingly, ancestral reconstructions indicated that the common ancestor of wrynecks and woodpeckers already possessed a modified savory receptor capable of responding to sugars. “This finding unveiled a third case of independent sugar-sensing evolution via modification of the savory receptor in birds”, says Cramer, the study’s first author. “Yet, what was even more exciting was the implication that wrynecks subsequently lost the receptor’s new function.”

Cramer’s meticulous dissection of differences between wryneck and woodpecker receptors revealed unexpectedly that changes in only a single amino acid in the wryneck receptor selectively turned off sugar-sensing: the birds kept their ability to taste savory, which is likely important for insect-specialist birds that consume a protein-rich diet.

These results trace an evolutionary history in which an early gain of sugar sensing in woodpeckers —possibly arising in an earlier ancestor and therefore older than woodpeckers themselves — was followed by its reversion when the wryneck receptor was later altered. “We were very surprised to find that this reversion is caused by changes in only one single amino acid, acting as a molecular switch to selectively regulate sugar sensitivity in wrynecks,” explains Cramer. “Unexpectedly, the result of this small change is that wrynecks are now again unable to detect sugar in their food but have retained the receptor’s ability to gather information on specific amino acid content. This makes a lot of sense when most of your diet is made up of ants.”

Further investigation will be required to describe how specific changes in taste receptors, and in other physiological and sensory systems, are related to the rich dietary diversity across birds.

The article "A single residue confers selective loss of sugar sensing in wrynecks" von Julia F. Cramer, Eliot T. Miller, Meng-Ching Ko, Qiaoyi Liang, Glenn Cockburn, Tomoya Nakagita, Massimiliano Cardinale, Leonida Fusani, Yasuka Toda, Maude W. Baldwin was published in Current Biology.

Scientific article

2022-08-18

For more than ten years, power poles have not only provided saker falcons with a habitat, but also with a place where their young can grow up safely.

The species, which was almost extinct in Austria in the 1970s, has recovered significantly, among other things since the APG cooperation project with BirdLife Austria and the Austrian Ornithological Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. “The total of 130 nesting boxes that were attached to APG power poles, primarily in northern Burgenland, Lower Austria and Vienna, are becoming increasingly popular with the falcons. This year we observed around 40 breeding pairs in the nest boxes,” says Stefan Walehrach, press spokesman for APG.

Annual ringing of the offspring

Traditionally, standard ringing takes place in the first half of the year, as soon as the young birds have reached their third week of life and fledge shortly thereafter. "This measure helps us not to lose sight of the population and to gain valuable data on the flight routes of the falcons," explains Richard Zink, wildlife ecologist at the Austrian Ornithological Centre at the Vetmeduni.

The saker falcon is a bird species that does not build its own nests and is therefore dependent on high and quiet places. Two requirements that are met by nesting aids on power poles. If there are no tall old trees for nesting in the landscape, power poles offer a good alternative. “The cooperation shows enormous successes that one would never have expected. The project now enjoys a high reputation internationally,” says a delighted Richard Zink. The EVN subsidiary Netz NÖ has also joined the project. "Of course it's particularly nice when our powerline projects go hand in hand with nature and species conservation, as is the case with the saker falcon," says Michael Kovarik, press spokesman for Netz NÖ.

Power grids not only secure the power supply, but also contribute to nature conservation

For more than 25 years, APG, which is responsible for the security of electricity supply in Austria and plays a central role in the secure transformation of the energy system, has been setting an example for biodiversity (nature conservation and species diversity) with targeted habitat management in the area and along the power infrastructure or protection of fauna and flora.

Areas along the APG network infrastructure help to provide a habitat for endangered animal species and support the diversity of flora. Central aspects are:

•     The design of a nature-friendly energy transition
•     Compensatory measures, especially for endangered animal and plant species
•     Ecological route management in regular operation and under specific space-related framework conditions (e.g. floodplain landscapes, nature protection zones)
•     Promotion of natural nesting aids

APG's electricity infrastructure supplies generations of people in Austria with secure electricity. We also assume this generational responsibility in the area of ​​sustainable nature conservation.

*translated from an APG press release, August 11, 2022

About the Saker falcon project of the AOC

Since 2010, the Austrian Ornithological Centre (AOC), together with BirdLife Austria, has been regularly surveying the population of native saker falcons during the breeding season. While the AOC concentrates on the artificially created nesting sites on the high-voltage pylons, BirdLife takes over the control of those sites that are suitable for natural breeding. In this way, AOC and BirdLife form a strong partnership for the saker falcon in Austria. Together they ensure close monitoring of the populations across the entire Austrian distribution area.

Video: Sakerfalken-"Kinderzimmer" on power poles

Thanks to the project of the Austrian Ornithological Centre (Vetmeduni/Uni Vienna) at the AOC branch in Seebarn, there are now little owls in the vineyards of the Ulzer winegrowers. The little owl is a strictly protected bird species whose population was already severely depleted. In Seebarn there are now around 50 pairs of little owls in the Schmidatal-Pulkautal-Wagram-Kremstal region, also thanks to the nest boxes that the Ulzer family built in the vineyard in cooperation with the ornithologist Dr. Richard Zink from the Austrian Ornithological Institute.

The researcher even found six chicks in one of the nest boxes, although little owls usually raise between two and four young birds. The Seebarn winegrowers Andreas and Michael Ulzer have already taken part in the little owl project with eleven nesting boxes in the vineyard, and pairs of little owls have also nested in their vineyard hut. The winegrowers even show their pride in this project with a wine created especially for it: the "Steinkauz Athene" (Grüner Veltliner), which grows in the vineyard near the hut.

Richard Zink now hopes that additional winegrowers in the region will be involved in the protection project. After all, the winegrowers also benefit: little owls eat one or two mice a day, as well as wine pests such as cockchafers and larger insects.

More about the Little owl project

2022-06-20

This year songbirds will be ringed and measured as part of a monitoring project at Die Garten Tulln location on 12 dates. Prof. Leonida Fusani (University of Vienna/Vetmeduni Vienna) and his colleague Petra Pesak, MSc (University of Vienna) were able to develop the project idea „Gartenvögel Niederösterreich“ ("Garden Birds of Lower Austria") thanks to the financial support of the Province of Lower Austria together with the cooperation partners Die Garten Tulln and the Biodiversity hub of the Donau-Uni Krems . The investigations aim to better understand the effects of climate change and altered cultural landscapes on the bird world. By ringing or capturing and re-capturing individually marked birds, the ornithologists can draw conclusions about biodiversity and population changes. In addition, the new initiative is also intended to raise public awareness of the ecological importance of the garden and provide close-up insights into a scientific method.

Visitors can watch the bird ringers at work every hour on the full hour on the following dates: 2 June, 14 June, 22 June, 30 June, 13 July, 22 July, 3 August, 11 August, and 24 August.

2022-05-30

On Saturday, May 21st After a Corona-related break, the open house of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna finally took place again. Researchers and veterinarians presented the topics of their work to a broad public with a variety of demonstration and hands-on stations. The team of the Austrian Ornithological Centre (AOC) was also represented again and aroused great interest among the visitors. Richard Zink, head of the Seebarn branch of the ornithological station, together with Elena Kmetova-Biro, presented various nesting boxes for different owl and other bird species and talked about our efforts to protect our feathered fellow residents. Herbert Hoi, ornithologist at the KLIVV also presented interesting information on the breeding behaviour and habitat of various native birds and other animal species.

A total of 2,700 people visited the Vetmeduni campus and found out about the diverse tasks and opportunities at our university.

The day was an important contribution to our mission to carry the knowledge gained through our research beyond teaching, into wider society.

2022-05-23

Even abandoned and unused, railways clearly beat roadways in environmental terms, as demonstrated by a Polish team, under the lead of Marcin Tobolka, who is now visiting scientist at Vetmeduni. The study, funded by National Science Centre (Poland) has been recently published in Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. The study examined abandoned railway lines with regard to their quality as a habitat for birds. Unused railway tracks make an attractive habitat for birds, offering a variety of opportunities and considerable biodiversity. The abandoned infrastructure is of great relevance especially where birds are displaced from their traditional habitats due to agricultural intensification.

Over a study period of a year the two researchers compared three different habitat types – unused railway lines, dirt road verges and fields – in terms of bird abundance and species diversity. The scientists recorded a total of 9,678 individual birds from 99 bird species, counting 4,614 individuals from 80 species along unused railway lines, 3,124 individuals from 73 species along dirt roads in farming areas, and 1,940 individuals from 60 species in agricultural fields.

As these types of structures have a high potential as alternative habitats and are beneficial for nature conservation, they should be considered in landscape planning programmes. Unused railway lines may be used among several tools to mitigate biodiversity loss in farmland, which is also one of the goals of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy, as the study authors point out.

The article "Unused railway lines as a contributor to bird abundance, species richness and diversity in intensively managed farmland“ by Łukasz Dylewski and Marcin Tobolka was published in „Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment".

Die study was supported by the National Science Center (Poland); Project 2016/21/N/NZ8/01289

Scientific article

Vetmeduni press release

2022-05-03

There is surprisingly little scientific information on the behaviour of birds with their young in the nest. A current international study led by Herbert Hoi from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, now shows that the influence of the weather is a determining factor that affects aspects such as breeding performance, food supply, but also nest use.

The study used hoopoe chicks (Upupa epops) to investigate the influence of different weather conditions on breeding performance, food supply and use of nest space. Study author Herbert Hoi says: "In particular, the place where the parents hand over the food and the size of the prey can lead to different use of the nest space by the nestlings. Parental feeding strategy and prey size are, in turn, influenced by weather conditions, which are the most important determinants of nest interior use by chicks.” The study also provides important new insights into communication between parents and their offspring.

Chicks supplied with large prey were more likely to remain hidden in a more distant nest area, whatever the weather. The prey is the most important factor directly influencing the use of nest space, which indicates a crucial role of large insects for the hoopoe. In addition, it was shown that long-term effects of the weather influence the entire food supply of the chicks and thus their behaviour. It is therefore to be expected that climate changes will have consequences for the population of the hoopoe.

According to the research team, the findings are also of great relevance for nature conservation and provide new insights into the theoretical basis of habitat selection.

The article „Influence of different weather aspects on breeding performance, food supply and nest‑space use in hoopoe offspring“ by Soňa Nuhlíčková, Ján Svetlík, Manfred Eckenfellner, Felix Knauer, and Herbert Hoi was published in „Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology“.

2022-04-20

Scientific paper

Vetmeduni Press release

The little owl was widespread in our country until the 1970s. Today this small owl species is one of the most endangered bird species in Austria. Until recently, its population was only estimated at about 100 pairs, which are mainly found in eastern Austria.

The destruction of its habitats due to the intensification of agriculture endangers the little owl. The result: the little owl can no longer find any hiding places or nesting sites. Since little owls originally lived in tree steppes with low and sparse vegetation, vineyards are very suitable as a substitute as a hunting ground. To support the declining population of the little owl, the ornithological station in Seebarn is now beginning to install nest boxes in local vineyards. The goal is a significant increase in the current population, it will be interesting to see how well the nesting aids will be accepted in the coming years.

Of course, the purchase of crucial living space elements costs money. Each new little owl territory needs two nesting boxes and at least one day shelter. We appreciate your support our work, we are happy about every donation, no matter how small.

Donate to help the little owl
 

2022-04-07

On migration, most passerine birds stop over along the way to rest and refuel. A network of hormones signals metabolic fuel availability to the brain in vertebrates, including the recently discovered gut-hormone ghrelin. Here, we show that ghrelin participates in the control of migratory behaviour during spring migration in a wild migratory passerine. We administered ghrelin to yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata coronata) caught during stopover and automatically radio-tracked their movements following release. Ghrelin rapidly induced birds to move away from the release site, indicating that the ghrelin system acts centrally to mediate stopover departure. The effects of the hormone treatment declined within hours following release and did not affect the overall rate of migration. These results provide experimental evidence for a pivotal role of ghrelin in the modulation of stopover decisions during migration, and offers insights into the regulatory functions of metabolic hormones in the dialogue between gut and brain in birds.

The study was a collaboration with Christopher G. Guglielmo, Scott A. MacDougall-Shackleton, and Yolanda E. Morbey of the Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, Canada, and Hiroyuki Kaiya of the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Japan.

Funding was provided by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Global Fellowship 798739 GHRELMIGRA to Sara Lupi.

The article "Experimental ghrelin administration affects migratory behaviour in a songbird" by Sara Lupi, Yolanda E. Morbey, Scott A. MacDougall-Shackleton, Hiroyuki Kaiya, Leonida Fusani, Christopher G. Guglielmo wurde in der Zeitschrift Hormones and Behavior veröffentlicht.

Scientific article
 

2022-03-21