New paper on urban kestrels

New paper by MSc alumni Tom Nilles, Lukas Hochleitner and colleagues on urban kestrels showing that nestlings which were being raised in more urbanised areas displayed, unrelated to the burden of ectoparasites, a more bluish face colouration and an overall less intense colouration which was furthermore associated with a lower concentration of circulating carotenoids absorbed through the diet. Our results support the hypothesis that the entire urban food chain is carotenoid deprived and only prey of low quality with low carotenoid content is available (e.g., fewer carotenoids in urban trees -> insects -> small birds -> kestrels).

Publication in The Science of Nature:
Sumasgutner, P., Nilles, T., Hykollari, A., de Chapa, M.M., Isaksson, C., Hochleitner, L., Renner, S. & Fusani, L. (2023) Integument colouration and circulating carotenoids in relation to urbanisation in Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus). The Science of Nature, 110. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-023-01874-5

 New paper: Absence of Referential Alarm Calls in Long‑term Allopatry from the Referent

Communication signals that denote specific objects in the environment, known as referential signals, are shaped by several ecologically important drivers, such as the extent of geographic overlap between signalers and referents, social learning, and direct experience with the referent. In this study, we measure vocal and physical response to familiar and unfamiliar sound stimuli in yellow warblers on the Galapagos Islands. The yellow warbler is a useful focal species to explore questions about the contexts in which referential alarm calls occur because of the specificity for production of its anti-parasitic “seet” calls and because multiple populations of yellow warblers exist with varying exposure to obligate brood parasites. Our study explores referential alarm calling in a context without personal or social experience/learning (due to ~ 300,000 year insular separation from mainland brood parasites), and the findings are starkly different, as no anti-parasitic calls were produced at all on the Galapagos Islands, compared to mainland warblers allopatric from brood parasites for only ~ 6000 years, which are still able to produce referential anti-parasitic calls.

Publication in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology:
Lawson S L, Fernandez-Duque F, Enos JK, Kleindorfer S, Ward MP, Gill SA, Hauber ME (2023).  Absence of referential alarm calls in long-term allopatry from the referent: A casy study with Galapagos Yellow Warblers. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 77:99 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-023-03372-0

 New Alumnus: Sophie Horlebein

Congratulations to Sophie Horlebein on her graduation! Sophie has worked on "Egg turning behavior and hatching success in Greylag geese (Anser anser)", and thus completed the MSc program Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition at the University of Vienna. The thesis was supervised by PD Dr. Didone Frigerio (University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 Welcome Varalika

We welcome our new PhD student Varalika Jain! Varalika is specializing in the analysis of movement and accelerometer data from GPS-tagged eagles, with a focus on understanding their responses to spatial and temporal patterns in human activity. She holds an MSc in Conservation Biology from the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, where she worked on common ravens and their exploitation of anthropogenic food sources. Varalika is passionate about developing open-source, accessible methods and code to analyse both animal and human movement data, and is particularly interested in applying bio-logging as a tool to tackle various conservation challenges.

 Welcome Avila

Avila is studying Ecology in the Master's program at the RPTU - University of Kaiserslautern-Landau and completed a semester abroad at the University of Vienna in the field of behavioral, neurological and cognitive biology. For her master's thesis at the KLF, she is investigating the predatory behavior of ravens in captivity at different developmental stages and in different contexts.

 New paper: Age effects in Darwin's finch males

Older age can be beneficial and in animals, more experienced individuals may select different nesting areas that increase survival. This study on Darwin's finches tests if older males build safer nests in areas with greater vegetation cover and -- because vegetation cover is associated with biodiversity richness -- if these nest sites also have greater avian species diversity assessed using song. We compared patterns in Darwin’s Small Tree Finch (Camarhynchus parvulus) and Darwin’s Small Ground Finch (Geospiza fuliginosa) as males build the nest in both systems. We measured vegetation cover, nesting height, and con- vs. heterospecific songs per minute at 55 nests (22 C. parvulus, 33 G. fuliginosa). As expected, in both species, older males built nests in areas with more vegetation cover and these nests had less predation. A novel finding is that nests of older males also had more heterospecific singing neighbors. Future research could test whether older males outcompete younger males for access to preferred nest sites that are more concealed and sustain a greater local biodiversity. The findings also raise questions about the ontogenetic and fitness consequences of different acoustical experiences for developing nestlings inside the nest.

Publication in Journal of Ornithology:
Huge AC, Adreani NM, Colombelli-Négrel D, Akçay C, Common LK, Kleindorfer S (2023). Age effects in Darwin’s finches: older males build more concealed nests in areas with more heterospecific singing neighbours. Journal of Ornithology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-023-02093-5

 New Alumnus: Alexander Ruf

Congratulations to Alexander Ruf on his graduation! Alex has worked on "Effects of early social experiences on exploration and foraging in juvenile ravens (Corvus corax)", and thus completed the MSc program Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition at the University of Vienna. The thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Thomas Bugnyar (University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 New paper: personality traits are consistent within but not across life stages in a wild songbird

When does personality become a consistent trait across different life stages? To answer this, we measured personality in nestling, fledgling, and adult birds in the superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus). We assessed (1) boldness (response to human handling, at all three stages), (2) exploration (response to a novel environment, in fledglings and adults) and (3) aggressiveness (response to mirror-image stimulation, in fledglings and adults). Personality differences were often consistent within life stages but never across them. By adulthood, all three personality traits were repeatable. Our results suggest that long-term personality traits may not become entrenched until adulthood in this species.

Publication in Behaviour:
Katsis, A., Common, L., Hauber, M., Colombelli-Négrel, D., & Kleindorfer, S. (2023). From nestling to adult: personality traits are consistent within but not across life stages in a wild songbird, Behaviour (published online ahead of print 2023). doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10224

 We would like to introduce our new PostDoc: Dr. Lauren Common

We warmly welcome Lauren and look forward to working with her!

Dr. Lauren Common is a parasitologist and ornithologist fascinated by invasive species, reproductive behaviour and personality in birds and insects. Lauren recently completed her PhD at Flinders University supervised by Prof. Sonia Kleindorfer and colleagues. Her thesis explored the changing host-parasite dynamics between Darwin's finches and the invasive blood-sucking Avian Vampire Fly (Philornis downsi). As a part of her postdoc, Lauren will continue her research into the genetics of the Avian Vampire Fly across the archipelago, and its consequences for the conservation of the avifauna of the Galapagos.

 Visit Dean's office and Dean Team

We were very pleased about the visit of the Dean's team and the team of the Dean's office of the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Vienna!

 New paper: Impact of drones on fitness and energy demand in koalas

Koala are suffering population crashes after the devastating bushfires in Australia in recent years, and urgent conservation monitoring is needed. Drones can be useful to monitor species across large landscapes and difficult-to-access areas. But what impact do drones have on animals? We developed a non-invasive methodology to measure heart rate in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) using a Fitbit and investigated the behavioural (vigilance behaviour) and physiological (heart rate and breathing rate) responses of captive koalas to drones. We showed for the first time that heart rate values in koalas can be accurately obtained with a Fitbit. Koalas responded to a drone flight conducted 15 m above their heads with a short-term increase in vigilance, but no change in heart rate or breathing rate. Our results suggest that drones may not have long-term detrimental effects on koalas’ fitness or energy demands and adds to the growing literature investigating animals’ responses to drones to help develop best practices for drone monitoring.

Publication in Applied Animal Behaviour Science:
Colombelli-Négrel, D., Sach, I.Z., Hough, I., Hodgson, J.C., Daniels, C.B. and Kleindorfer, S., 2023. Koalas showed limited behavioural response and no physiological response to drones. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, p.105963. doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2023.105963

 New paper: Quality of contributions to bird monitoring by Citizen Scientists

Long-term monitoring of  data on animal behavior is an important source for science to develop new, testable hypotheses. For the collection of such long-term data, the involvement and participation of citizen scientists is an asset for science and society. Verena Pühringer-Sturmayr, Didone Frigerio and colleagues have evaluated the reliability of the data collected in this way in a study. Together with citizen scientists, they investigated the spatial distribution of three model bird species (gray geese, wood bustards and common ravens) and evaluated the accuracy of the data collected by the volunteers.

Publication in Environmental Research Letters:
Pühringer-Sturmayr V, Rittenschober J, Gegendorfer G, Kleindorfer S, Frigerio D (2023). Assessing quality of contributions to avian monitoring by non-scientists: a case study on individually banded wild birds. Environ. Res. Lett. 18. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acd073

 Welcome Jakob

We welcome our new master's student Jakob Schorn who is studying Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition (Master) at the University of Vienna. For his Master's thesis Jakob will investigate Species -diversity and -dominance among secondary hole nesting birds with varying degrees of human presence at three different nesting sites near the Konrad Lorenz Research Center.

 Welcome Iraí

We welcome our new master's student Iraí Paetow de Jesus who is studying Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition (Master) at the University of Vienna. For his Master's thesis Iraí will investigate whether greylag geese are able to distinguish life-size images of themselves, mates and other conspecifics. He also wants to find out if the agonistic behaviour of males is more common during the mating season.

 Happy Easter!

Happy Easter and wonderful holidays!

 Welcome Johanna

We welcome our new master's student Johanna Weber, who is studying Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition (Master) at the University of Vienna. For her Master's thesis Johanna is investigating "Occupancy preference and breeding success in secondary hole-nesting birds depending on nest box material and familiarity".

 Welcome Alper

We welcome our new PhD student Alper Yelimlieş! For his PhD Alper will be focussing on linking song and personality in Darwin's tree finches.

 Welcome Arnout

 Welcome Marina

We welcome our new master's student Marina Gehbauer, who is studying Biology and Environmental Education (Master) at the University of Vienna. For her Master's thesis Marina is analysing whether the informal contact with Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) triggers positive emotions and might increase awareness for conservation issues and willingness to engage in conservation activities.

 New paper: Prenatal sound experience affects song preferences in male zebra finches

Australian zebra finches (Taeniopygia castanotis) produce a high-pitched ‘heat call’ when ambient temperatures are high. Previous research suggests that hearing these heat calls inside the egg can alter an offspring’s development and behaviour after hatching, including from which adults they learn to sing. In this study, Andrew Katsis and colleagues artificially incubated male zebra finch embryos while exposing them to recordings of either heat calls (treatment) or contact calls (control). After hatching, offspring were raised to adulthood in a colony environment, then their song preferences were tested using a choice apparatus. Adult males had different song preferences depending on the sounds they heard before hatching: treatment birds preferred nonpaternal song over their social father's song, while control birds showed no preference.

Publication in Animal Behaviour:
A.C. Katsis, A.T.D. Bennett, K.L. Buchanan, S. Kleindorfer & M.M. Mariette (2023) Prenatal sound experience affects song preferences in male zebra finches. Animal Behaviour, 199, 1-9. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.02.008

 Congratulations to Anna Fabbri: Gwinner-Award for best poster

Big congratulations to Anna Fabbri for receiving the Eberhard-Gwinner-Award for the best poster. The Gwinner Award for outstanding scientific presentations is awarded annually to young scientists during the annual meeting of the Ethological Society.

 New publication on effects of rising temperatures and urbanisation on birds

In this article, we synthesise our current understanding of the potential mechanisms that could affect how species respond to combined effects of urbanisation and rising temperatures, with a focus on avian taxa. Resource availability/reliability (blue) and quality (purple) differ between urban and non-urban areas and will interact with rising temperatures to influence the magnitude of biological impacts of climate change. Specifically, the urban environment could both buffer and exacerbate biological impacts of rising temperatures. Greater water availability/reliability in cities buffers thermoregulatory costs, while poorer urban water quality exacerbates warming-related increase in disease risk and pollutants reduce thermoregulatory capacity. Greater food availability and artificial light at night buffers foraging-thermoregulation trade-offs in cities, while warming-related declines in food quality (e.g., carotenoids) are exacerbated in cities. Urban nest- and roost sites are poorly thermally-buffered, hence of lower quality, than non-urban sites, while more shade is available in cities, especially in arid regions. Finally, effects of rising temperatures are likely exacerbated by air pollution and vice versa, with impacts on the redox system and immune system. The urban heat island effect (UHI) under climate change will likely continue to lead to relaxed thermoregulatory costs in temperate, continental and polar cities during winter, while exacerbating thermoregulatory costs in summer and in tropical cities compared to non-urban environments, while cities in arid zones often have a reversed heat island effect, buffering thermal costs. We discuss potential interactive effects to motivate future in-depth research on this critically important, yet overlooked, aspect of global change biology.

Publication in Global Change Biology:
Sumasgutner, P., Cunningham, S. J., Hegemann, A., Amar, A., Watson, H., Nilsson, J. F., Andersson, M. N., & Isaksson, C. (2023). Interactive effects of rising temperatures and urbanisation on birds across different climate zones: A mechanistic perspective. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16645

Thomas Bugnyar wins "Science Book of the Year" Award 2023

Congratulations to Prof. Thomas Bugnyar. His book "Raben. Das Geheimnis ihrer erstaunlichen Intelligenz und sozialen Fähigkeiten" was awarded "Science book of the year" 2023.

 New Alumnus: Tatjana Vogel

Congratulations to Tatjana Vogel on her graduation! Tatjana has worked on the topic "Occupancy preferences and breeding ecology of secondary hole-nesting birds depending on the material of the nest boxes and on human presence", and thus completed the MSc program Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition at the University of Vienna. The thesis was supervised by PD Dr. Didone Frigerio (KLF, University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 Merry Christmas

The team of the KLF wishes Merry Christmas, relaxing holidays and all the best for the New Year!

 Congratulations to Verena Pühringer-Sturmayr on her dissertation!

 KLF practicum student Katharina Tillmann published her study! Congratulations!

Maintaining the highest standards of animal care is essential to satisfy animal welfare best practice. In this study, we measure behavioural profiles in caged mice in relation to their bedding material. Mice provisioned with soiled bedding that contained scent cues from other mice rested more and displayed less abnormal behaviour compared to mice provisioned with sterile clean bedding. More generally, these findings can be used to enhance the welfare of laboratory mice.

Publication in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience:
Müller K, Lengheimer T, Kral-Pointner JB, Wojta J, Yeghiazaryan L, Krall C, Palme R, Kleindorfer S, Plasenzotti R, Pollak DD and Tillmann KE (2022) Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 16:1062864. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1062864

 Welcome Alexander

We welcome our new master's student Alexander Ruf, who is studying Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition (Master) at the University of Vienna. For his Master's thesis Alex is investigating "the effects of early social experiences on exploration in juvenile ravens (Corvus corax)."

 Welcome Nils

Nils is studying Conservation and Landscape Planning at the Technical University of Munich and is currently doing an internship at the KLF. Thereby he gains practical experience in catching and tagging ravens and supports the researchers in different projects.

 New Alumnus: Anna Fabbri

Congratulations to Anna Fabbri on her graduation! Anna has worked on the topic "Ontogeny of individual variation in food calling in the common raven", and thus completed the MSc program Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition at the University of Vienna. The thesis was supervised by Prof. Sonia Kleindorfer (KLF, University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 Welcome Johanna!

Johanna studies "Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation" at the University of Greifswald in Germany and is currently at the KLF to collect data for her master thesis on affiliative interactions in common ravens.

 Welcome Anja!

Anja is doing a Voluntary Environmental Year at the KLF (Youth Environmental Platform JUMP). The activities include assistance in knowledge transfer and public relations as well as support in animal care. Parallel to the volunteer work, Anja completes the accompanying "FUJ training course".

 Welcome Sophie!

Sophie is studying Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition (Master) at the University of Vienna. For her Master´s thesis she is working with the greylag geese.

 Congratulations to Mario Gallego-Abenza on his dissertation!

Mario has worked on the topic: "Social cognition and fission-fusion dynamics in non-breeder Common ravens, Corvus corax", and thus completed the PhD at the University of Vienna. The dissertation was supervised by Prof. Thomas Bugnyar.

We wish you all the best for the future!

 New publication out: In the Australian superb fairywren exploratory individuals defend their territory more strongly against intruders

In the Australian superb fairywren, the male and female defend a territory across many years. In this study we show that birds with extreme exploration phenotypes defended their territory more strongly against conspecific intruders.  Especially pairs with mismatching exploration phenotypes -- that is, where the male was either more or less exploratory and the female was either less or more exploratory respectively - responded strongest to intruders. Our results shed light on the role of personality in wild contexts, and how combinations of personality types may confer a fitness benefit.

Publication in Animal Behaviour:
Colombelli-Négrel D, Katsis AC, Kleindorfer S (2022).  Superb fairy-wrens with extreme exploration phenotypes respond more strongly to simulated territory intrusions. Animal Behaviour 193, 101-111. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.015

 New publication on personality in animals

Animals have personality - some are shy and some are bold, some are more and others less aggressive, for example. In this study in the Australian Superb Fairywren, we carried out an experiment and measured the effect of personality on responses to playback of a predator. More aggressive birds had a stronger response and approached the predator sound more closely. This study supports the view that personality in animals can predict their behaviour during threatening situations in the wild, and therefore can be a target of selection.

Publication in PeerJ:
Bilby, J., Colombelli-Négrel, D., Katsis, A.C. and Kleindorfer, S., 2022. When aggressiveness could be too risky: linking personality traits and predator response in superb fairy-wrens. PeerJ, 10, p.e14011. doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14011

 Book chapter published on the impact of citizen science on conceptual learning and socio-emotional development

Together with the colleagues Katharina Hirschenhauser and Brigitte Neuböck-Hubinger from the Pädagogische Hochschule Oberösterreich Didone Frigerio wrote the book chapter "Science Education and Beyond: Citizen Science in Primary School Potentially Affects Conceptual Learning and Socio-emotional Development". It was shown, among other results, that the participation of primary school children in a Citizen Science project about greylag geese not only has an impact on factual learning but also on impulsive behaviour control.

Publication in Citizen Science - Methods, Approaches and New Perspectives:
Hirschenhauser, K., Frigerio, D., Neuböck-Hubinger, B. (2022). Science Education and Beyond: Citizen Science in Primary School Potentially Affects Conceptual Learning and Socio-emotional Development. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.107532

 New Alumnus: Tanguy Menthonnex

Congratulations to Tanguy Menthonnex on his graduation! Tanguy has worked on the topic: "From individual to population: Considerations on the long-term development of a managed, free-flying colony of endangered Northern Bald Ibis", and thus completed the MSc program Behavioural Ecology and Wildlife Management at the Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté. The thesis was supervised by Dr. Didone Frigerio (KLF, University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 New Alumnus: Antonia Charlotte Huge

Congratulations to Antonia Huge on her graduation! Antonia has worked on the topic: "Male age is related to the heterospecific soundscape of the breeding territory in two Darwin’s finch species", and thus completed the MSc program Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition at the University of Vienna. The thesis was supervised by Prof. Sonia Kleindorfer (KLF, University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 Biologicum Almtal and Junior Biologicum

Biologicum Almtal (September 29 - October 1)

As a scientific symposium, the Biologicum Almtal deals with the central topics of modern biology, with a view to the human being. In addition to biology, the lecturers come from different disciplines, such as medicine, veterinary medicine and economics. This is to ensure that the respective annual topic can be viewed from different angles. The aim of the event is to communicate scientific topics in an understandable way. Participation in the Biologicum requires curiosity and the willingness to learn something new.

This year we are dealing with one of the key questions of our time, which has to do with human ambivalence: How can people sometimes be so smart and yet often make such bad decisions? Research has documented countless examples of impressively flexible, near-optimal intelligence in humans and animals, while also uncovering numerous areas of irrational, suboptimal, and inflexible decision making.

During Biologicum 2022, we will discuss and reflect on the limits and potential of sustainable thinking and action. The topic will be looked at from several angles, both from the biological or natural science side, as well as from the economic side, we look at the processes in the brain as well as large data sets from worldwide observations.

Junior Biologicum (Sept. 29)

The Junior Biologicum is designed for interested high school students and their teachers. This year's event will take place on Thursday, September 29, on the topic of "Sustainable thinking and acting - a collective endeavor" at the Pfarrhof in Grünau. The topic will be examined from different perspectives in short keynote speeches. In the subsequent Science Café, discussions can be held with the speakers in an informal atmosphere.Participation is free of charge. Registration required.

Biologicum Almtal and Junior Biologicum will take place under the scientific direction of Sonia Kleindorfer and Didone Frigerio, the general organization will be done by staff members of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center in cooperation with the International Academy Traunkirchen.

We look forward to a lively exchange in the beautiful, early autumn Almtal in presence, with exciting lectures and discussions, eventful excursions, a pub quiz as an entertaining evening program and the usual delicious culinary accompaniment.

Further information and registration:

biologicum-almtal.univie.ac.at/biologicum-almtal/

Symposium language:

German

 We would like to introduce our new PostDoc: Dr. Andrew Katsis!

We warmly welcome Andrew and look forward to working with him!

Dr. Andrew Katsis is a behavioural ecologist with an interest in avian personality, vocal learning, and prenatal communication. Spending his childhood on an emu farm in Australia, he quickly developed a passion for birds and their behavioural eccentricities. For his PhD research at Deakin University, Andrew studied how the prenatal sound environment can influence behaviour in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia castanotis), a small Australian songbird. He recently completed his first postdoc at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, during which he explored the ontogeny and fitness consequences of personality differences in superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) and Darwin’s finches (subfamily Geospizinae). In addition to his research, Andrew is also a keen science communicator and has contributed to magazines, online news, radio, and television: in 2018, he shared his research on the Netflix popular science series Bill Nye Saves the World.

At the Konrad Lorenz Research Center, Andrew will continue his research on avian personality traits in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Sonia Kleindorfer. For this work, he will draw on the center’s established population of greylag geese and a long-running research project in the Galápagos Islands.

 New Alumnus: Tom Nilles

Congratulations to Tom Nilles on his graduation! Tom has worked on the topic: "Carotenoid levels in nestlings of urban Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus)", and thus completed the MSc program Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management at the BOKU. The thesis was supervised by Swen Renner (NHM) and Petra Sumasgutner (KLF, University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 New paper published on space use and site fidelity in the endangered Northern Bald Ibis

Verena Pühringer-Sturmayr and colleagues investigated space use and site fidelity in the endangered Northern Bald Ibis. Northern Bald Ibis consistently showed high site fidelity, with adults using a larger area during the breeding season than outside the breeding season. Furthermore, direct routes over mountainous areas were avoided when moving between different areas.

Publication in Bird Conservation International:
Puehringer-Sturmayr, V., Krejci, J., Schuster, R., Kleindorfer, S., Kotrschal, K., Frigerio, D., & Loretto, M. (2022). Space use and site fidelity in the endangered Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita: Effects of age, season, and sex. Bird Conservation International, 1-13.  https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270922000053

 One-year anniversary of the new KLF building

In June 2022, we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the new KLF building. We share the commemorative publication Festschrift that marked the event. Thank you to all supporters, funding agencies, and many partners who turned the idea of a new building into a reality. Now, our research into the wild behaviour and cognitive capacity of animals continues in a modern facility. We are grateful!

Download Festschrift

 New Alumnus: Eva-Maria Körmer

Congratulations to Eva-Maria Körmer on her graduation! Eva-Maria has worked on "Call structure of contact calls in Greylag geese", supervised by Sonia Kleindorfer (KLF, University of Vienna) and Mauricio Nicolas Adreani.

We wish you all the best for the future!

 Farewell, Steffi!

Stefanie has been doing a voluntary environmental year at the KLF since October 2021. She has assisted with knowledge transfer and supported us with public relations as well as the care of the animals. Dear Steffi, we wish you all the best for the future!

 New Alumnus: Veronika Weinhäupl

Congratulations to Veronika Weinhäupl on her graduation! Veronika has worked on "Departure call structure in Greylag geese", supervised by Sonia Kleindorfer (KLF, University of Vienna) and Nico Adreani.

We wish you all the best for the future!

 The Young Investigator Award goes to Petra Sumasgutner

Congratulations to Petra Sumasgutner - Faculty Award Winner of the Faculty of Life Sciences. The Young Investigator Award is an initiative of the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Vienna designed to honour young postdoctoral scientists publishing in the top journals of their field.
Petra: "I am planning to use the award to fund my research on urban raptors (Turmfalkenprojekt Wien) and to attend the PAOC (https://www.paoc15.org/) where I will deliver my very first invited plenary talk on "Raptors in a changing world: Understanding the response of predators to increasing urbanization" at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe."

 New publication on the occurrence of asymmetry in the complex nest of Rufous hornero

Nico Adreani and colleagues used a citizen-science approach to quantify the occurrence of asymmetry in the complex nest of a bird, the rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus). Nest asymmetry was individually repeatable and was not explained by environmental factors, raising many questions about the causes and consequences of nest asymmetry in animal behaviour.

Publication in Current Biology:
Adreani, N.M., Valcu, M., Citizen Scientists, Mentesana, L. (2022). Asymmetric architecture is non-random and repeatable in a bird's nest. Current Biology 32(9): 412-413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.075

 New Alumnus: Benedikt Heger

Congratulations to Benedikt Heger on his graduation! Benedikt has worked on "Different reactions of greylag geese to their own mirror images, as well as to life-size photographs of their conspecifics", and thus completed the MSc program Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management at the BOKU. The thesis was supervised by Sonia Kleindorfer (KLF, University of Vienna).

We wish you all the best for the future!

 New Publication on the elevational range expansion of the Drab Water Tyrant

New study by PhD student Jefferson Garcia Loor shows range expansion in the Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis) from lower Amazonia to the Andean foothills. The new record is also from a previously unknown habitat for the species.

Publication in Check List - the journal of biodiversity data:
García-Loor J (2022) Elevational range extension of Drab Water Tyrant, Ochthornis littoralis (Pelzeln, 1868) (Passeriformes, Tyrannidae). Check List 18(3): 451-453. https://doi.org/10.15560/18.3.451

 Welcome Viktoria

Viktoria studies Human-Animal Interactions at the Vetmeduni in Vienna. For her master thesis she investigates the prosociality in goats in the Cumberland Wildpark Grünau.

 Welcome Alena, Caelan, Leon and Matt

The four Australians are supporting the research on greylag geese at the KLF as volunteers during the next months. One of their tasks is to record the calls of the hand-raised goslings.

 Happy Easter!

Happy Easter and happy holidays!

 New paper on Avian diversity and abundance across years on Viti Levu

PhD student Alivereti Naikatini and colleagues made the important observation that the stability and diversity of woodland forest birds is comparable across forest types on Fiji, including primary, secondary and plantations. There is conservation benefit to maintaining forests including regrowth and managed forests to sustain woodland birds.

Publication in "Pacific Conservation Biology":
Naikatini AN, Keppel G, Brodie G, Kleindorfer S (2022). Avian diversity and abundance across years: consistent patterns in forests but not grasslands on Viti Levu, Fiji. Pacific Conservation Biology, https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21039https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21039

 Welcome Lennart

Lennart is a student at the Hochschule Bremen and recently studied abroad at the University of South Bohemia in Czech Republic. For his bachelor thesis Lennart will test the degree of interspecific comprehension of free-flying common ravens at the Cumberland Wildpark Grünau by analysing their response to alarm calls of different corvid species. This will take place during the next three months in form of playbacks during the boar feeding, when ravens are present.

 New paper published about the birds of Fiji

Fiji endemic bird behaviour comes under study for almost the first time in ~100 years since the Whitney South Sea Expedition with Ernst Mayr in 1929! Together with Naikatini and colleagues, Kleindorfer documented vertical niche stratification in Fiji’s woodland birds. The study adds valuable information on the role of animal behaviour such as foraging behaviour for forest community structure. Understanding drivers of biodiversity is essential information to conserve woodland birds.

Publication in "Diversity":
Naikatini, A.N., Keppel, G., Brodie, G., Kleindorfer, S., 2022. Interspecific Competition and Vertical Niche Partitioning in Fiji’s Forest Birds. Diversity. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030223

 Welcome Tatjana

For her master's thesis Tatjana will investigate occupancy preferences and breeding success of hole-nesting small birds depending on the material of the nest boxes and depending on different forest types (with/without the presence of humans) in the area in and around the Cumberland Wildpark.

 Congratulations for winning the 2021 Purcell Memorial Prize of Science

Carina Nebel, PhD student of Petra Sumasgutner and Arjun Amar, has won the Purcell Memorial Prize of Science for her PhD on the Colour polymorphism of Black Sparrowhawks - this is an award of the Faculty of Science in South Africa, and is given once a year for the best PhD thesis in the field of Biological Sciences. Congratulations!

 Welcome Sophie

Sophie is studying Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition (Master) at the University of Vienna. As part of an internship at the KLF, she is investigating social structure as well as dominance behavior in greylag geese.

 Welcome Salomé

Salomé is a student of Evolutionary Biology at the Faculté des sciences et technologies - Université de Lille. Over the next six months, she will investigate the factors that affect the feeding strategies of free-flying ravens, primarily by observing how they behave when they are fed each morning along with wild boars in the Cumberland Wildpark Grünau.

 New Poster: Individual variation of food associated calls in the raven

For the VDS CoBeNe PhD Academy, held February 2-4, master's student Anna Fabbri contributed a poster  on "Ontogeny of individual variation in food calling in the common raven".

Fabbri, A.L., Bernatovic, G., Bugnyar, T., Kleindorfer, S. (2022): Ontogeny of individual variation in food calling in the common raven. Poster Contribution.

 Welcome Tom

Tom studies wildlife ecology and wildlife management at the BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna. As part of his internship at the KLF, he is investigating the "riding" of ravens on wild boars at the Cumberland Wildpark Grünau.

 Merry Christmas!

We wish you all Merry Christmas, wonderful holidays and all the best for 2022!

 Welcome Gabriela

We welcome our new master student Gabriela. Gabriela is investigating how parental care in ravens is associated with feeding strategies and feeding success at a common feeding place outside of the family.

 New Publication on the influence of the female in-nest attendance on the number of ectoparasites in Darwin's finch species

Offspring of the 17 Darwin’s finch species are being eaten alive by larvae of an accidentally introduced parasitic fly. First observed in Darwin’s finch nests in 1997, the avian vampire fly feeds on the blood and tissue of developing birds, killing most and causing deformation in survivors. In this study, we focus on parental care and show that adult female finches can reduce chances that avian vampire flies can enter the nest. High quality females that can sustain longer in-nest parental care with less feeding opportunity for themselves, paired with males that increase feeding to the offspring, have better chances to produce offspring in a vampire-fly dominated environment.

Publication in "Proceedings of the Royal Society B":
Kleindorfer S, Common LK, O’Connor JA, Garcia-Loor J, Katsis AC, Dudaniec RY, Colombelli-Négrel D, Adreani NM (2021). Female in-nest attendance predicts the number of ectoparasites in Darwin’s finch species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

 New Publication on sex role similarity in male and female song

A new publication by Karan Odom with Sonia Kleindorfer and colleagues explores sex role similarity in male and female song. Historically, bird song complexity was thought to evolve primarily through sexual selection on males; yet, in many species, both sexes sing and selection pressure on both sexes may be broader. This study across 15 populations of nine fairy-wren species reveals that male and female songs were more similar when parental care was more similar. Our understanding of how and why female birds sing is a neglected area of animal behaviour research, and this study is helping to fill this gap in knowledge.

Publication in Ecology and Evolution:
Odom, K.J., Cain, K.E., Hall, M.L., Langmore, N.E., Mulder, R.A., Kleindorfer, S., Karubian, J., Brouwer, L., Enbody, E.D., Jones, J.A. and Dowling, J.L. (2021). Sex role similarity and sexual selection predict male and female song elaboration and dimorphism in fairy‐wrens. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8378

 Congratulations on the PeerJ-Award

Congratulations to Varalika Jain for winning the best student transmission at the 7th Bio-Logging Symposium held online in October 2021.

In this blog post, she writes about her research and academic career so far: https://peerj.com/blog/post/115284885148/peerj-award-winners-7th-bio-logging-symposium/

 New publication on on causes of nest mortality in the critically endangered Medium Tree Finch

KLF researchers Sonia Kleindorfer and Petra Sumasgutner, with PhD student Lauren Common, published their findings on causes of nest mortality in the critically endangered Medium Tree Finch. As shown in this study, ~90% of chick mortality is caused by introduced parasites and predators. The new publication analyses long-term data and proves baseline data against which to compare impacts of the planned eradication of introduced species and rewilding of locally extinct species on Floreana Island. Watch this space over the next years!

Publication in Birds MDPI:
Kleindorfer, S., Common, L.K., Sumasgutner, P. (2021). Nesting Success and Nesting Height in the Critically Endangered Medium Tree Finch (Camarhynchus pauper). Birds MDPI.

 Welcome Toni

For her master's thesis, Toni is studying Darwin's finches in Galapagos. She is investigating whether male age in Galapagos finches is related to the soundscape composition at the nesting territory. For this purpose, she analyzes videos of nests recorded in Galapagos in 2020. Starting in January, she will collect more data in the field. We wish all the best for the upcoming field season.

 New publication on the the avian vampire fly

In the publication “Temporal and spatial variation in sex‑specific abundance of the avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi)” published in Parasitology Research, Lauren Common and colleagues report on differences in male and female avian vampire fly occurrence on Floreana Island, Galapagos. The new information will be used to develop control measures for this deadly invasive parasite that is the biggest threat to the survival of all Galapagos land birds. Kleindorfer and team have been studying the avian vampire fly on the Galapagos since 2000 and PhD student Lauren Common expanded key knowledge that can be used to control the fly’s spatial distribution.

Publication in Parasitology Research:
Common, L.K., Sumasgutner, P., Sumasgutner, S.C., Colombelli-Negrel, D., Dudaniec, R.Y., Kleindorfer, S. (2021). Temporal and spatial variation in sex‑specific abundance of the avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi). Parasitology Research.

 New alumnus: Kathrin Arbeithuber

Congratulations to our master student, Kathrin Arbeithuber, for passing her master's exam at the University of Vienna.

Topic of her Master thesis: Disentangling the effects of metabolism on activity levels and boldness: A study of between-individual differences in heart rate and behaviour from embryo to nestling in Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita)

We wish you all the best for the future!

 Welcome Silvia!

We welcome our new PhD student Silvia Damini! Silvia is broadly interested in animal behaviour and cognition. For her PhD she will be studying ravens´ interspecific interactions with wolves and wild boars in the foraging context.

 Talk by Martin Rössler at the KLF

A talk by ornithologist Martin Rössler will be held on Monday Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. at Konrad Lorenz Research Center in Grünau/Almtal. He will report on his research on the problem of glass surfaces for birds using experimental test tunnels. Martin Rössler studied landscape ecology and landscape design at BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna and founded the Verein Auring: Biological Station Hohenau-Ringelsdorf.

The lecture will be held in German.

We would like to invite interested visitors to attend this talk in presence (2.5-G proof required, FFP2 mask mandatory) or online. Limited number of participants. Registration absolutely necessary under: gudrun.gegendorfer@univie.ac.at

 Welcome Jefferson

Jefferson got his degree in Biology in Ecuador and had been working in different projects mainly in the Amazon region and Galápagos. He is interested in Animal Behavior and Evolution. His PhD Project will be focused on how the behave of finches can change against the absence of the predator. In Grünau, he will also work on projects with greylag geese.

 New publication on mechanisms and impact of urbanisation on wildlife

Globally, more people live in urban areas than in rural ones. This rapid urbanisation poses challenges for sustainable development and public health. But the picture looks even grimmer for animals. Urbanisation is a new selective force that is changing the composition of animal communities tremendously, but there is still a clear research gap in understanding the mechanisms and impact of urbanisation on wildlife. Here we used a biomarker approach - an indirect indicator of vigour or performance, to infer to what we commonly refer to as health - to unravel how urban kestrels respond to the exposure to urban stressors.

Publication in The Science of Nature:
Wemer, L., Hegemann, A., Isaksson, C., Nebel, C., Kleindorfer, S., Gamauf, A., . . . Sumasgutner, P. (2021). Reduced ectoparasite load, body mass and blood haemolysis in Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) along an urban–rural gradient. The Science of Nature.

 Welcome Awani!

 New Publication on how songbirds learn vocalizations

New paper published by Diane Colombelli-Négrel, Sonia Kleindorfer, Nico Adreani and colleagues on Prenatal auditory learning in avian vocal learners and non-learners.

Publication in "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences":

Colombelli-Négrel, D., Hauber, M.E., Evans, C., Katsis, A.C., Brouwer, L., Adreani, N.M. and Kleindorfer, S. (2021) Prenatal auditory learning in avian vocal learners and non-learner. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

 Biologicum Almtal and Junior Biologicum 2021: Nature and Science through the ages

The Biologicum Almtal is a symposium for interested people. No previous knowledge is necessary. The Junior Biologicum is for high school students. The lectures are in German. In this year's Biologicum Almtal and Junior Biologicum we will focus on "Nature and Science through the ages". Different perspectives will be used to illuminate how changes can be measured, how they have a long-term effect and which collective behavioral changes can lead to a sustainable approach to nature. Ten speakers will look at the changes, the transformation in their own scientific disciplines and will be available for discussion and exchange.

Biologicum Almtal and Junior Biologicum will take place under the scientific direction of Sonia Kleindorfer and Didone Frigerio, the general organization will be done by staff members of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center in cooperation with the International Academy Traunkirchen. We welcome the cooperation with a regional partner institution that encourages people in their enthusiasm and talent for natural sciences and technical development and supports the encounter with science. After an online event last year, this year we are looking forward to a lively exchange in the beautiful Almtal valley in early autumn, with exciting lectures and discussions, interesting excursions, a cabaret as an entertaining evening program and the usual delicious culinary accompaniment.

W https://biologicum-almtal.univie.ac.at/

 New Publication on Greylag Geese

Didone Frigerio, Petra Sumasgutner and colleagues showed associations between climate, breeding phenology, and reproductive output in greylag geese. "With warmer winters, more females were able to breed. Overall, more young fledged," Didone Frigerio said.

Publication in Scientific Reports:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-95011-9

The publication "Citizen Science - Doing Research with Schools. Basics, recommendations & practical tips for joint projects" of the OeAD - Center for Citizen Science has been published. Didone Frigerio contributed as an author to two of the seven chapters.

Download (in German)

 Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on wildlife

Petra Sumasgutner and The Red-winged Starling Team from Cape Town are part of the PAN-Environment Working Group who aim to disentangle positive and negative effects of humans on our wilderness. The research opportunity emerging from the tragic circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that humans are not only a threat but also important custodians of species and ecosystems. Specifically in the starling case study, the researcher found that adult birds had consistently lower body masses during lockdowns than in preceding years. Birds were 4.1 +/- 1 g lighter between precovid and covid, which is approx. 3% of body mass.

Publication in "Biological Conservation":

Bates, A. E., Primack, R. B., PAN-Environment Working Group, Duarte C. M. (2021) Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment. Biological Conservation, 109175

 TV Tipp

"Highly motivated on four paws - dog puppy training in Upper Austria" with the conservation dog in training Nala on Thursday, 13.5. at 17:35 on ORF2.

https://tv.orf.at/program/orf2/20210513/962380001/

 Newly published

"The African urban birds" special issue, guest edited by Petra Sumasgutner is published in "Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology. Petra and Shane also contributed a review article on Urban Raptors in South Africa.

Open access until End of May!

Cover image: Crowned Eagle

 Urban Ecology in the Global South

Newly published - the book "Urban Ecology in the Global South" with the chapter "Urban Animal Diversity in the Global South" to which Petra Sumasgutner contributed the perspective on urban predators.

Predators in the city are still rarely studied but they add substantially to our understanding of functional diversity. Within the predator guild, raptors are amongst the better studied groups in urban ecology, and many species manage to persist in cities and adapt to anthropogenic influences despite their sensitivity to global change. To date, the majority of urban raptor research occurs in North America and Europe. However, findings in one region may not necessarily be representative of populations of the same species, or functional group, from other regions. In fact, of the 389 studies published between 1990 and 2018 [ISI web of knowledge search 20-05-2018, term 'urban raptor'], 82% were conducted in the Global North (Europe, North America, most part of Asia and Oceania) and only 10% were conducted in South America, 5% in Africa, and 3% in India. This in itself might create a severe bias towards Northern systems, which may lead to quite narrow conclusions regarding urban raptor behaviour, ecology and conservation.

 New publication on Red-winged Starlings

In this project, Petra Sumasgutner and colleagues analysed body mass maintenance in Red-winged Starlings in relation to short-term food fluctuations (following human activity) and the proportion of urban areas within their home range sizes. Anthropogenic food availability was higher on high human presence days (weekdays) when starlings also consumed more anthropogenic food and tended to spend less time foraging compared to low human presence days (weekends and vacation). Furthermore, individual starlings with more built-up home ranges were heavier; they were also heavier and in better body condition on high human presence days.

Publication in "Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology":

Risi, T. C., Sumasgutner, P., Cunningham, S. J. (2021). Anthropogenic food availability and body mass maintenance in urban Red-winged Starlings Onychognathus morio. Ostrich, 1-10. doi:10.2989/00306525.2021.1906345

Happy Easter!

We wish everyone Happy Easter and happy holidays!

 New publication on Darwin finches

In a new paper published today in Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Colombelli-Negrel and Kleindorfer report on the following discovery. Two populations of the same species of Darwin's finch (Camarhynchus parvulus) living on two different Galapagos Islands show different patterns of gene flow and learned song types. Birds on Floreana Island produced six  song types (three shared with Santa Cruz and three unique to Floreana) and birds on Santa Cruz Island produced seven song types (three shared with Floreana and four unique to Santa Cruz). Resident males had a stronger response towards song from a different island. The study reports genetic and cultural divergence between islands with evidence that contemporary behavioural response could maintain divergence upon secondary contact.

Publication in "Journal of Evolutionary Biology":

Colombelli-Négrel, D., Kleindorfer, S. (2021) Behavioural response to songs between genetically diverged allopatric populations of Darwin's small tree finch in the Galápagos. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 00: 1-14

You can download the paper here.

 Welcome Céline!

We welcome our new student Céline Giorgetti from University of Burgundy (Dijon, France). She is doing an internship with us until the end of July, in which she is investigates dominance relationship and kleptoparasitism in free-flying ravens.

Endspurt in the NestCams project

The aim of the Citizen Science project NestCams is to discover how different breeding behaviours affect breeding success. For this purpose, short videos of the birds at the nest can be analysed online. The videos of the 2018 breeding season are finished and new videos from 2019 are available! Can we get 15,000 videos done by the end of April? We will raffle small gifts among all participants. Join us on NestCams and get to know the Greylag Geese Kendo, Dorothea, Lando, Sturmwind, Lukka, Lenka and Luna. Every single classification counts!

 New publication on Rufous horneros made the cover of Hormones and Behavior

A direct link between the oxidative status and aggressive behaviour has been hypothesised in vertebrates. Further, sex hormones like progesterone and testosterone have been suggested as mediators in that process. Until now, no causal relationship had been shown between aggression and oxidative status. In this new study featured in February's cover of Hormones and Behavior, Mentesana & Adreani demonstrate a causal relationship for the first time in a vertebrate. By performing experiments in the wild, they discovered that rufous horneros (Aves: Furnarius rufus) suffer a decrease in antioxidant capacity after engaging in territorial fights with con-specifics. Further, this effect was much stronger in female birds than in males and independent of progesterone or testosterone.

Cover caption: A pair of rufous horneros (Furnarius rufus) during a territorial fight with an intruder. Acute aggression alters the birds' oxidative condition. Photo with the permission of Roberto Cyrino.

Publication in "Hormones and Behavior":

Mentesana, L., Adreani, N. M. (2021) Acute aggressive behavior perturbates the oxidative status of a wild bird independently of testosterone and progesterone. Hormones and Behavior, 128: 104913

 Book release:The Science of Citizen Science

On 12.1.2021 the book "The Science of Citizen Science" was published open access with Springer, to which over 100 authors contributed, including over 10 from Austria. "This book is a wonderful conclusion of four years of intensive exchange within a European research network on citizen science. At the same time it signals a beginning, as its curriculum-like structure gives universities and others the opportunity to reflect on both the substantive contributions to research and the societal added value of Citizen Science," Dr. Katrin Vohland, Director General of the Natural History Museum Vienna and first editor of the book, is pleased to say. "In addition, the book offers practical support for implementing projects and also addresses emerging topics such as Citizen Science and Artificial Intelligence."

Link to the book: The Science of Citizen Science.

Link to the book chapter by Didone Frigerio et al.: Citizen Science in the Natural Sciences.

 Talk announcement

On Monday 11 January 2021, Dr. Nico Adreani presents his work "Call-based communication in groups of zebra finches" to the University of Vienna Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology Seminar.

In many seasonally breeding species sex hormones can induce changes in auditory perception. Until now, most studies of this phenomenon have focused in species with simple vocal cues (like fish or frogs) or in the case of species with diverse repertoires, like birds, only in one vocalisation type. But many, if not most birds, produce different vocalisations besides their song: calls. Calls can be diverse and have multiple functions depending on the ecological context. In this talk Nicolas will discuss different results on the relevance of contact calls for vocal communication and their auditory perception in freely behaving birds across changing environments.

Recent research published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.

 New publication

In many seasonally breeding species sex hormones can induce changes in auditory perception. Until now, most studies of this phenomenon have focused in species with simple vocal cues (like fish or frogs) or in the case of species with diverse repertoires, like birds, only in one vocalisation type. But many, if not most birds, produce different vocalisations besides their song: calls. Calls can be diverse and have multiple functions depending on the ecological context. In this longitudinal study Dr. Nico M. Adreani et al. used telemetric technology to record vocal and neural activity in freely behaving zebra finches while inducing an environmental change (Picture/Fig 1). Adreani et al. show that breeding-induced changes in the auditory system of the birds are signal and emitter specific. This is, during breeding auditory processing changes only towards certain call types and only from specific emitters that are known to the receiver bird. Further, Adreani et al. provide evidence suggesting that estradiol is the hormones responsible for modulating this phenomenon. Altogether, the study provides evidence for a tight interaction between vocalisations type and auditory plasticity, a mechanism that can change the saliency of vocal signals across ecologically relevant contexts. The results significantly widen our understanding of the interaction between sensory plasticity and vocal categories, two elements that are fundamental for vocal communication evolution.

Publication in "Frontiers in Neuroscience":

Adreani, N. M., D'Amelio, P. B., Gahr, M., ter Maat, A. (2020) Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird is Signal and Emitter-Specific. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14:588672

 Congratulations on the successful habilitation!

We congratulate Dr. Didone Frigerio on the successful completion of her habilitation at the University of Vienna. In her habilitation, Didone dealt with "Interdisciplinary contribution to the study of animal behavior: Insight from mechanisms translated to the community". This gives her the teaching authority in biology and the right to use the title "Privatdozentin".

 Congratulations!

Congratulations to Katharina Huchler, who was awarded with the 'Scientific advancement award of the City of Vienna' for her masters project on the Eurasian kestrels in Vienna!

The Eurasian kestrel is a vole-specialist, that suffers from reduced productivity in urban habitats which has been attributed to lower availability of diurnal rodents. The Kestrel Project Vienna monitors a dense urban raptor population and coordinates a large citizen science community who reported arrival dates reliably after migration at nest-sites located at different degrees of urbanization since 2010. Intense monitoring further allowed an accurate evaluation of egg-laying dates. We used this unique system to unravel, for the first time in an urban raptor, the phenology of arrival and egg-laying in dependency of local weather conditions and urbanization. Our findings shed light on sensitive time windows that shape phenology, and the importance of precipitation, rather than temperature. Furthermore, our research indicates a strategy to mitigate later arrival by relatively earlier egg-laying. This reduced length of the courtship period suggests a behavioral adaption to take advantage of potentially favorable conditions at wintering grounds while avoiding egg-laying delay and associated declines in productivity with later onset of breeding. Thus, our study focuses on how weather shapes phenology in one of the few migratory urban raptor species.

 New publication: History and current status of the Northern Bald Ibis

The Northern Bald Ibis is one of the most endangered avian species worldwide. The disappearance from most of its former range is linked to habitat destruction, persecution and pesticides. The authors report on the history, current status and future perspectives of the endangered Northern Bald Ibis.

Publication in "Oryx":

Böhm, C., Bowden, C. G. R., Seddon, P. J., Hatipoglu, T., Oubrou, W., El Bekkay, M., Quevedo, M. A., Fritz, J., Yeniyurt, C., Lopez, J. M., Orueta, J. F., Frigerio, D., Unsöld, M. (2020) The northern bald ibis Geronticus eremita: history, current status and future perspectives. Oryx, 1-13

 New publication: Quality criteria for citizen science

The term 'citizen science' is often used for different activities, such as outreach or education. However, this use of the term may undermine the recognition of citizen science in academia. Thus, the authors of the publication present 20 quality criteria for citizen science.

Publication in "Citizen Science: Theory and Practice":

Heigl, F., Kieslinger, B., Paul, K. T., Uhlik, J., Frigerio, D., Dörler, D. (2020) Co-Creating and Implementing Quality Criteria for Citizen Science. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 5(1): p.23

 New publication: Having a family improves digestion

We found that in greylag geese individuals with stable social relationships with their family members have better digestion and are more likely to breed successfully in the following breeding season. These are new insights into the benefits of social life in birds.

Publication in "Frontiers for Young Minds":

Gegendorfer, G., Frigerio, D. (2020) How having a family improves digestion in social geese. Frontiers for Young Minds, 8: 540008

 New publication on social networks in Northern Bald Ibis

We found that social interactions change with season, age and sex: (1) proximity to other colony members was higher during winter than autumn, (2) affiliative interactions were observed more frequently during winter, especially between former and prospective mates, (3) older individuals had more central positions in the social network than juveniles, and (4) males exchanged more agonistic interactions than females, while females received more affiliative interactions. Our findings suggest that social relationships may affect inter-individual distance.

Publication in "Journal of Ornithology":

Puehringer-Sturmayr, V., Stiefel, T., Kotrschal, K., Kleindorfer, S., Frigerio, D. (2020) Social interactions change with season and age in Northern Bald Ibis. J Ornithol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01824-2

 New publication on Black Sparrowhawks

In this study we show that blood parasite prevalence did not vary across South Africa in Black Sparrowhawks and found neither fitness costs of higher infection levels for breeding birds, nor for nestling's body condition. Thus, Black Sparrowhawk polymorphism is unlikely to be driven by an adaptive function linked to dealing with higher infections with Haemoproteus nisi in regions with wetter breeding seasons.

Picture 1: A black sparrowhawk light morph feeding its chick in the colour-ringed study population of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Cape Town, South Africa

Picture 2: Black sparrowhawk chicks all grown up and ready to fledge. The dark and light adult plumage will only develop in their 2nd calendar year

Publication in "Journal of Ornithology":

McCarren, S., Sumasgutner, P., Tate, G., Koeslag, A., & Amar, A. (2020). Clinal variation in the polymorphic Black Sparrowhawk Accipiter melanoleucus is unrelated to infection by the blood parasite Haemoproteus nisi. Journal of Ornithology. doi:10.1007/s10336-020-01823-3

 Biologicum Almtal and Junior Biologicum 2020

Biologicum Almtal and Junior Biologicum 2020 will be held ONLINE as a joint lecture series due to the current Covid-19 situation. The topic of this year's event is "Constructing Life. How humans and other animals design their environment". Furthermore a focus will be put on Citizen Science.

Series of lectures

The topics range from the construction of the ecological niche, the amazing constructions of animals and their ecosystem management, to the human activities that shape the world. People and other animals do not simply use what "nature" offers them. Rather, they actively shape, construct their ecological and social living conditions. The Covid-19 pandemic shows this: the virus as an evolutionary-biological factor is not simply passively accepted; rather, humans take development into their own hands and thus - like other living beings - shape their living conditions and ultimately the biosphere.

The participation is free of charge. A registration is mandatory.

Excursions

In times of "social distancing" and home office, we find being outside in nature to be particularly beneficial and relaxing. On the originally planned Biologicum Almtal weekend (October 2 to 4) we offer a series of excursions in the Almtal. Scientists* from the KLF will provide insights into their current research (ravens, grey geese, wood bustards, songbirds). In addition, there will be a legend hike, Kneipp sessions on the alpine pasture and a guided tour with the forester to his favorite places in the nature reserves in the Almtal.

The participation is free of charge. A registration is required. The number of participants is limited.

 New publication: Duets as territorial defence

Quantifying multivariate behaviours such as territorial defence is not an easy task and this is the main challenge in studying animal behaviour. In this paper we applied a structural-equation modelling approach to investigate territorial defence in a neotropical bird, the rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus). The rufous hornero forms long lasting pair-bonds, the pair defends their territory year-round and males and females engage in complex duet songs. We quantified the territorial defense behavior of males and females across different contexts and tested the hypothesis that duets are central signals of territorial defense. We found that: I) males are more territorial than females, ii) duets are as strong as physical traits during territorial defense, iii) within a pair birds are highly coordinated in territorial defense and iv) territorial defense behaviour does not change across seasons. Our study provides for the first time a sex- and context-comparison of the multivariate, latent variable 'territorial defence' in duetting birds, while highlighting the potential of combining field behavioural approaches with structural equation modelling.

Publication in "Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology":

Mentesana, L., Moiron, M., Guedes, E., Cavalli, E., Tassino, B., Adreani, N. M. (2020) Defending as a unit: sex- and context-specific territorial defence in a duetting bird. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 74:111

 Vienna Kestrel project on "Österreich forscht"

The "Vienna Kestrel Project" has been investigating the diverse adaptations of Kestrels to survival under urban conditions since 2010. The location of nesting sites plays a decisive role in this respect. Because this is a Citizen Science Project, everyone can participate in this project and collect valuable data. We are happy about sightings from nesting sites!
For more information on how to participate and where to report sightings, please visit the project homepage on "Österreich forscht".

 New publication

To receive food more regularly it pays to have contrasting parents. The black sparrowhawk comes in two colour morphs; dark or light. Pairs consisting of contrasting morphs provide prey at more regular intervals than like-morph pairs, but overall deliver similar amounts of prey. This suggests that pairs of contrasting morphs exploit different environmental conditions for hunting. This consistency in prey deliveries may explain why offspring from mixed-morph pairs have higher survival rates.

Publication in "Behavioral Ecology":

Nebel C, Sumasgutner P, McPherson SC, Tate GJ, Amar A. 2020. Contrasting parental color morphs increase regularity of prey deliveries in an African raptor. Behavioral Ecology.

 New publication on African urban raptors

In Africa, rates of human population growth and urbanisation are among the highest in the world. Additionally, climate change is predicted to have a particularly high impact on the Cape Peninsula. Our study is one of the first to consider urbanisation and weather conditions simultaneously, specifically over a long period of 26 years and including detailed information on the timing of breeding which is often missing in long-term raptor monitoring data. We show that weather did not impact breeding performance of peregrine falcons directly (breeding success and fledged brood size), but timing of breeding did, with earlier breeders producing more fledglings. Furthermore, warm and dry weather conditions advanced the timing of breeding, but this relationship between breeding phenology and weather was not apparent in pairs using nest boxes in urban areas. Our findings enforce the notion that falcons breeding in specially provided nest boxes are less sensitive to local weather dynamics, including extreme weather events, which are predicted to increase with climate change. This has important implications for urban conservation and the use of nest boxes as a management tool.

Publication in "PLoS ONE":

Sumasgutner P, Jenkins A, Amar A, Altwegg R. 2020. Nest boxes buffer the effects of climate on breeding performance in an African urban raptor. PLoS ONE, 15: e0234503.

 ORF-1-Freistunde

Daniel Dörler of Österreich forscht presented various Citizen Science projects in the ORF-1-Freistunde, including "NestCams" from the Konrad Lorenz Research Centre. The video is available in the ORF 1 TvThek.

Newton ORF-1-Freistunde video

Interview with Daniel Dörler

 Wundersame Waldrappe - Vom Leben der Natur

From 18 May till 22 May 2020 Verena Pühringer-Sturmayr spoke in an Ö1 interview with Lothar Bodingbauer about the Northern Bald Ibis and the current research at the Konrad Lorenz Research Center. The conservation was broadcasted on Ö1 as part of the series "Vom Leben der Natur".

If you missed it, you can also listen to the entire series online (approx. still one month available).

Links:

Part 1: Zugvogel mit Starthilfe

Part 2: Charakteristische Laute

Part 3: Forschung im Almtal

Part 4: Wissenschaftliche Distanz

 New publication on Crowned Eagles

The authors show that Crowned Eagles change their breeding strategy in urban areas by increasing their breeding rate, but found nest failures occurred more often at more urbanized sites. These contrasting responses counteracted each other and resulted in similar productivity across the urbanization gradient and highlighted the value of long-term data.

Publication in "The Condor":

Mueller, R., Amar, A., Sumasgutner, P., McPherson, S. C., Downs, C. (2020) Contrasting effects of urbanization on breeding performance measures in the threatened African Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus). The Condor, duaa024

Here are the links to the online article:

• Abstract
• Article (free access)

 Follow us on Twitter!

The Konrad Lorenz Research Center has now an offical Twitter account.

twitter.com/KLF_UniVienna

 Monitoring raven nests with a drone...

Our UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is a DJI Marvic, registered with austro control and permitted for field surveys, specifically to monitor raven nests. Research thus far indicates that the use of drones to monitor nests can speed up the process and reduce stress on birds. In using this tool, we can assess the stage of breeding in less than one minute of disturbance. We can search for nests on cliffs, and obtain high quality and quick information on clutch or brood size, and we can age the nestlings accurately based on their plumage development. However, we also closely monitor the reaction of the breeding pair, to quantify any signs of stress (e.g., alarm calling or flying toward the drone) and can abandon a survey at any time if necessary.

The video shows one of our raven nests in the valley, where the nestlings are just a couple of days old. It provides insights into the method. Filming and photographing is only used directly at the nest site - we do not take any footage during the approach, and chose our path carefully away from people's houses (in line with our research permit). Here we recorded the descent to introduce the field researchers involved: Shane as pilot, concentrating on the flight, using his goggles for maximal resolution; and Petra as spotter, observing the entire process with binoculars or the scope, so we do not miss any reaction of our wildlife in the surroundings.

If you are interested in the whole video footage, please visit our Facebook page.

 Happy Easter!

We wish everyone Happy Easter and happy holidays! Stay healthy!

 When field research is cancelled...

The crisis caused by the coronavirus also changes the lives of researchers. Didone Frigerio was asked how her everyday life has changed in terms of her work as a scientist, how she maintains contact with colleagues and how she handles isolation.

You can read this article here.

 Welcome Shane!

Dr Shane Sumasgutner is a conservation biologist, with a special interest in birds of prey. Shane qualified with BSc and Post Graduate Diploma in Zoology at Massey University in New Zealand in 2005. This was followed by a variety of field assistant positions on research and conservation projects; including the Mongolia Saker Falcon Artificial Nest Project, The Peregrine Fund’s East Africa Projects, Parakeet Conservation for Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and managing a team conducting a Windfarm Avifauna Impact Assessment in New Zealand. Shane then took those experiences forward to complete a PhD on The Urban Ecology of African Crowned Eagle at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.  This project was extended a further three years with a postdoc position, concurrently developing breadth and depth of technical skills such as drone piloting, rope access on cliffs and trees, a variety of trapping methods, banding, tagging and telemetry, and using these to support research by peers and students across a range of vertebrate fauna in South Africa.

Shane recently moved to Austria with recently appointed KLF postdoctoral fellow Dr. Petra Sumasgutner, and while he awaits work permits he is volunteering at the KLF to fill in gaps where needed, such as helping to monitor the goose occupancy patterns between KLF and Cumberland Gamepark. Once the permit and pandemic situations are resolved he will be back out in the mountains to extend the KLF research on wild ravens and raptors.

 How do threats like predation and climate change affect the behaviour and survival of animals?

Petra Sumasgutner aims to understand the response of birds to land-use and climate change. Within this large research field, she is mainly interested in predator-prey and host-parasite relationships, and how these complex interactions change through anthropogenic influences.

At the Konrad Lorenz Research Centre, she now coordinates the long-term research project on wild ravens, and analyses movement patters in relation to anthropogenic resources and threats, and information transfer within the scavenger community, including golden eagles. Furthermore, she will work on Darwin’s finches and how predation risk imposed by introduced and native predators shapes physiology, behaviour and long-term fitness.

Dr. Petra Sumasgutner PhD (University of Vienna, Austria)
Email: petra.sumasgutner@univie.ac.at

 The KLF welcomes a new postdoctoral researcher

Dr. Mauricio Nicolas Adreani (known as Nico) did his undergraduate degree at University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology on avian biology. His research specialisations are neural and endocrine biology and vocal communication. Nico is currently studying the endocrine modulation of aggression in birds and leading a citizen science project on avian nest architecture in South America. Nico’s main role at the KLF will be to discover the emergence and coordination of collective behaviour through vocal communication in the wild and its link with reproductive success. His study species will be ravens, greylag geese and Darwin’s finches. Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen are great inspirations, and Nico says “so of course I am very happy to be at the KLF. I am a passionate birdwatcher too.“
Nico is currently in the home office due to the corona crisis.

 New paper published

Sonia Kleindorfer, Lauren Common and colleagues studied the temporal changes in body size of the myiasis-causing parasite Philornis downsi (Diptera: Muscidae) in the Galápagos Islands under conditions of previous host mortality in the nest (Darwin's finches).

Publication in Journal of Evolutionary Biology:

Common, L.K., O’Connor, J.A., Dudaniec, R.Y., Peters, K.J., Kleindorfer, S. (2020). Evidence for rapid downward fecundity selection in an ectoparasite (Philornis downsi) with earlier host mortality in Darwin’s finches. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13588

Austrian Citizen Science Conference 2020

University of Vienna and Citizen Science Network Austria will be hosting the 7th Austrian Citizen Science Conference. It will take place on the campus of the Uniersity of Vienna. The Konrad Lorenz Research Station is involved in the event organisation.

The 7th Austrian Citizen Science Conference will be organised according to the criteria of the "Österreichisches Umweltzeichen" for Green Events.

Event for Download

 New paper published

Verena Pühringer-Sturmayr and colleagues have published a paper on the effects of GPS-transmitters on the behaviour and physiology of northern bald ibises.

Publication in Animal Biotelemetry:

Puehringer-Sturmayr, V., Loretto, M.C., Hemetsberger, J. et al. Effects of bio-loggers on behaviour and corticosterone metabolites of Northern Bald Ibises (Geronticus eremita) in the field and in captivity. Anim Biotelemetry 8, 2 (2020) doi:10.1186/s40317-019-0191-5

 New paper published

Petra Sumasgutner and colleagues have explored bird malaria parasites in the pigeon population in Cape Town and discovered high prevalence and infection intensities. High infection intensities were also related to a loss in body weight, but not to plumage melanism.

Publication in 'Parasitology Research':

Nebel, C., Harl, J., Pajot, A. et al. Parasitol Res (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06558-6

 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The team of the Konrad Lorenz research center wishes a Merry Christmas, relaxing holidays and all the best for 2020!

 New Publication

Research into the gut microbiome of the famous Darwin's finch adaptive radiation shows that diet and habitat are stronger predictors of gut microbiome than phylogeny.

Publication in Scientific Reports:

Loo WT, Dudaniec RY, Loor JG, Kleindorfer S, Cavanaugh CM (2019). Host phylogeny, diet, and habitat differentiate the gut microbiomes of Darwin's finches on Santa Cruz Island. Scientific Reports 9: 18781

doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54869-6

Download here

 New Paper published

Well-considered decisions fill the stomach

Mario Gallego-Abenza investigated the foraging success of wild common ravens, Corvus corax, experiencing high levels of kleptoparasitism from conspecifics when snatching food from the daily feedings of captive wild boars in a game park. Success in keeping the food depended mainly on the individuals’ age class and was positively correlated with the time to make a decision in whether to fly off with food or consume it on site.

Publication in "Ethology":

Gallego-Abenza M, Loretto M-C, Bugnyar T. Decision time modulates social foraging success in wild common ravens, Corvus corax. Ethology. 2019;00:1–10. https ://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12986

Download the pdf here

 The Dean Amadon Grant goes to Petra Sumasgutner

Congratulations to Petra Sumasgutner on receiving the Dean Amadon Grant!

The Grant is named after Dean Amadon, one of the great ornithologists and raptor researchers, who published the series "Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World" (1968) together with Leslie Brown. He passed away in 2003.

Petra received the grant for her Golden Eagle project in Mongolia: "Are Central Asian Golden Eagles genetically distinct? The distribution of the subspecies Aquila chrysaetos daphanea in Mongolia".

It was carried out in cooperation with the Natural History Museum Vienna and partners in South Africa (Dr. Megan Murgatroyd and Dr. Shane McPherson). The field work was financed by L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Grant, the genetic evaluations by Amadon Grant.

 We would like to introduce our new PostDoc: Dr. Petra Sumasgutner

We would like to warmly welcome Petra and look forward to working with her!

Petra is an urban ecologist and raptor researcher who recently transitioned from a post-doc fellowship at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Cape Town to the Konrad Lorenz Research Centre. She initiated the Viennese Kestrel Project as her PhD research, and graduated from the University of Vienna in 2014. Ever since she has been involved in a variety of post-doc projects, bringing her to Northern Finland, where she focused on how agricultural intensification influences the demography of Eurasian Kestrels, and Southern Africa, where she worked on several different urban ‘raptor’ species, including Black Sparrowhawks, Peregrine Falcons, Crowned Eagles, and the infamous Red-winged Starlings known to steal junk food from local students. In her free time, you will find Petra exploring the world hiking, paragliding or diving.

At the Konrad Lorenz Research Centre she will work as a joined post-doc with Prof. Dr. Thomas Bugnyar and Prof. Dr. Sonia Kleindorfer. Petra will take advantage of the established study systems at the KLF, especially the common raven research project, where she will focus on movement ecology and behavioural adaptations in the face of global change.

 New Publication: Experience modulates an insect's response to anthropogenic noise

Field cricket males reduce their chirp rate in response to traffic noise. However, experienced individuals - i.e. regular exposure to anthropogenic noise - decreased their chirp rate less than non-experienced ones. This suggests that a regular exposure to noise reduces an individual's sensitivity to noise.

Publication in "Behavioral Ecology":

Gallego-Abenza, M., Mathevon, N., Wheatcroft, D. (2019) Experience modulates an insect's response to anthropogenic noise. Behavioral Ecology, arz159, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz159

 New Publication: Taxonomic Shifts in Philornis Larval Behaviour

Our new study reveals that the parasite Philornis downsi has undergone shifts in behaviour across taxonomic groups and in recent times as an invasive species threatening land birds on the Galapagos Islands.

Publication in "Life Cycle and Development of Diptera":

Common, L. K., Dudaniec, R. Y., Colombelli-Négrel, D., Kleindorfer, S. (2019) Taxonomic Shifts in Philornis Larval Behaviour and Rapid Changes in Philornis downsi Dodge & Aitken (Diptera: Muscidae): An Invasive Avian Parasite on the Galápagos Islands. In: Life Cycle and Development of Diptera. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.88854

Download the pdf here.

 Jane Goodall interview

On 11 September 2019, Sonia Kleindorfer interviewed Jane Goodall at the Hotel Bristol in Vienna. Jane shared memories of Konrad Lorenz and spoke about the value of citizen scientists and youth engagement programs for a healthy planet.

During 1989-1990 Sonia was the site co-director for the Animal Behaviour Research Unit at Mikumi National Park in Tanzania where Sonia studied free-ranging baboons. Jane Goodall helped pick out and establish the site.

Later Sonia spent a few weeks with Jane Goodall, Anthony Collins and Christophe Boesch observing chimpanzees at Gombe stream. Sonia arrived on the same canoe as Jane and before they arrived on shore, Jane gave a chimp greeting call from the boat that was answered by chimps in the forest.

In 1991, Sonia was a volunteer with Jane and her team to help organise fundraising for the launch of the Roots and Shoots program. Sonia helped organise and then attend the main fund raising dinner in Tanzania with former President Mwinyi.

In 2006, Jane was awarded an Honorary doctorate from Flinders University and Sonia said hello to her at Town Hall in Adelaide.

In 2019, Sonia interviewed Jane again after they had first met 30 years prior.

 New Paper published

Primary school children as citizen scientists!

Pupils conducted a two-year survey to assess the knowledge of the public regarding the knowledge about the northern bald ibis and the attitude towards science. The percentage of correct answers increased over the years. Furthermore, pupils acted as multipliers of scientific knowledge and were encouraged through education-based activities and the regular contact to scientists.

Publication in "PeerJ":

Frigerio, D., Puehringer-Sturmayr, V., Neuböck-Hubinger, B., Gegendorfer, G., Kotrschal, K., Hirschenhauser, K. (2019) Monitoring public awareness about the endangered northern bald ibis: a case study involving primary school children as citizen scientists. PeerJ 7:e7569

Download the pdf here.

 New paper published

Social context in early stages of life has long-term effects on greylag geese

Being socially active is not only a must for people. A team led by the behavioural biologists Didone Frigerio and Georgine Szipl from the Konrad Lorenz Research Centre investigated how integration into the group affects physiology, agonistic interactions and fitness in greylag geese.

Conclusion: The social context in early life stages has long-term effects on the animals.

Publication in "Scientific Reports":

Szipl, G., Depenau, M., Kotrschal, K., Hemetsberger, J., Frigerio, D. (2019) Costs and benefits of social connectivity in juvenile Greylag geese. Scientific Reports 9: 12839

Press release of the University of Vienna

 New paper published

A new paper on how pupils (8- to 10-year old) learning and science commitment was influenced by the active involvement in learning opportunities with the Northern Bald Ibis and researchers was published. The pupils showed a clear learning progress on the Northern Bald Ibis behaviour in particular and a general interest in birds especially on a long timescale.

Publication in "PLoS ONE":

Hirschenhauser, K., Frigerio, D., Leighinger, V., Schenkenfelder, I., Neuböck-Hubinger, B. (2019). Primary pupils, science and a model bird species: Evidence for the efficacy of extracurricular science education. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0220635

 New KLF building

A first insight into the building plan of our new research center. There will be plenty of space for offices and laboratories. We are very excited about the building plan and look forward to moving.

 ARTE film team

A film team from ARTE visited the KLF to make a film about the current research on the greylag geese. The film will be broadcasted in the next year. Stay tuned!

 New KLF building: Month 3

June 2019: The excavators are already at work.

 Workshop: Science communication with children and young people

Last Wednesday Bernhard Weingartner was with us at the Konrad Lorenz Research Center and exchanged experiences and tips with us in order to prepare science communication with this very special target group in terms of content, organisation and dramaturgy.

We received tips and did exercises according to the motto: Simplify with catchy pictures, metaphors and comparisons according to age - but still don't tell fairy tales!

Thank you very much - it was very exciting, we learned a lot!!!

 Post-doc position available

A 6-year post-doc position at the Konrad Lorenz Research Station (Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna) is available and announced by Prof. Dr. Sonia Kleindorfer. We search for a researcher with expertise in bioacoustics and a sincere interest in studying animals in their natural environments, notably ravens and greylag geese, but also Darwin's finches on the Galapagos islands. For more information please click on this link.

 News from the Galapagos Islands

Sonia Kleindorfer and colleagues published another exciting paper about the effects of a parasitic fly on the naris size of Darwin's finches living on the Galapagos Islands. The naris size influences song characteristics. The study was published in the Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, and shows that birds with enlarged naris size produce song that are not species-specific anymore, and are easily mistaken for the song of closely related species. Thus, the risk of hybridization increases.

 How having a partner and a family changes the stress levels of greylag geese

In this paper, researchers found that the stress level of greylag geese depends on the pair-bond status as well as the season. Thus, having a social partner is important in order to cope with stress.

The paper "Social and environmental factors modulate leucocyte profiles in free-living Greylag geese (Anser anser)" was newly published in the Journal "Frontiers for Young Minds" to make it also accessible for young readers! Science for kids, edited by kids - In this journal scientists write a manuscript which is reviewed by a board of kids and teens.

It's a great opportunity for young minds to learn about new findings in science and to engage the next generation of citizens and scientists. Interested? Write us an email if you would like to review a manuscript from scientists.

Congratulations to this publication in the journal "Frontiers for Young Minds"!

Publication in "Frontiers for Young Minds":

Frigerio, D., Hemetsberger, F., Wascher, C. A. F. (2019). How Having a Parnter and a Family Changes the Stress Levels of Greylag Geese. Frontiers for Young Minds, 7:68. doi: 10.3389/frym.2019.00068

 Congratulations

Matthias Loretto managed to get a highly competitive grant from the European Commission (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship). For this project he will transfer to the renowned Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell (Germany). From there he will spend several research stays in the Yellowstone National Park (USA) investigating the interactions between ravens and wolves. Congratulations!

 New publication

Congratulations to Sonia Kleindorfer (head of the KLF) and her colleagues on the publication of this field guide. The booklet is sold at the Charles Darwin Research Station on the Galapagos. All proceeds are being used to fund conservation projects and research.

 New paper published: Parents' vigilance increases survival chances of greylag geese goslings

Did you know that greylag geese goslings have a better chance at survival when their parents invest more time in being aggressive and vigilant rather than foraging. Especially parental division of labour plays an important role. If you are interested to know more about this topic, please check out the following paper.

Publication in „Journal of Ornithology“:

Szipl, G., Loth, A., Wascher, C.A.F., Hemetsberger, J., Kotrschal, K., Frigerio, D. (2019). Parental behaviour and family proximity as key to gosling survival in Greylag Geese (Anser anser). Journal of Ornithology, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-016

 Merry Christmas

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 New paper published: Those who live in a good partnership digest better

Stable social relationships in greylag geese help the digestion, which could increase the reproductive success in the following breeding season. The digestive efficiency was higher in pairs with offspring than in pairs without offspring or singles. This suggests that there is an interaction between the social environment and the digestive efficiency.   

Publication in „Scientific Reports“:

Frigerio, D., Kotrschal, K., Fabro, C., Puehringer-Sturmayr, V., Iaiza, L., Hemetsberger, J., Mason, F., Sarnataro, C., Filacorda, S. (2018). Social context modulates digestive efficiency in greylag geese (Anser anser). Scientific Reports, 8: 16498.

 New project in the Yellowstone National Park

Together with Prof. Thomas Müller and Kim Kortekaas, Prof. Thomas Bugnyar and Mario Gallego helped Dr. Matthias Loretto to conduct a pilot study in the Yellowstone National Park. Dr. Matthias Loretto got recently funded with a Marie Curie Fellowship to conduct a new research on raven-wolve interaction, which will begin in fall 2019.

Congratulations Matthias and all the best for your new project!

 International Raven Meeting in Maine

Prof. Thomas Bugnyar, Dr. Matthias Loretto and Mario Gallego travelled to the USA to attend the International Raven Meeting in Maine, which was hosted by Bernd Heinrich. An incredible opportunity to share ideas with co-workers and get updated on the current research conducted on Common Ravens (Corvus corax).

 Pictures of the photo competition published

We are excited to announce that the pictures of the winners of the photo competition "My Research in one Picture" of the University of Vienna were published in the Heureka this week. The Northern Bald Ibis picture "Let's cuddle darling" shot by Verena Pühringer-Sturmayr (PhD candidate at the KLF), which made the 2nd place in the competition, is also featured.

 Badge for merit and retirement party

We cordially congratulate Kurt Kotrschal to the Golden Badge for Merit of the State of Upper Austria, which he is awarded with on the 15 November 2018. We already celebrated during the Biologicum Almtal - where many companions, current and former employees and colleagues came together for the retirement of Kurt Kotrschal - and recalled the last 30 years in words and pictures! Dear Kurt, we wish you all the best for the future!

 Ground-breaking ceremony for the new research center

Finally the time has come. On Saturday, 6 October 2018, the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Konrad Lorenz Research Center near the Cumberland game park Grünau took place. Deputy Governor Michael Strugl, Vice Rector Regina Hitzenberger, former Vice Rector Karl Schwaha, former Head of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center Kurt Kotrschal, Managing Director of the Wildpark Bernhard Lankmaier and President of the Wildpark Operators Association Johann Vielhaber were present. The main section of the new building will be similiar to the "Auingerhaus" (current research center). Also, more space is created for offices, laboratories and seminar rooms. We are already looking forward to the move to the new building!

You will find more information here.

 European Researchers' Night

On Friday, 28 September 2018, the European Researchers' Night - Sci4all - takes place from 10 AM until 12 PM at the TGM (Wexstraße 19-23, 1200 Vienna). This time we are also part of this amazing event and will inform you about the ongoing research at the KLF, our Citizen Science projects and how you can join our research as a Citizen Scientist. Come visit us at our stand! Suitable for the young as well as the older prospective researchers.

 Science made in Austria

The KLF was selected as one of Austria’s top research institutions by the Austrian Science Fund, FWF. In their brochure, the FWF listed several locations of excellent basic research “made in Austria”.

You can download the full brochure here.

 2nd place in the photo competition "My Research in one Picture"!

Our colleague Verena Pühringer-Sturmayr made the 2nd place in the photo competition "My Research in one Picture" of the University of Vienna. The photo competition aims at helping early stage researchers to communicate their research and become more visible. Verena is currently working on her PhD thesis with Northern Bald Ibises, and submitted the picture (on the left) "Let's cuddle darling".

Congratulations!

 The Gertrud Pleskot Award goes to Georgine Szipl

Congratulations to Georgine Szipl, who was awarded with the Gertrud Pleskot Award!

Which project or publication makes you proud the most?

Basically all my publications make me proud, because they are the result of hard work together with many talented colleagues. At the moment, I'm very proud of our latest work Attacked raven's flexibly adjust signaling behavior according to audience composition in Proceedings B. Despite excellent results, it has been a long and rocky road to publication, with much criticism and many rejections.

What are the challenges for young scientists and where do you see yourself in the future?

One of the biggest challenges for me is to confidently "woman" up in science and to not let criticism and setbacks get in the way, but to use them for yourself to get better. In the future, I would like to continue to do basic research, but to also put a new emphasis on the transfer of knowledge.

 New Paper Published!

Our latest study on ravens shows that ravens strategically adjust their calling to the composition of the audience. They call their allies to help them, but avoid calling if allies of the aggressors are in the audience.

Publication in "Proceedings B":

Szipl, G., Ringler, E., & Bugnyar, T. (2018). Attacked ravens flexibly adjust signalling behaviour according to audience composition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 285(1880), 20180375.

 Summer School 2018

SAVE THE DATE!

It is our pleasure to announce the Summer School 2018: Citizen Science in Theory and Practice which will take place from 15 to 19 October 2018 at the JUFA Hotel Almtal in Grünau im Almtal, Austria. The summer school is organised by PhD fellows of the Vienna Doctoral School CoBeNe (University of Vienna, Austria), which financially supports this event, and will be held in cooperation with the Konrad Lorenz Research Station and the Cumberland game park Grünau, where several Citizen Science (CS) projects are taking place. We will cover all relevant topics associated with CS: from the value of CS, planning a study, funding, designing apps and motivating citizens (i.e. communication and recruitment) to analysing big scattered data sets, presenting and publishing results.

For more information, please see the save the date flyer or visit: http://vds-cobene.univie.ac.at/ and http://klf.univie.ac.at/summer-school/.

We are looking forward to welcoming you at the summer school!

 New Paper Out!

A review on the synergies and challenges of Citizen Science in wildlife biology was published in Ethology. The review presents several case studies which show that Citizen Science can be applied successfully to research projects in wildlife biology.

Publication in "Ethology":

Frigerio, D., Pipek, P., Kimmig, S., Winter, S., Melzheimer, J., Diblíková, L., et al. (2018). Citizen science and wildlife biology: Synergies and challenges. Ethology, 4, e6968. http://doi.org/10.1155/2012/710710

 Raven Food Calls Indicate Sender’s Age and Sex

A new study revealed that food-associated calls emitted by ravens to alert conspecifics to feeding sites varied in call duration and amplitude-related features according to sender's age and sex.

Publication in "Frontiers in Zoology":

Boeckle, M, Szipl, G., & Bugnyar, T. (2018). Raven food calls indicate sender's age and sex. Frontiers in Zoology, 15(3), 5.

 Greylag geese adjust their body temperature to season and reproductive context

The researchers investigated energy management in greylag geese. The results show that geese cope with the winter climate by reducing their heart rate and body temperature.

Publication in "Scientific Reports":

Wascher, C.A.F., Kotrschal, K., Arnold, W. (2018) Free-living greylag geese adjust their heart rates and body core temperatures to season and reproductive context. Scientific Reports 8(1): 2142

 Pairbond with Benefits

The breeding season is very challenging for northern bald ibis parents. As a result the immune system of the birds is additionally burdened and there is an increased risk of infection. However, being well embedded in a social network may reduce stress. This was detected in the present study. The researchers accompanied the northern bald ibises during and outside the breeding season and examined the stress hormones of the animals.

Publication in "PLOS ONE":

Puehringer-Sturmayr, V., Wascher, C.A.F., Loretto, M.-C., Palme, R., Stoewe, M., Kotrschal, K., Frigerio, D. (2018) Seasonal differences of corticosterone metabolite concentrations and parasite burden in northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita): The role of affiliative interactions. PLoS ONE 13(1): e0191441

 Calls during agonistic interactions vary with arousal and raise audience attention in ravens

The authors show that defensive calls uttered during aggressive interactions between Common ravens encode arousal-based changes previously shown to vary with arousal in mammals. Furthermore, experimentally manipulated defensive calls were played back to test the responses of bystanding ravens to calls indicating increased arousal.

Publication in "Frontiers in Zoology":

Szipl, G., Ringler, E., Spreafico, M., & Bugnyar, T. (2017). Calls during agonistic interactions vary with arousal and raise audience attention in ravens. Frontiers in Zoology, 14(1), 57.

 Differential responses to gosling distress calls in parental and non-parental Greylag Geese

The authors investigated the responses of parental and non-parental males and females to the distress calls of their own and foreign goslings. Parental geese responded to any distress calls with vigilance, irrespective of the familiarity. Non-parental geese showed increased comfort behaviour instead. In parental geese, the females were more vigilant than parental males, suggesting differences in parental investment between males and females.

Publication in "Journal of Ornithology":

Loth, A., Frigerio, D., Kotrschal, K., & Szipl, G. (2017). Differential responses to gosling distress calls in parental and non-parental Greylag Geese. Journal of Ornithology 159(2), 401-412.

 Visit of the Dean's Team

The dean's team, together with the dean's office staff of the Faculty of Life Sciences, visited us from the 2nd to the 3rd of November. The social programme included a visit of the Konrad Lorenz Research Station with the greylag geese flock, a slow-paced walk through der Cumberland gamepark Grünau visiting the northern bald ibis and corvid aviaries as well as a visit to Oberganslbach and the Almsee.

We very much enjoyed the visit!