What’s the project about?
On Mettnau peninsula near Radolfzell (Bodensee) songbirds have been trapped during autumn in mist nets, marked and released under standardized conditions between 1972 and 2008 and now again in 2022 to 2024. A certain percentage of birds visiting Mettnau during migration are re-trapped within the same season and thus open the possibility to calculate a “minimum stopover duration” which serves as a measure how long the passing migrants stay on Mettnau to fill their energy stores. In the framework of changes in migratory behaviour induced by climate change it has been hypothesized that the mean time migrants spend at stopover sites also is changing. This hypothesis shall be tested on the dataset collected at Mettnau ringing station over the last 50 years. The project does not require field work, all data is already digitally available.
What we expect
- Basic experience in bird ringing, ideally with mist nets (for a profound understanding of the nature of the data)
- Good skills in analysis of time series and in the handling of data in data bases.
- At least basic knowledge of Central European songbird species
Who can apply?
The project is available to BSc students (study limited to a selection of 5 species) or to MSc students (analysis on full species set as far as sample size is sufficient)
Who should I contact?
Wolfgang Fiedler, Bird Movements and Animal Marking Research Group
