Research interests

• Long-distance migration
• Navigation strategies
• Raptor ecology 
• Migration and wintering of Eleonora's Falcon

 

 

 

 

Scientific projects

The main focus of my research is to investigate the migration route of Eleonora’s Falcon and to define the species’ habitat needs in its wintering area Madagascar. From 2003 to 2005 I conducted fieldwork in one important breeding site of Eleonora’s Falcon on Sardinia, Italy. I tagged 6 adult and 7 juvenile falcons with solar powered satellite transmitters. Each of the tracked individuals displayed highly individual migration routes and applied complex navigational mechanisms. The fieldwork on Sardinia was carried out in close cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Germany. From November 2003 until March 2004 I travelled Madagascar and collected data on the preferred habitat of Eleonora’s Falcon and Sooty Falcon. Furthermore I collected 21 dead eggs of Eleonora’s Falcon in 2005. PCB and DDT/DDE analyses were conducted in cooperation with the Research Institute of  Wildlife Ecology in Vienna, Austria. In 2006 a diploma thesis investigated the “Environmental contamination in eggs of Eleonora’s Falcons”.

Since January 2007 I am conducting a project on raptor monitoring, which is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Baden-Württemberg, and is part of the Research Programme “Wild birds and Avian Flu”. Until December 2008 different raptor species are being monitored to evaluate the potential risk of an infection with HPAI and to determine the probability of long distance migratory birds acting as hosts for this virus. Within this research programme we investigate the home range, habitat use and migration routes of Red and Black Kite (Milvus milvus and M. migrans) with the means of radio telemetry (diploma thesis Monika Riepl) and satellite telemetry, the movements of Peregrines (Falco peregrinus) in Southern Germany during winter via GPS satellite transmitters, as well as the potential spread of Avian Flu among non migratory species such as the Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis).

Publications

Gschweng M, Kalko EKV, Querner U, Fiedler W, Berthold P (2008). All Across Africa: highly individual migration routes of Eleonora’s Falcon. Proc R Soc, Series B, doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0575

Atkinson PW, Robinson RA, Clark JA, Miyar T, Downie IS, du Feu C, Fiedler W, Fransson T, Grantham MJ, Gschweng M, Spina F, Crick HQP (2007) Migratory movements of waterfowl: a web-based mapping tool. EURING report to the EU Commission. (http://blx1.bto.org/ai-eu/)

Atkinson PW, Clark JA, Delany S, Diagana CH, du Feu C, Fiedler W, Fransson T, Gaulthier-Clerc M, Grantham MJ, Gschweng M, Hagemeijer W, Helmink T, Johnson A, Khomenko S, Martakis G, Overdijk O, Robinson RA, Solokha A, Spina F, Sylla SI, Veen J, Visser D (2006) Urgent preliminary assessment of ornithological data relevant to the spread of Avian Influenza in Europe. In: Delany S, Veen J, Clark JA (eds) Report to the European Commission. Study contract: 07010401/2005/425926/MAR/B4

Conference contributions

Gschweng M (2009) Evaluierung des Infektions- und Übertragungsrisikos beim Rot- und Schwarzmilan (Milvus milvus, M. migrans) durch H5N1, Poster presented at the Wissenschaftliche Schlusstagung Constanze und Wuv in Arbon, Schweiz

Gschweng M (2009) Rot- und Schwarzmilan in Baden-Württemberg, Abschlusssymposium at the Ministry of Agriculture of Baden-Württemberg

Gschweng M (2008) Der Zugweg des Eleonorenfalken, neue Erkenntnisse mittels Satellitentelemetrie. Talk, 48. Jahrestagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wanderfalkenschutz im Landesmedienzentrum Karlsruhe.

Gschweng M (2008) Evaluierung des Infektions- und Übertragungsrisikos beim Schwarzmilan (Milvus migrans) durch H5N1. Poster presented at the joint meeting of the research programs „Constanze" and „Wildvögel und Vogelgrippe (WuV)", Bregenz, Austria

Gschweng M (2008) Rot- und Schwarzmilan in Baden-Württemberg. Talk presented at the symposium on vulture research, Ministerium für Ernährung und Ländlichen Raum, Stuttgart, Germany

Gschweng M (2007). Der Zugweg des Eleonorenfalken. Vom Brutgebiet ins Winterquartier. Talk presented at the Annual Meeting of the German Ringing Association in Radolfzell, Germany

Gschweng M, Kaatz M, Kalko EKV, Querner U & Berthold P (2004). Der Einsatz von Satellitentelemetrie zur Untersuchung des Migrationsverhaltens beim Eleonorenfalken (Falco eleonorae). Poster presented at the 137th Annual Meeting of the German Ornithological Society in Kiel, Germany

Public outreach

Magazin "Vögel" online, 27.07.09: Kein Grippevirus bei Greifvögeln

ZEIT online 22. Juli 2009: Greifvögel sind keine Überträger der Vogelgrippe

Südwestpresse 12. Juni 2009: In der Region keine Vogel-Grippe-Gefahr durch Zugvögel

Pressemitteilung Universität Ulm, 22. Juli 2009: Übertragung der Vogelgrippe: Heimische Greifvögel vermutlich außen vor

Spektrum der Wissenschaft direkt, 22.07.2009: Heimische Greifvögel keine Überträger der Vogelgrippe

LBV Artenschutz 03. Juli 2009: Besenderung eines Steinadlers

FAZ Net 26.03.2009: Herumtreiber unterm Südhimmel

Suedkurier, Der Milan greift sich die Baar. 28 Sept 2008

Badische Zeitung, Die Baar – ein Paradies für den Milan. 9 Sept 2008

Frankfurter Neue Presse, Jungfalken fliegen ohne Eltern in den Süden. 5 Sept 2008

PRIORI Madagaskar Blog, Junge Falken fliegen auf eigene Faust nach Madagaskar. 3 Sept 2008

Wissenschaft.de, Flugroute genetisch vorprogrammiert. 3 Sept 2008

BirdLife International (2008) Species factsheet: Falco concolor. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 22/7/2008

Bombardi R "Uni Team auf der Baar. In Süddeutschland die höchste Brutdichte an Rotmilanen/Projekt wird vom Land unterstützt". Schwarzwälder Bote, Ausgabe B1D. 173. Jahrgang, Nummer 151.

Research projects on wildfoul and avian influenza of the State of Baden-Württemberg:

http://wuv-bw.de
www.naturschutz.landbw.de/servlet/PB/menu/1224249_l1/index.htm
www.naturschutz.landbw.de/servlet/PB/show/1224276/WuV014.pdf