Institution: Core Facility KLF for Behavior and Cognition - University of Vienna

Project lead: Didone Frigerio

Fischerau 13, 4645 Grünau im Almtal

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Monitoring greylag geese in the Almtal

Interested groups (mainly school classes) can participate in this scientific project about the whereabouts of the greylag geese in the Cumberland game park in Grünau im Almtal (Upper Austria).

The social behaviour of the flock of greylag geese of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center (a core facility of the University of Vienna) has been monitored for more than 40 years. The birds are individually marked by coloured leg-rings and can move completely free.

What is it all about?

During the breeding season (March to June) the greylag geese generally spend part of the day in the game park. Aim of this project is to monitor the spatio-temporal patterns of the goose-families during the rearing period. The collected data provide information about the behavioural ecology of the greylag goose.

Who can participate in the research?

School classes and other groups who are interested in participating as Citizen Scientists in the research of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center.

How can one participate in the research?

In order to participate, school classes/groups are asked to register for a workshop with subsequent data collection on the website Naturschauspiel.

Equipped with a protocol sheet, goose list and a site plan and accompanied by a biologist of the Research Center, the pupils record sightings of greylag geese on their way through the game park.

Results

Puehringer-Sturmayr, Gegendorfer, Rittenschober, Szipl, & Frigerio (2018): Involving pupils/citizens in long-term behavioural biology research. Lessons learnt and future perspectives. In: Heigl et al. (2018): Austrian Citizen Science Conference 2018, Abstract Book, p. 34-38.

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. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acd073

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. In A. Volvlas (Hrsg.), Citizen Science - Methods, Approaches and New Perspectives. Intechopen. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107532