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Heligoland Trap
A Heligoland trap (or funnel trap) is a large, building-sized, funnel-shaped, rigid structure of wire mesh or netting used to trap birds, so that they can be banded or otherwise studied by ornithologists. The name is taken from the site of the first such trap, the Heligoland Bird Observatory on the island of Heligoland, Germany, where it was developed by Hugo Weigold who established the observatory and initiated the banding program there. The trap has a series of linked funnels that guides birds or other animals in but makes it hard for them to leave. Funnel traps of smaller size can also be used to trap squirrels and insects. Rybachy trap The Rybachy trap is a variation or expansion of the Heligoland trap in that it is a large, passive trap consisting of linked funnels terminating in a small chamber from which the birds are extracted for banding and measuring before release. It differs in being larger – it may have an entrance some 30 m wide by 15 m high – and by having a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Ringing
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Birds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds. It has also been an area with a large contribution made by amateurs in terms of time, resources, and financial support. Studies on birds have helped develop key concepts in biology including evolution, behaviour and ecology such as the definition of species, the process of speciation, instinct, learning, ecological niches, guilds, island biogeography, phylogeography, and conservation. While early ornithology was principally concerned with descriptions and distributions of species, ornithologists today seek answers to very specific questions, often using birds as models to test hypotheses or predictions based on theories. Most modern biological theories apply across life forms, and the number of scientists w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heligoland Bird Observatory
The Heligoland Bird Observatory (''Vogelwarte Helgoland'' in German), one of the world's first ornithological observatories, is operated by the Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Helgoland e.V., a non-profit organization which was founded in 1891 to support research on the fauna of Heligoland, a small German archipelago, comprising the islands of Heligoland and Düne, in the Heligoland Bight of the North Sea. The principal research focus is on bird migration through banding studies. Over 400 species have been recorded. OAG Helgoland produces an annual bird report. History Heligoland is on a major migration route for birds crossing the North Sea; for centuries, both those on migration and those breeding there, were an important source of food for the islanders. In the early 19th century Heligoland also became a source of bird specimens for collectors and museums. Ornithologist and artist Heinrich Gätke first visited the island in 1837 and moved there permanently in 1841 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heligoland
Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became the possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890, and briefly managed as a war prize from 1945 to 1952. The islands are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea and had a population of 1,127 at the end of 2016. They are the only German islands not in the vicinity of the mainland. They lie approximately by sea from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe. During a visit to the islands, August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics to "", which became the national anthem of Germany. In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called . Name Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugo Weigold
Max Hugo Weigold (27 May 1886 – 9 July 1973) was a German zoologist and a pioneer bird bander who worked at the Heligoland Bird Observatory, one of the world's first bird-ringing sites. Weigold was born in Dresden. He studied natural sciences and geography in Jena and Leipzig. Here he was influenced by Ernst Haeckel, Richard Woltereck, Otto zur Strassen and Carl Chun. He worked for the Scientific Commission for Marine Research in Heligoland, a German island in the North Sea, where he continued the work of Heinrich Gätke (who died in 1897) in bird migration studies, setting up the bird observatory in 1910 to trap and band the migratory birds passing through the island. For six years Weigold carried out zoological research in China and Tibet and was the first Westerner to see a live giant panda in the wild, buying a cub (which did not survive for long) while part of the Stoetzner Expedition in 1916. He later became Director of Natural Sciences at the Lower Saxony State Muse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lev Belopolsky
Lev Osipovich Belopolsky (4 July 1907 – 5 November 1990) was a Soviet ornithologist and marine biologist who founded the Biological Station of the Zoological Institute in Rybachiy. He worked extensively on polar ecology, especially in the Barents Sea and the Curonian Spit, and produced works on the biology of the birds of the region. Belopolsky was born in St. Petersburg. He studied at the Moscow State University, graduating in 1930. He obtained a doctorate in 1945. He took part in oceanographic research aboard the icebreakers '' A. Sibiryakov'' (1932) and '' Chelyuskin'' (1933–1934); the latter expedition ended in disaster with the ship being crushed by ice and the rescue involved the survivors building a runway on ice for the rescue aircraft to land. The incident was famous in its time and used by Joseph Stalin for propaganda. Belopolsky was one of the survivors and he received high honours from the Soviet Union for his participation. In early 1950, Belopolsky's brother was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rossitten Bird Observatory
The Rossitten Bird Observatory (''Vogelwarte Rossitten'' in German) was the world's first ornithological observatory. It was sited at Rossitten, East Prussia (now Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), on the Curonian Spit on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. It was established by German ornithologist Johannes Thienemann and operated until 1944. In 1945 East Prussia was divided between Poland, Russia and Lithuania, and most ethnic Germans expelled. History The 98 km long Curonian Spit is a thin sand peninsula, ranging from about 400 m to 4 km in width, that separates the Baltic Sea from the shallow Curonian Lagoon. It has several settlements along its length. It lies on a major migration route for birds following the coastline of the eastern Baltic. Thienemann first visited the fishing village of Rossitten there in 1896 where he experienced “a bird migration proceeding in a regular manner but more massive than had ever before been observed in Germany” and he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast
Rybachy (russian: Рыба́чий, from ''Рыба́к'', "Fisherman", german: Rossitten, pl, Rosity, lt, Rasytė) is a rural settlement in Zelenogradsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Curonian Spit. As of 2010 it has about 839 residents. It was formerly known for the Rossitten Bird Observatory and the Rossitten gliding school. Geography Rybachy is the largest settlement on the Russian side of the Curonian Spit between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, close to the border with Lithuania. It is the administrative seat of the Kurschskaja Kossa (Curonian Spit) municipality. It lies approximately north-east of Zelenogradsk. History A Teutonic ''Ordensburg'' castle on the road from Königsberg to Memel (Klaipėda) was first mentioned in 1372. It had been the site of a Curonian fishing village, named after Old Prussian ''rosit'' ("dew", cf. lt, Rasa). Constantly threatened by coastal dunes the settlement had to be relocated several times until the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curonian Spit
The Curonian (Courish) Spit ( lt, Kuršių nerija; russian: Ку́ршская коса́ (Kurshskaya kosa); german: Kurische Nehrung, ; lv, Kuršu kāpas) is a long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea coast. Its southern portion lies within Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, and its northern within southwestern Klaipėda County, Lithuania. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by Lithuania and Russia. Geography The Curonian Spit stretches from the Sambia Peninsula on the south to its northern tip next to a narrow strait, across which is the port city of Klaipėda on the mainland of Lithuania. The northern long stretch of the Curonian Spit peninsula belongs to Klaipėda County, Lithuania, while the rest is part of the Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The width of the spit varies from a minimum of in Russia (near the village of Lesnoy) to a maximum of in Lithuania (just north of Nida). Geologic history The Curonian Spit was formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ventė Cape
Ventė Cape ( lt, Ventės ragas, german: Windenburger Eck), sometimes referred to as Ventė Horn or Ventė Peninsula, is a headland in the Nemunas Delta, in Šilutė district, Lithuania. It is known as a resting place for birds during their migration, particularly in autumn. Ventė Cape Ornithological Station – one of the first bird ringing stations in Europe still in operation – was opened here by Tadas Ivanauskas in 1929. The Cape, being in the former Memel Territory, was part of Germany until 1919. The Teutonic Knights erected a castle here, called Windenburg, but it no longer exists. There is an 11-metre-high lighthouse, built in 1863 during the Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...n period, though it is not currently in use. External links ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest. It has a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Sweden to the west on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania covers an area of , with a population of 2.8 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian language, Lithuanian, one of only a few living Baltic languages. For millennia the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Balts, Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, Monarchy of Lithuania, becoming king and founding the Kingdom of Lithuania ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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