300499 VO Voices of Austrian birds (2017S)

The main aim is to present the most important bird sounds of Austria. Participants get the ability to identify the songs and calls of birds in Austria, mainly of widespread and common species but also to identify the voices of several species of conservation importance (threatened or protected species), to distinguish them from other species and to analyse the meaning of the different calls. They have a basic knowledge to draw upon and to expand efficiently during future own field studies. From that they are able to record birds quantitatively eg by point resp. transect counts or territory mapping in the course of mapping projects or monitoring studies.
Bird species that are common and widespread in Austria or interesting from a conservation point of view are presented during two-hour lectures. At the beginning an overview is given on function and structure of bird songs and calls, basic issues of sound generation, outside factors influencing bird sounds (biotop acoustics), singing activity and song development. The main part of the lecture is made up by the presentation of roughly 100 bird species. Main emphasis lies on their songs and calls, including instrumental sounds. Additionally information on their habitat needs, distribution, migratory behaviour and morphological characteristics is given. The sequence of species is guided by the song phenology of different species groups on the one hand and by the selection of species to be expected during accompanying excursions on the other.
Songs and calls are presented by means of CDs. Additionally the most important characteristics of those bird sounds are described verbally. Plumage details and other morphological characteristics are explained with the aid of photographs of all species presented. The participation in the specialised excursions (LV-Nr 300038) for exercising the identification in the field is highly recommended.