Ecology of flower bulb breeding birds

Where biodiversity loss has on average been halted in nature reserves, biodiversity of rural areas keeps declining. The larger aim of this project (project Living Lab B7 (https://www.Livinglabb7.nl)) is to enhance biodiversity in the rural part of The Flower Bulb Region.

Flower bulb breeding birds

The Flower Bulb Region in the Netherlands is a region where agricultural land is expected to sustain a low biodiversity when compared to surrounding land use. Although biodiversity in the agricultural landscape is regarded as low, the number of farmland breeding birds seem to be doing relatively well compared to nationwide trends. This apparent paradox is the focus of this project. Part of the paradox can be explained by the absence of agricultural activities during the breeding season. However, questions like, are their plenty of insects remaining in this landscape to ensure breeding success, where do birds mainly find food and what distances do they have to cover to find food, remain unanswered.

The aim of this project is to answer those questions. You will be observing birds and their nests, their behaviour and foraging locations to gather data on habitat use and breeding success. Species of interest are skylark (Alauda arvensis) and yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava).

We are looking for a highly motivated student that is interested in farmland bird ecology and that is willing to perform field work in the Flower Bulb Region. Depending on your interests, there are also possibilities to join field work on sampling insect communities.

Application

If you are interested in this project, please contact Hugo Langezaal, PhD-candidate at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology.

• Type of work: Field work and data analysis
• Level: MSc & University of applied sciences
• Location(s): Wageningen and field work in the Flower Bulb Region (west of The Netherlands)
• Duration: 4-6 months, starting in spring (Roughly from March – December). Suitable for a thesis and/or internship.
• Having a Dutch driver’s license (B) is preferred