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| Birds of the vogel.schau.plätze |
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The vogel.schau.plätze Hohenau-Ringelsdorf offer an attractive resting and feeding place all year round, and in the summer, a good place to breed as well. The variety of wet, moist and nutrient-rich habitats, the bird-orientated management and the favourable location within the bird-rich March-Thaya-Auen all contribute to the fact that over 230 species of bird have been recorded here!
The vogel.schau.plätze are of most importance for wildfowl (ducks and geese), herons and storks, and for waders. Less conspicuous, but also in large numbers, songbirds (passerines) typical of wetland areas pass through, e.g. the native warblers, Bluethroat and Reed Bunting.
For more up-to-date information about interesting birds in the vogel.schau.plätze, and also in the surrounding March-Thaya-Auen, see the latest bird news:
 Bird news from the March-Thaya area (in german)
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| Breeding birds of the Absetzbecken Hohenau-Ringelsdorf |
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The Absetzbecken are an important breeding site for a whole array of rare and "at risk" bird species. To document the importance of this area, and to be able to recognise temporal changes of these species, we began a thorough annual census in 1992 of the number of pairs and territories of all the breeding bird species found here. Between 1992 and 2002, 54 species of birds have been recorded as breeding in the area of the Absetzbecken Hohenau-Ringelsdorf. Remarkably, half of the total number of these species are on the "Red List of Threatened Breeding Birds of Austria". The vogel.schau.plätze has therefore a major responsibilty towards the breeding birds of Austria. Particularly important populations found here are those of Black-necked Grebe, Redshank, Black-headed Gull and Common Tern (at present the largest colonies of each in Lower Austria). The first breeding records for Lower Austria of one pair each of Avocet (1999) and Black-winged Stilt (2001) were from here as well.
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| Waders
- Nomads between the Arctic and Africa |
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Being very nomadic, waders move between widely separated regions. A strict life-cycle is followed: in the short Arctic summer they breed, where they have almost no competition. The migration of some species covers 3,000 to 4,000 km in nonstop-flight, which exhausts their energy reserves. Therefore the destruction of the stop-off points along their migration pathway can have dramatic consequences.
Along their migration routes, many wader species follow only, or mainly, the coasts. There they stay in the tidal zones: in the areas of the river estuaries and the brackish marshes behind the coasts. Other species, such as Little Ringed Plover, Ruff, Common Snipe, Wood Sandpiper or Green Sandpiper almost solely use inland wetlands as resting places. In historical times there were more of these in Central Europe due to the flooding action of large rivers and of treeless wet landscapes (e. g. moors); pasture and pastoral land offer other opportunities. Today, after over one hundred years of wetland drainage and river regulation, there are hardly any areas left that satisfy the requirements of migrating waders. Besides the Seewinkel lakes around Lake Neusiedl, the Absetzbecken Hohenau-Ringelsdorf are one of the most important resting places for waders in Austria. The study of the complex phenomenon of wader migration is also a part of the work of the ringing station. Through our work with wader-ringing we have already gained some interesting results.
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| Winter birds at the vogel.schau.plätze |
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In winter, the dry Anlandebecken are of less importance for songbirds, with the exceptions of Tree Sparrow and Goldfinch, which visit in large groups, and hardy overwinterers like Water and Meadow Pipits, Dunnock and Reed Bunting.
With the creation of the new water-clearing pool for the sugar factory in 1995, and the beginning of the bird-orientated management of the Absetzbecken, the Kühlteich developed into one of the most important overwintering site for waterbirds in Austria. The most numerous bird species in winter, by far is the Mallard. With the improved water quality of the Kühlteich, and the long ice-free period, the Absetzbecken has become an important roost site for overwintering geese (predominantly Bean Geese, but also Greylag and White-fronted Geese and occasionally rarer species such as Lesser White-fronted Goose, Shelduck and Bar-headed Goose) and the only regular one in Lower Austria. Apart from the masses of Mallards and geese, there are good numbers of other winter visitors, of which Grey Heron and Great Egret, Wigeon, Common Teal, Pochard and Coot are found in particularly important numbers. Another impressive species at the pools are hunting White-tailed Eagles, which may winter in groups of more than 10 birds at a time! |
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| Downloads |
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 Checklist - Birds of the vogel.schau.plätze (in german)
Species list - Kühlteich (in german)
Breeding birds of the Kühlteich 1999 bis 2001 (in german)
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