Background
What clearly exceeds the pain threshold for our ears is just right for the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo). The calls of conspecifics give Common Terns the impression of security they have within a colony and therefore have a certain appeal.
Following a successful pilot project, the Common Tern is to be reintroduced in the Swiss canton of Aargau, where it originally was a common breeding bird on larger flowing waters for a long time.
Many valuable breeding sites for the Common Tern have been lost due to river straightening and building development. The undisturbed gravel islands these birds require as colony breeding grounds are now rare in the landscape. However, flat gravel covered rooves have been identified to have great potential as alternative breeding sites.
With the help of dummy birds and loud colony calls, it was possible to simulate an active breeding colony and thus successfully attract Common Terns. In this way, Orniplan AG succeeded in establishing a stable breeding colony, of now 60 breeding pairs, by Lake Zurich (Horgen). The same is now being attempted in the canton of Aargau.
What does OekoFor do?
We developed and built the ecoPi:Boom. The ecoPi:Boom is a combination of a loud speaker and a recorder - based on a Raspberry Pi - with integrated remote access. It will be implemented by Orniplan AG this year for the Common Tern project at three different sites in Aargau and at Rapperswil on Lake Zurich.
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The ecoPi:Boom device, installed on a gravel covered roof, along with imitation Common Terns simulate an active breeding colony.
© M. Ritschard, Orniplan AG -
The ecoPi:Boom device, installed on a gravel covered roof, along with imitation Common Terns simulate an active breeding colony.
© M. Ritschard, Orniplan AG -
The ecoPi:Boom device, installed on a gravel covered roof, along with imitation Common Terns simulate an active breeding colony.
© OekoFor GbR
Further links
More information about this project can be found in the magazine “Milan” from BirdLife Aargau in the article “Hope for a lost bird” on page 16 (this is currently only available in German):
Here you can access the webcam at the Common Tern breeding colony by Lake Zurich and observe the birds' behaviour live. Together with the Common Terns, Black-headed Gulls also breed at this location.:
