In the more than twenty years since its foundation, the Brehm Fund has provided financial support for worldwide research on birds, their habitats, and the threats they both face. The spectrum of aided projects encompasses a variety of measures, from scientific symposia and workshops, through field studies in tropical rainforest communities, to the establishing of breeding and research stations for the conservation of particularly threatened species. In the following you will find a selection of the most important completed projects:

 

Stork and crane conservation

 

In the 1980s and 1990s the Brehm Fund supported a number of field projects and measures to protect several species of storks (Ciconiidae) and cranes (Gruidae). A prime example is the cooperation between Vogelpark Walsrode and Russian ornithologists on the breeding and releasing into the wild of Siberian Cranes (Grus leucogeranus), monitoring work on the Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) in Tram Chin Reserve, Vietnam, including the establishment of the Brehm Education Center, and the construction of an observation tower for a colony of Asian Openbills (Anastomus oscitans) in Thailand.
Further species supported include: European White Stork (Ciconia ciconia); Black Stork (Ciconia nigra); Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana); Common Crane (Grus grus); Cuban Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis nesiotes); Whooping Crane (Grus americana); Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis).

 

Building of a research and breeding station on Mallorca

 

In Campanet, on the Balearic island of Mallorca, a modern research and breeding station with numerous aviaries was built. Important experience was gained in  the adaptation of many tropical species, including parrots, to captivity and breeding. Today the station is under the control of the independent Spanish ”Fundación Brehm para la Protección Internacional de las Aves”, and has played a crucial role in the successful reintroduction of the critically endangered Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) on Mallorca.

 

Researching the South Seas avifauna

 

Supported by its own research ship “Breum”, during 1989-1994 an expedition was undertaken to many archipelagos of the South Seas, such as French Polynesia and Micronesia. Thanks to generous help by the King of Tonga, a research station with an integrated bird park was established on Tongatapu to study the life histories of many species distributed on South Sea islands. This work included a cooperative project with Prof. Curio of the Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), who is undertaking field research  on (for example) endemic megapodes (Megapodidae), pigeons (Columbidae) and parrots (Psittaciformes).

 

Bird-plant interactions in Colombia

 

From 1990 to1991, a field study on the interactions between nectar-feeding hummingbirds (Trochilidae) and their food plants was made in the western and central Andes of Colombia. First, the project analyzed which hummingbird species, and with what frequency, act as pollinators of bird flowers in the ecosystems of rainforest and páramo (high-Andean vegetation zone above the tree line), and studied the plant signals that facilitate the birds’ search for nectar and which play an important role in  plant-plant competition for avian pollinators. Second, population structure and spatial distribution of rainforest bird species, e.g., tanagers (Thraupidae), were analyzed. Data from both parts of the project provided valuable information on range-restricted and poorly known, often endangered species.

 

Biodiversity of tropical habitats in Ecuador

 

This long-term project, started in 1991, focused on bird communities of the tropical lowland rainforests of the Chocó region, western Ecuador, which are among the world’s most diverse but also most threatened terrestrial habitats. The study mainly examined the life history and status of endangered and endemic birds, such as Great Curassow (Crax rubra), Great Green Macaw (Ara ambigua) and Long-wattled Umbrellabird (Cephalopterus penduliger). In this context, a rapid-assessment method for tropical bird species was developed, allowing a fast and reliable inventory of bird communities in so far unexplored, poorly-studied, or inaccessible rainforests. The realization of this method will provide important arguments for preparing decisions in nature conservation policy.

 

Bird monitoring in Mongolia

 

In cooperation with the “Foundation Reserves Przewalski Horse“ (Netherlands) and the “Mongolian Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment“, in 2001 the Brehm Fund supported a biodiversity study and bird conservation project in Hustai Nuruu National Park, Mongolia. This included the monitoring of migrating waterbirds in the Tuul River Valley. The National Park is home to many nationally or globally threatened species, like Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides), Bar-headed Goose (A. indicus), Common Crane (Grus grus) and Black Stork (Ciconia nigra). The study was flanked by a seminar on waterbird monitoring offered to Mongolian scientists and students. Another part of the project was concerned with the distribution, spatial movements, and threats to raptors at Hustai Nuruu NP, e.g., Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus), Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug). The data gained  will help to explain their survival strategies and be useful for future conservation measures.

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