Valentin Moser

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL | WSL · Community Ecology Research Unit

We compared habitat characteristics between territories of paired and unpaired males of the long-distance migratory Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus. Nesting possibilities and reachable sparse vegetation were more abundant in territories of paired males, clearly highlighting the importance of both parameters when implementing habitat enhance...

Two potential host species are feeding simultaneously a young Common Cuckoo. – On 1 August 2019, a young Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus was discovered at 2120 m a.s.l. behind the Hotel Belalp (municipality of Naters, canton of Valais). It was repeatedly fed by an adult male Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros and a Dunnock Prunella modularis during...

We describe and discuss three exceptional Red- start brood events from Northwestern Switzerland in 2018: (1) An early observation of a freshly fledged Black Redstart on 24 April, suggesting a start of egg laying between 17 and 24 March; normally, the first eggs are laid in mid-April in Central Europe and there are only slightly more than 10 docume...

Today, integrative taxonomy is often considered the gold standard when it comes to species recognition and delimitation. Using the Tetrix bipunctata complex, we here present a case where even integrative tax-onomy may reach its limits. The Tetrix bipunctata complex consists of two morphs, bipunctata and kraussi, which are easily distinguished by a...

I documented one individual exhibiting an unusual hunting behavior: surface feeding. With its head up, this whale was attempting to visually locate a fish, possibly a yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi). With open jaws, the mammal proceeded to move toward the prey to attempt capture. For more than three minutes, the fish managed to evade the whal...

The Yellow Wagtail is a widespread breeding bird in Europe and Asia. Switzerland harbours a small population of around 500 breeding pairs of the subspecies flava and cinereocapilla. During migration in spring and autumn, the species is much more abundant. Beside the subspecies flava and cinereocapilla, also thunbergiand, more rarely, feldegg and bi...

Das Jahr 2020 war geprägt von Corona. Reisen waren grösstenteils nicht oder nur eingeschränkt möglich. Umso mehr gewann das Beobachten in der Nähe an Bedeutung und es gelangen viele spannende Beobachtungen. Insgesamt liegen für das Berichtsjahr Meldungen von 220 verschiedenen Arten vor: 213 Wildvögel und 7 eingebürgerte Arten. Ornithologische Highl...

Die Hauptaufgabe des Alpensegler-Projekts ist klar die kontinuierliche Betreuung der Kolonie. Dadurch konnten wir Baumängel wie Alpensegler-unfreundliche Schächte zusammen mit dem Abwart-Team entschärften, und nicht zuletzt zahlreiche Bebbi Babbler für diese Vögel und deren Lebensweise begeistern. Ganz nebenbei erlaubt unser bescheidener Datensatz...

Kommentierte Artenliste Nordwestschweiz – Grundlage für die Avifaunistischen Rückblicke der Region Basel ab 2020

We investigated the long-term impact of ecological compensation areas on the populations of breeding birds in an agricultural area covering 5.5 km2 between Aesch, Ettingen, Reinach and Therwil in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, where annual bird mapping has been carried out since 1997. The trends observed in this area largely corresponded to the na...