2017
Award Winner: Dr. Nina Seifert

Dr. Nina Seifert receives this year’s Hans Löhrl Prize for the publication Seifert N, Haase M, Van Wilgenburg SL, Voigt CC, & Schmitz Ornés A (2016) “Complex migration and breeding strategies in an elusive bird species illuminated by genetic and isotopic markers,” J Avian Biol 47: 275–287, which summarizes the main findings of her comprehensive dissertation on habitat use and potential connectivity between European and West African populations of the pygmy rail (Zaporina pusilla).

Due to its erratic occurrence and secretive lifestyle, this rail is an exceptionally difficult subject to study. In this innovative study, Ms. Seifert and her colleagues combine genetic data with isotopic signatures from individuals in different populations. They found that Little Crakes employ multiple, flexible migration and breeding strategies, involving transcontinental movements between breeding areas. For example, individuals from Europe can also breed in Africa, and vice versa.

These surprising findings represent an important contribution to a better understanding of the still little-studied phenomenon of “itinerant breeding”—the ability of some migratory birds to breed successively in widely separated areas of their annual range.

Karl Schulze-Hagen, Bernd Leisler, Hans Winkler (Jury)

Presented at the 150th Annual Meeting of the DO-G on September 30, 2017, in Halle (Saale)